{"id":6685,"date":"2026-01-11T22:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pillartoday.ng\/?p=6685"},"modified":"2026-01-11T22:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:30:09","slug":"opinion-rivers-its-time-for-the-roundtable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"pillartoday.com.ng\/?p=6685","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Rivers: It\u2019s Time for the Roundtable"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Akpe<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is becoming\u00a0realistically\u00a0difficult to determine\u00a0where the loyalty of\u00a0the\u00a0elected\u00a0members\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Rivers State\u00a0House of Assembly\u00a0lies. Who exactly is controlling their conscience!.<\/p>\n

By the 1999 Constitution, a state legislature\u2014comprising elected members\u2014is\u00a0an\u00a0arm of\u00a0a\u00a0state government, just as the executive and the judiciary..<\/p>\n

This\u00a0explains why members of the legislature earn salaries from government purse, drive\u00a0exotic\u00a0cars,\u00a0and live in\u00a0befitting mansions\u00a0built or paid for\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0tax\u00a0payers.<\/p>\n

Without any doubt, the loyalty of every lawmaker is to\u00a0his\u00a0constituents\u2014the people\u00a0he represents\u2014and\u00a0to the constitution that regulates the\u00a0activities of the\u00a0government which he is a\u00a0part of.<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0also\u00a0elementary knowledge that the primary function of every lawmaker is law-making\u00a0for the peace and growth of the country or state.<\/p>\n

Quite logical!\u00a0You cannot be called a lawmaker\u00a0or be\u00a0treated as one when you\u00a0do not perform\u00a0the functions of that office, which constitute\u00a0your\u00a0primary\u00a0assignment.<\/p>\n

Globally,\u00a0at any point that lawmakers depart from law-making,\u00a0especially in the passage\u00a0of an Appropriation Bill,\u00a0they lose\u00a0that identity and the right to be called lawmakers. There is no difficulty in understanding this.<\/p>\n

By way of explanation, an appropriation bill is the most important legislative instrument in any democracy. A refusal to pass that bill\u00a0into law\u00a0means shutting down government operations, thus opening doors to anarchy.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0Rivers State\u00a0has been home to\u00a0constitutional\u00a0deformity for almost three years. The man elected to run the affairs of the state has been incapacitated by the very institution created by law to empower\u00a0him\u00a0in that office.<\/p>\n

The State House of Assembly,\u00a0with\u00a0constitutionally\u00a0elected\u00a0members,\u00a0seems to be\u00a0under the direct command of an individual\u2014not the serving governor, but a self-appointed\u00a0political godfather.<\/p>\n

This godfather tells the elected members what to do and what not to do, no matter what the 1999 Constitutions says\u2014the same constitution they all swore to\u00a0uphold and defend.<\/p>\n

Within\u00a0the\u00a0period under review,\u00a0Rivers\u00a0Statepolitical atmosphere has been\u00a0gridlocked\u00a0and rendered toxic\u00a0through\u00a0some\u00a0unconventional political underhandegoistically masterminded by a few power wielders.<\/p>\n

Those outside this circle\u00a0have become victims of\u00a0brash\u00a0political stunts audaciously aimed at diminishing the sitting governor\u2019s authority\u00a0to perform his constitutional functions.<\/p>\n

It all started over a certain mysterious agreement supposedly enacted between the sitting governor,\u00a0Siminilaye\u00a0Joseph\u00a0Fubara, and his influential\u00a0predecessor and\u00a0godfather,\u00a0Minister\u00a0Nyesom\u00a0Wike.<\/p>\n

Daily, avoidable unpleasant events keep surfacing. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already\u00a0imposed and lifted a state of emergency\u2014one of\u00a0the\u00a0ultimate constitutional\u00a0requirements\u00a0that was expected to call everyone to order.<\/p>\n

That does not seem to have worked.\u00a0The general perception is\u00a0that the state of emergency was executed to appease Minister Wike whose hostility towards\u00a0Governor\u00a0Fubara\u00a0is assumed to have a silent presidential endorsement.<\/p>\n

Though no one has presented any evidence\u00a0to back this claim, it is a case of\u00a0asking:\u00a0if\u00a0a child dies the morning after the evil bird cried at night, is it still in doubt who killed the child?\u00a0I\u00a0personally\u00a0have no proof of\u00a0who killed the child!<\/p>\n

However, despite the earth-quaking protests and threats, the state of emergency was enforced, backed by legislative validation. Wike was assumed to have won the war. Unknown to him, the battle was not yet over.<\/p>\n

Months after the\u00a0state of emergency was imposed and later lifted,\u00a0Minister Wike has refused to relax his grip on\u00a0Fubara\u2019s\u00a0neck.<\/p>\n

Governor Fubara himself has repudiated death. His staying in power should constitute a course of study on political survival in our universities.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0ongoing\u00a0impeachment attempt\u00a0has two sides to it. First,\u00a0Fubara\u00a0is gaining unpredictable political momentum following his\u00a0cross-over\u00a0to the All Progressive Congress\u2014a move that has almost secured for him the 2027 gubernatorial ticket.<\/p>\n

If that move took Wike by surprise, his next manoeuvre clearly demonstrates that his bag of political tricks is still loaded. Give it to him, Wike thrives better in crisis. Even if he loses in a fight, he does so boldly and unashamedly.<\/p>\n

Second, it is becoming clear that despite denying him a budget to pay bills and execute projects for Rivers people,\u00a0Fubara, does not seem to be bothered. He is booming in confidence and gaining political weight daily.<\/p>\n

So, how you do you stop an unsmiling\u00a0phenomenon called\u00a0Fubara\u2014difficult to destroy, impossible to ignore\u2014almost written off, but still marching on!<\/p>\n

How do you\u00a0control\u00a0a storm called Wike\u2014a man whose\u00a0loaded\u00a0political profile and strategies are counterweight to that of\u00a0Fubara.<\/p>\n

Wike\u00a0is unwriting the rules of\u00a0political\u00a0godfatherism with such ease!\u00a0His politics has no rule book. He is the rule. He offers no option to opponents. He is the option! You either align or perish.<\/p>\n

However, it is doubtless that\u00a0if\u00a0left in\u00a0APC or any other functional political party,\u00a0Fubara\u00a0will roar back to power in 2027\u2014and by\u00a0every calculation, that would\u00a0unarguably\u00a0end\u00a0Wike\u2019s political influence in\u00a0Rivers\u00a0State.<\/p>\n

Can\u00a0Fubara\u00a0be\u00a0re-elected\u00a0under the present atmosphere\u00a0in Rivers State? Sure!\u00a0He can! He would!\u00a0It has happened\u00a0again and again\u00a0in the same Rivers State.<\/p>\n

Between 1999 and today, no political hostility mounted by anybody has stopped a\u00a0first term\u00a0governor\u00a0in Rivers\u00a0from\u00a0getting\u00a0re-elected!<\/p>\n

The late Chief Marshall Harry and other heavyweights in Rivers politics tried it with Dr Peter Odili in 2003, it did not work. Instead, Odili thundered back victoriously\u2014more powerful, and influentially re-energised.<\/p>\n

After leaving office in 2007, Governor\u00a0Odili\u00a0came under preventable\u00a0though expected\u00a0hostility generated by Rotimi\u00a0Amaechi\u00a0who succeeded him as governor.<\/p>\n

Amaechi\u00a0felt bad\u00a0that after serving\u00a0Odili\u00a0as a domestic staff for several years, and providing a\u00a0political\u00a0covering fire for him as Speaker of the\u00a0state\u00a0legislaturefor eight years,\u00a0Odili\u00a0could not\u00a0make him\u00a0a\u00a0governor.<\/p>\n

On the day\u00a0of\u00a0the traditional\u00a0flag\u00a0presentation\u00a0to\u00a0the gubernatorial\u00a0candidate\u00a0in Port Harcourt, President Obasanjo, citing a\u00a0contrived\u00a0political\u00a0jargon\u00a0called K-Leg,\u00a0devalued\u00a0the people\u2019s choice,\u00a0by announcing\u00a0Amaechi\u2019s\u00a0disqualification from the race.<\/p>\n

Whether the action was initiated by\u00a0Odili\u00a0or\u00a0by\u00a0circumstances beyond his control is still hypothetical.\u00a0Amaechi\u00a0fought\u00a0back\u00a0through the courts and ultimately became the governor of the state.<\/p>\n

He thought it\u00a0natural to\u00a0attempt to keep\u00a0Odili, his former boss, at arms\u2019 length.\u00a0The atmosphere became\u00a0not only\u00a0nauseating\u00a0but\u00a0quite\u00a0embarrassing to\u00a0the senior statesman\u00a0who\u00a0nurtured\u00a0Amaechi\u00a0in politics.<\/p>\n

On assumption of office,\u00a0Amaechi\u00a0appointed Wike\u00a0as\u00a0his Chief of Staff. In any democracy, the Chief of Staff is the closest administrative and political\u2014or\u00a0even domestic\u2014aide to either a president or governor.<\/p>\n

The chief of staff controls what Stephen Ambrose calls, \u201cthe innermost circle of power\u201d within a political environment. That was the exclusive role assigned by Amaechi to Wike\u2014a position of supreme trust.<\/p>\n

Wike enjoyed that position until his appointment as Minister of State, Education, by President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n

Then something happened.\u00a0Bad politics.\u00a0Wike and his emerging political godfather,\u00a0Amaechi,\u00a0fell out\u2014almost violently.\u00a0It was unbelievable!<\/p>\n

When Wike\u00a0later\u00a0succeeded\u00a0Ameachi\u00a0as Rivers Governor, no one needed a prophet to be told that it was going to be war without end.<\/p>\n

At this point, Wike\u00a0quietly\u00a0moved towards the comfort of\u00a0Odili\u2019s\u00a0friendship\u2014a confirmation that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.<\/p>\n

I recall my only visit to\u00a0Amaechi\u00a0when he served under the late\u00a0President\u00a0Muhammadu Buhari as minister. I advised him to leave Wike alone and concentrate on his job as minister.<\/p>\n

Amaechi\u00a0looked at me in the face and declared that that was not going to happen. He said something like:\u00a0Sam, you don\u2019t understand politics. I cannot allow Wike to rubbish me.\u00a0Well, they kept warring\u2014and they still are.<\/p>\n

How did Fubara become the Governor of Rivers State? I have no detail worth a discussion here. I personally have not met Fubara before. But I like his stubborn demeanour. Deadpan, when he coughs, Wike develops headache.<\/p>\n

So many suppositions have been bandied by political jobbers on why Wike and\u00a0Fubara\u00a0have not agreed on anything\u00a0since Wike took\u00a0Fubara\u00a0to Rivers State Government House.<\/p>\n

All we have heard from Wike is that \u2018agreement is agreement!\u2019 What exactly constitutes the mysterious agreement remains a secret between the two of them.<\/p>\n

Wike\u2019s ambition, it seems,\u00a0is to control the political\u00a0hardware\u00a0in Rivers\u00a0State. Unfortunately,\u00a0Fubara\u00a0has become his gate of brass\u2014the\u00a0impregnable\u00a0iron bar\u00a0andthe crooked path against\u00a0that\u00a0ambitious agenda.<\/p>\n

In fact, the only thing that would ignite a smile when Wike wakes up tomorrow morning would be with a breaking news that Fubara has resigned his office. Guess what? That\u2019s not going to happen!<\/p>\n

The unanswered question is: whose cause is Wike fighting, and whose interest is\u00a0Fubara\u00a0protecting? Most importantly, what is prompting the lawmakers to play the roles they are playing?<\/p>\n

Truly, history favours\u00a0Fubara\u2014even if political realities cast dangerous, long shadows over\u00a0him.\u00a0He may be judged as being politically na\u00efve, but that has nothing to do with his mental sophistication.<\/p>\n

Impeachment of Fubara sounds like a huge joke\u2014that\u2019s actually what it is! Fortunately, it is Wike\u2019s last trick in his bottomless bag of political pranks.<\/p>\n

My thinking however is that this stand-off can be resolved if both parties decide to do so. Nobody needs to die because of political power. Rivers people must not be left to suffer because of personal ambitions.<\/p>\n

A war becomes an option whenever disagreements defy the round table, and in almost all cases, every war ends when the combatants return to the same roundtable. This cannot be an exception.<\/p>\n

Wike,\u00a0Fubara, and the elected lawmakers must consider what history will say about them.\u00a0Or\u00a0what\u00a0labels\u00a0they would carry a\u00a0few years from now. Will they be\u00a0called\u00a0heroes or villains? Patriots or\u00a0vandals?<\/p>\n

Every memoire tries to answer several questions, but most importantly: where were you and what did you do when the house started burning?<\/p>\n

Memoires on Rivers State will raise these questions.\u00a0It\u2019s time to return to the roundtable.<\/p>\n

Akpe, a journalist, writes from Abuja<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Akpe It is becoming\u00a0realistically\u00a0difficult to determine\u00a0where the loyalty of\u00a0the\u00a0elected\u00a0members\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Rivers State\u00a0House of Assembly\u00a0lies. Who exactly is controlling their conscience!. By the 1999 Constitution, a state legislature\u2014comprising elected members\u2014is\u00a0an\u00a0arm of\u00a0a\u00a0state government, just as the executive and the judiciary.. This\u00a0explains why members of the legislature earn salaries from government purse, drive\u00a0exotic\u00a0cars,\u00a0and live in\u00a0befitting mansions\u00a0built or paid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}