Tinubu accused the governor of violating the Supreme Court’s ruling during the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers on Tuesday, failing to ensure Rivers’ safety.
Rivers State President Siminali Fabara has rebutted President Bora Tinubu’s accusations that he (Hubarah) could not prevent the state’s militants from attacking the oil pipeline.
The Premium Times reported that Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the Southern state on Tuesday on national broadcast.
The president also suspended Governor Fabara, Lieutenant Governor Ngozi Odu and all members of the House of Representatives for the first six months.
He cited state “unsetting incidents” over the past 24 hours, including the explosion and destruction of oil pipelines related to the state’s political crisis as the basis for his actions.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives approved the declaration of a state of emergency in the southern state on Thursday.
The Senate later approved emergency rules with minor changes following the lawsuit.
While declaring a state of emergency, Tinubu accused Hubara of doing nothing to prevent extremists from carrying out the threat of blowing up oil facilities.
The president also accused him of destroying the Rivers State House of Representatives, without destroying the Rivers State House of Representatives about 14 months later.
He accused Hubara of failing to resubmit the 2025 budget estimate to Congress in order to approve despite the Supreme Court ruling.
Federal Attorney General Latef Fagbemi later accused Fubara of being a “telegraph” extremist and believed the governor had not denied the attack in order to attack the state’s oil facilities.
Fubara refutes the allegations
However, in a statement Thursday night by his spokesman Nelson Chukdi, Hubara rebutted some of the allegations.
The suspended governor said he had nothing to do with the threat or attack on oil facilities due to alleged extremists, and that he did not “telegraph” the extremists to attack facilities in the state.
He suggested that extremists were responding to comments by FCT Minister Naisom Wyke, as well as other groups that include the Niger Delta leaders and the Ijo National Congress.
Wike, the former governor of the state, said in a press conference last week that Ijaw people are “a minority in the river and other north and south states except Bayelsa.”
The FCT minister has since argued that he has been misinterpreted.
“Most of Ijoe’s group and leaders have requested an apology from the FCT Minister and have refused,” Hubara said in a statement.
“It is clearly not true that even in the face of extreme provocation, those preaching peace and non-violence are “telegraph attacks on the oil pipelines” and violating the peace he worked so hard to promote and maintain for the good of the people of the nation,” he said.
The governor said he acted on “special advice and guidance” on allegations of destruction of the state legislative complex.
He said that, contrary to Tinubu’s claims, the destroyed complex had been rebuilt by his administration.
Hubara alleged that Week repeatedly criticised the assembly facility, describing it as a “aged” structure with leaks in the roof.
The governor said in August 2022, the FCT minister challenged lawmakers to reject a request to restructure it to ensure a fostering legislative environment for them.
“Immediately after the incident on October 29, 2023 and the expert report, the government decided to listen to legislators’ old demands to rebuild the facility, and immediately destroy the aged structures and give way to a state-of-the-art assembly complex that is now nearly 80% complete,” he said.
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“Wike supporters have launched an attack with the LGA.”
Hubara accused Week’s supporters of violent attacks on the Local Government Council Office during the election of the state’s Local Government Council on October 5, 2024.
The governor said during the attack several facilities in the council area had been destroyed by supporters without retaliation from his own supporters.
“It is also appropriate to draw the attention of security agencies to the fact that these attacks are unleashed, the same place where they repeatedly witnessed the violence committed by detractors of Fabara-led governorate,” he said.
