As political actors are drawn in, Rivers State, a state in Nigeria’s oil-rich South-South state, has been in the spotlight for some time. Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the State Assembly were suspended in March 2025 when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state. Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, the president’s sole administrator, was immediately appointed. Many still doubt whether real progress has been made at the recently presidential-brokered peace summit involving Fubara, his predecessor Nyesom Wike, and others, but it may have changed things. Ann-Kio Briggs, a journalist for Channels Television, provides an inside look at the situation in this exclusive interview.
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What do you think about the Rivers State Electoral Commission (RSIEC), especially now that Michael Odeh, who is not from Rivers State, has been appointed chairman? The Senate Leader contends that no statute prevents a non-indigene from holding the position. Are you in agreement with him?
We think Rivers people are taking advantage of us. We think that some people are using the law, using the constitution when it pleases them, and abusing it when it pleases them, and hoping to get some sort of response to use against the state.
Which state, regardless of whether it is constitutional, can endure what Rivers people are? Rivers people will eventually grow weary of it and react to it, regardless of whether they actually believe it or not.
There is already a consensus that Mr. President’s declaration of a state of emergency was unconstitutional in large part because it allowed for it, but it also didn’t explicitly say that the governor, deputy governor, or members of the State House of Assembly could be suspended.
Ibas, the man who was brought in, was not elected by the Rivers people. This is constitutional. He now enters and unlawfully removes individuals from positions that the governor has established as constitutionally sound. They were taken out by him. Then he expanded his creation of local government sole administrators. What does he do for money? Why does the government insist that elections must be held? Why does the government demand that the election of the local government be conducted by this sole administrator?
Let’s assume there will be a governor’s election, and the governor will be reelected. Will the governor work with people he doesn’t know when he returns?
People are present in court each time something happens. However, our government does not respect or acknowledge the people of Rivers State’s right to be heard in court.
The judiciary itself, which is supposed to checkmate the other branch of the government, is now a branch of the government that it is supposed to checkmate. Therefore, Rivers residents have been subjected to criticism. The Federal Government, the Senate, and the FCT Minister have conspired against Rivers State’s citizens and rights.
Read more about “We Have Agreed To Work Together,” “Wike, Fubara Reconcile, Meet With Tinubu,” and “We Have Agreed To Work Together.”
But how long will it take for us to stop the frustration and anger that are already building? People who fled the city were thrown under the bus.
As I’ve said before, there was never a reason for declaring a state of emergency. The President was deceived and told lies. The people of Rivers State are victims of the presidency and private individuals as long as he continues to act on what he is being told without hearing the people of Rivers State.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a constitutional question regarding the president’s decision to suspend elected officials in the event of a state of emergency. Has Rivers State actually benefited from this state of emergency?
It ought not to have been disclosed. Actually, the issue has arisen as a result of the state of emergency. The President said it was done because he thought it would benefit Rivers State. We Rivers people are now telling the President that this is not in our best interests.
Look at the man who has been chosen as RSIEC chairman. By law, only the governor is authorized to appoint this chairman, and not less than five or more than seven other members. The governor has a duty to do so. Rivers State does not have an elected governor. Therefore, the Rivers people find that to be inadmissible.
We all know how former president Olusegun Obasanjo fought him in Lagos State when he tried to do something similar. Ibas, a Cross River man who isn’t an elected official, is now in charge of our finances and lives. I’m not sure if the All Progressives Congress (APC) sold us to Cross River.
We now have someone to advise us on what to do, someone we didn’t choose. We now have a man in charge of an election that we disapprove of. I’m not one to believe in the results of his August election, for example. The elected governor of Rivers State is being imposed upon him in a well-thought-out, well-strategized manner is obvious from the start.
To the extent that this keeps going, the governor is either currently tied down for any reason or has accepted the plan. The Rivers people cannot afford that. Additionally, the governor we elected is not interested in this. He will fight for us, we anticipate. We think he is not currently.
Governor Fubara is choosing peace, according to some, while others claim that he is not pursuing sufficient reelection. Is there any evidence that a local government election is being planned in Rivers State now that the court has yet to decide whether to appoint a sole administrator and remove elected officials?
Source: Channels TV
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