Rivers: Details of Meeting Between Tinubu, Fubara in London Emerge

• President Bola Tinubu's meeting with suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara has been said to be fruitful, and things may return to the status quo in the troubled state soon
• The meeting was said to have been held on the request of Governor Fubara, and he was to have expressed his readiness to make some concessions
• It was also learnt that the president may suspend the suspension, and the governor may return to office before the expiration of the six-month state of emergency declaration

Reports have indicated that the suspended governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, was planning to make concessions in reducing the political tension in the state.

This came after the embattled governor held a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu during the president's 18-day retreat in Europe, and it was learnt that the suspension of the governor might be lifted before the end of the initial six months.

Read also

2027 Presidency: Sources speak on alleged gentleman's agreement Tinubu reached with PDP governors

How Tinubu, Fubara's meeting was planted

According to The Punch, the meeting was held on the request of the suspended Governor Fubara, who came into office in May 2023. A senior presidential adviser disclosed that Governor Fubara “pledged to make certain concessions in a bid to ease tensions.”

Another aide to the president added that the embattled governor was weighing the option of dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), so that he can be on the good side of President Tinubu. The presidential aide said:

“If Fubara joins the APC, it means the president’s chances of winning Rivers State are much higher.”

Tinubu's aide denied knowledge of meeting with Fubara

However, other presidential aides who were contacted to speak on the development said they were not on the presidential train that travelled to Europe, and therefore, did not have knowledge of the closed-door meeting.

Read also

Rivers crisis: Tinubu reportedly meets Fubara as sources share governor's likely next political step

The meeting between Tinubu and Fubara was the first of its kind since the former declared a state of emergency in Rivers, suspended the governor, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and the lawmakers in the state's legislature.

On March 18, President Tinubu, in a national broadcast, stated that “months of intense political instability” had crippled governance activities in the state, which by extension, threatened national stability.

Tinubu appointed sole administrator in Rivers

The president then announced the appointment of a sole administrator in the state who is a former Navy Chief, Vice‑Admiral Ibok‑Ete Ekwe Ibas.

Seven governors elected on the platform of the PDP have kicked against the move and filed a suit against it at the Supreme Court, to challenge the constitutionality of the decree, while demanding the return to democratic rule in the state.

Recall that the political crisis in Rivers had paralysed governance in the oil-rich state. It was all about the power struggle between the governor and his estranged political godfather, and now the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Read also

2027 election: 4 key PDP governors allegedly set to defect to APC, report lists names

Wike speaks on how Tinubu stopped Fubara's impeachment

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that he was not happy with President Bola Tinubu's declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state, adding that he had pushed for the outright removal of suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Wike, who spoke at a media chat on Friday, April 18, explained that President Tinubu ultimately saved Fubara from being impeached because he was not happy with the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers, but the president effectively saved the embattled governor from being removed.

Source: Legit.ng