Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has alleged that the ongoing political crisis in Rivers is a struggle over money sharing between suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.

In an interview with DW on Friday, Amaechi dismissed the feud as a battle for financial control rather than governance, questioning why Nigerians have not demanded transparency from both politicians.

“The fight between the current governor of Rivers State and the FCT minister is about sharing money. If not, what’s the quarrel?” he said. “Nigerians don’t dislike corruption again. I’ve not seen anybody on the street querying what the problem is. Can both of them speak to the public and tell us what the problem is about?”

His remarks come as President Bola Tinubu, on March 18, declared a six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the State House of Assembly. In their place, Tinubu appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd.) as Sole Administrator, citing political instability and pipeline vandalism.

Amaechi condemned the move, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent where governors can be removed at will. He described the situation as a political power struggle between the president and Wike, with Fubara caught in the middle.

“The president wants a power grab. They want to frighten governors who may not support them in 2027,” he said.

He also questioned the justification for emergency rule, pointing out that other regions facing severe security challenges have not been subjected to similar actions.

“If the president said it is because of insecurity, because they blew the pipeline, what about parts of the country where there is insecurity? Is the president saying they should impose emergency rule on him too?”

Amaechi maintained that security matters fall under the president’s jurisdiction, not the governor’s, and insisted that Fubara is being unfairly punished.

“Rivers governor has no security responsibility; it rests squarely on the president. So why punish a man who did not commit an offence?” he added.

He called on Rivers residents to resist Tinubu’s decision through democratic protests, warning that the emergency rule undermines constitutional governance.

 [Vanguard]

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers state is a ploy to intimidate governors to support his re-election bid. 

Amaechi spoke in an interview with DW Africa on Friday.

On March 18, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing the protracted political crisis and vandalisation of oil facilities.

The president suspended Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers governor; Ngozi Odu, his deputy; and all house of assembly members for six months.

Tinubu also appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas as the sole administrator of the state.

The president’s decision has been described as unconstitutional by the opposition, members of civil society and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

In his criticism of the emergency rule, Amaechi claimed the president’s move has sown fear in governors “that if you are not careful, the president will remove you”.

He added that Fubara has “no security responsibility” over the Rivers crisis and that the suspended governor is being punished for an offence he “did not commit”.

“It is between the president and the FCT minister. The president wants a power grab. They want to frighten governors who may not support them in 2027. So, there is a rumour everywhere that if you are not careful, the president will remove you,” the former Rivers governor said.

“If the president said it is because of insecurity, because they blew the pipeline, what about part of the country where there is insecurity? Is the president saying they should impose emergency rule on him too? They can’t because he is a democratically elected president. Nobody can impose an emergency rule on him because there is serious insecurity in the north-east, north-west — even in south-east and south-west.

“Rivers governor has no security responsibility; it rests squarely on the president. So why punish a man who did not commit an offence?”

Amaechi called on Rivers residents to “resist the president”.

He said the resistance should be done “by democratically protesting against the president”.

[TheCable]

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued a summons to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and seven other parties over the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

The suit, filed under Suit No: FHC/PH/CS/45/2025, was brought by the Incorporated Trustees of Peoples Life Improvement Foundation, alongside Precious Elekima and Inanna Wright Harry.

The plaintiffs are challenging the legality of the emergency proclamation made by the President on March 18, 2025.

Others listed as defendants in the suit include the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation, Rivers State Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the originating summons, the plaintiffs raised several constitutional questions, including whether the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in the state was valid under Nigerian law. They argued that the action violates Section 305(3)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act).

They are also asking the court to:

• Restrain the state Sole Administrator from appointing caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas;
• Stop any appointments of commissioners or awarding of contracts;
• Bar the administrator from spending from the state treasury;
• Reinstate the suspended executive and legislative arms of the Rivers State Government;
• And grant a perpetual injunction restraining the President from further suspending any democratically elected officials in the state.

The court has given the defendants 30 days to file their responses. It warned that failure to do so may result in the court proceeding with the case in their absence.

Renowned Niger-Delta activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has categorically stated that President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, was based on misleading and incorrect information.

In an interview with Vanguard on Saturday, Briggs accused the president of being misinformed and deceived by those around him.

“Not only was the president given wrong information, all along, the president has been lied to. It seems the president has never been to Rivers State, so he talks and listens to the people who claim they support him, as if Rivers State people and Ijaw do not support him, which is a big lie,” Briggs remarked.

She continued, emphasizing that the suspension was unjust and unfounded, citing the state’s House of Assembly complex, which she said was over 80% completed with payments already made by Governor Fubara.

“To have anchored the suspension on the claim that he destroyed the complex, which is not proved, and did nothing to provide an alternative place, is a lie,” she added.

Briggs also addressed claims that the suspension was due to insecurity in the state, calling these reports misleading.

She stated, “The president said there was a crisis in the state, indicating insecurity in Rivers State. That, too, was a lie. There was no insecurity. Under the circumstances in which we are operating – the governor of Rivers State is under suspension, all the appointments made by the governor have been cancelled, and new people are coming—it begins to agitate a reasonable person’s mind. If you say you are suspending him for six months, and assuming you revisit the issue, why are the people being removed?

“Not only was our money withheld and now given to the sole administrator, but you also removed people. When Fubara returns, he will remove all the people the sole administrator is putting there because what he is doing is dangerous.

“Why is this uncertainty being created in Rivers State? What have we done as a people? If the president looks back, he would see that everybody is saying he did the wrong thing; the only ones who say that what he did is right are those who claim to support him in Rivers. Are strangers the ones that will come in and deliver the president in 2027 if he is re-contesting for a second tenure? It cannot be.

“The president has been unjust and unfair. Nobody is infallible, so if the president acted based on wrong information, that is a great precedent. He should re-appraise and say he made the decision acting on wrong information, and based on that, the suspension is lifted. We will see him as a great president.”

Naija News reports that Briggs regretted that the president had not adhered to the rule of law in handling the political crisis in the state, adding that the sole administrator was going on with illegalities.

The activist stated, “By what is happening in Rivers State, it can be deduced that the rule of law in this instance has not been adhered to. The Supreme Court said the state should receive its money only when the governor presents a budget to the House of Assembly and it is approved. How did the president release Rivers’ money to a sole administrator against the law? We, the Rivers people, are angry.

“Secondly, we hear, but it is not proven, that the sole administrator is preparing to appoint local government chairmen. We ask where he derives the power to appoint local government chairmen. The Supreme Court has said local government chairmen should be elected, not appointed, or interim chairmen.

“If we have voted, and the Supreme Court said all that was null and void, and the governor removed all the chairmen we voted for, and now the sole administrator wants to appoint local government chairmen, where is the sole administrator getting his powers from? Who told him that he can come to Rivers State and handpick a local government chairman against the law?

“If a governor has been suspended, we hear that the picture of our governor has been removed from the Government House. That is something that will agitate the people of Rivers State. Fubara is not fired; he is on suspension, and everybody has said the suspension is illegal.

“In all that is happening in Rivers State, it is only the president who can bring answers to all the questions. As of now, reasons have shown that there are no facts to suspend the governor of Rivers State. There was no insecurity and blowing up pipelines in Rivers State, and the companies have said nothing was blown up. When you look at all these things, some people do these things to pin everything on the governor. If you know Rivers State, you will understand that the level of calm in the state now is because the suspended governor is a man of peace, and his followers toe the path he has shown them.

“I call on the president to consider all these and let peace reign. We cannot have two governors in this state. The sole administrator should stop seeing himself as the governor of Rivers State; he is not.”

Briggs stressed that the people of Rivers State felt as if they were under military rule rather than civilian governance.

She concluded, “The interpretation of the Rivers people themselves is that they are under military rule in a civilian and democratic dispensation. Boko Haram has sacked many people in Borno State; yet, they are not under military rule. Why should we be under military rule?”