Rivers: Fubara gets four tough conditions to return as Rivers governor

More conditions

Fubara was also said to have agreed to ensure the full payment of the outstanding allowances of the 27 House of Assembly lawmakers as a pre-condition to avoid impeachment threat by the Amaewhule-led lawmakers.

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Also on the table was the condition that the governor must do away with the likes of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the Chief of Staff Government House, CoS, Dr. Edison Ehie, former Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, and former commissioners and political appointees.

Accordingly, every appointment must take a fresh start with Wike having the upper hand to nominate who becomes what in government.

This arrangement is to strip the governor of all known political “enemies” of the FCT Minister.

“He is a prodigal son who has come to his senses. He has a political family. He belongs to the Wike political dynasty. He must come home clean. Those people who were hanging around him were the true enemies of the state. They never wanted Fubara as governor, in the first place”, the source said.

This presupposes that the likes of Dr. Abiye Sekibo, Uche Secondus, Austin Opara, Celestine Omehia, Dr. Peter Odili and many more have been surgically detached from the governor, going forward.

Barring any unforeseen development, this strategic step is to enhance Tinubu’s unhindered victory in his second term bid in 2027.

Stakeholders’ expectations

Stakeholders in Rivers politics and beyond have agreed that with this last peace meeting between the President and the two key players, time has come for the governor to be reinstated within the next few days or “at most one week”.

President of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, said: “It will not be out of place if Governor Sim is reinstated in the next 24 hours. As Ijaw nation, we have been praying for peace in Rivers State. With this peace meeting, I believe that the crisis has finally come to an end”.

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Okaba, who was not happy with the appointment of Odey as the RSIEC Chairman, said that every appointment made by the Sole Administrator was an aberration.

He expressed optimism that whatever agreement Fubara must have signed to guarantee his return should not be such that would be detrimental to the overall wellbeing of the state.

Another leader of Ijaw nation, Joseph Ambakaderimo, who is also the Convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, SSRG, described Tinubu as a true democrat who never got tired of ensuring that the political crisis in Rivers was “carefully” brought to an end without harming any of the parties involved.

Ambakaderimo said: “We are very happy about the reconciliation. We thank Mr. President for his resolve to carry this to the end.

“Now is the time to restore all the democratic institutions that were suspended in the past three months. We believe that anytime soon, Governor Fubara will be reinstated”.

Also, Opunabo Inkor-Tariah, a Senior Special Adviser, SSA, to Wike when he was governor, said it was obvious that this meeting would be the last peace agreement that would usher in the most expected peace in Rivers state.

His words: “It seems that everything will work out as envisaged this time.

“My instinct tells me that within the next one week, at most 10 days, I expect President Tinubu to bring back to life all democratic institutions in the state. That includes the reinstatement of the governor, his deputy and the legislative arm of government.

“Within the next one week, we want to walk up in the morning and hear the announcement that the Rivers suspended governor has been reinstated”.

Inkor-Tariah appealed to the President not to allow any agreement issued out to be skewed to the favour of one parties in the crisis to the overall detriment of the state.