FUBARA: LURED TO THE GOLGOTHA AND SACRIFICED
By Adakole Elijah
In a dramatic turn of events, the Governor of the oil-rich Rivers State, Sim Fubara, has been summarily relieved of his duties, and the entire democratic apparatus of the state dismantled and suspended, courtesy of the invocation of Section 305 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This draconian measure was precipitated by the President’s assertion that a looming crisis of escalating proportions was imminent, threatening to unleash a maelstrom of violence, destruction, and chaos, thereby imperilling the lives and property of the citizenry.
The President’s decision, ostensibly justified by the imperative to forestall anarchy, received the imprimatur of the National Assembly, thereby lending an aura of legitimacy to this drastic action. However, in a move that has raised eyebrows and fueled speculation, the President laid the blame squarely at the feet of Governor Fubara, while studiously exonerating his Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and his co- travellers from any complicity in the crisis.
This glaring disparity in the allocation of culpability has lent credence to the pervasive perception that Minister Wike was, in fact, acting in concert with the presidency, under a Machiavellian script designed to wrestle control of Rivers State from the opposition and seamlessly integrate it into the All Progressives Congress (APC) fold, thereby further consolidating the party’s stranglehold on power and incrementally annihilating the opposition People’s Democratic Party(PDP).
President Tinubu and his party – are not kidding about their intention to take charge of Rivers and Kano States in preparation for the 2027 elections. No doubt, the two states have the magic wand of swaying electorate in favour of the ruling party due to their financial and numerical strengths. It is generally believed that if you have Rivers and Kano states in your kitty, you can approach any elections in Nigeria with confidence.
This is why many people perceive the truncation of the democratic structure in Rivers State as a deliberate and desperate political machination aimed at weakening the opposition PDP rather than solving any problem that hitherto existed, and strengthening the Minister and the APC.
For instance, the South-South Governors Forum, in its condemnation of the declaration of the State of emergency, declared that the situation in Rivers State does not satisfy the requirements for the declaration of a state of emergency as enunciated in section 305(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
The above section dictates that a state of emergency can only be considered under specific circumstances like war, external aggression, imminent invasion breakdown of public order, existential threats to Nigeria, natural disasters, or other significant dangers.
Even at that, the Constitution does not expressly dictate the suspension of elected officials. This was why Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency, properly guided by David Mark’s led National Assembly, refused to remove the Governors and the democratic structures of the North-Eastern states when a state of emergency was declared during the raging Boko Haram terrorism in that enclave. President Tinubu ought to have adopted Jonathan’s strategy instead of sacrificing Fubara on the altar of Wike.
With the dismantling of the democratic structures in Rivers State, Democracy is lamenting in anguished despair, its very fabric rent asunder by the egregious transgressions perpetrated by the imperious Emperor Wike. This vainglorious autocrat, revelling in the tumultuous aftermath of his machinations, indulges in jubilant revelry , his triumphant ululations echoing through the desolate landscape of a beleaguered democracy.
As the erstwhile champions of liberty and justice behold the ravages wrought by Emperor Wike’s unbridled ambition, they are consumed by unrelenting anguish, their hearts gnashed by the cruel fate that has beset their once-vaunted institutions. The very foundations of their democratic edifice, once a beacon of hope and freedom, now lie in tatters, a testament to the untrammelled avarice and lust for power that has ravaged the land.
In this dystopian tableau, Emperor Wike’s odious visage looms large, a constant reminder of the calamitous consequences of unchecked power and unbridled hubris. His name has become synonymous with the ravages of despotism, his every utterance a cold, calculating mockery of the democratic ideals he has so callously traduced.
Dr. Elijah writes from O’EJE Fortress, Otada-Otukpo.
