SIM FUBARA AND THE DEMOCRATIC IMPERATIVE

IKE OKONTA urges that wishes expressed by the ordinary people of Rivers State during the 2023 election be respected

The Rivers State House Of Assembly at long last commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara last week, after threatening to do so since December 2023. To the undiscerning, the battle is between Governor Fubara and Nyesom Wike, his predecessor in office and who is currently Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. But that is a wrong reading of current political events in Rivers State. The confrontation is actually between the forces of democracy, anxious to press forward, and dark forces intent on imposing dictatorship on the state. I will explain.

When it became clear to Governor Fubara, six months into his first term, that Nyesom Wike was intent on a third term agenda for himself, telling Fubara exactly what to do and who to appoint to assist him in governing the state, the former told him a firm no, that he was elected to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Rivers State who elected him and not to be teleguided by man who had had his turn as governor, Wike immediately took offence and resolved on removing Fubara from office as governor.

And Nyesom Wike went about this project in a devious way. He had facilitated the election of the majority of the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and he knew they would be willing to do his bidding. The arrowhead was Martin Amaewhule, speaker of the house. Amaewhule immediately announced to the people of the state that Governor Fubara was in breach of certain provisions of the constitution with regard to financial and administrative matters as they pertain to his relationship with the House of Assembly, and that members of the house would convene to determine how to respond to this ‘’infraction.’’

The subsequent melee in the house premises, the fire incident, and the demolition of the building itself were all part of an orchestrated narrative designed to deliberately portray Governor Fubara in a bad light and prepare the minds of the citizens of Rivers State for the move of the house members against him. It was a beleaguered Fubara that had no alternative but to rely on a minority of House of Assembly members to carry on the business of government. It was either that or he would have had to throw up his hands in despair and watch the state pass into the hands of desperados intent on crippling social and economic life in Rivers State.

The interesting thing in all this is that the people of the state who had overwhelmingly voted for Siminalayi Fubara in 2023 were not consulted by Martin Amaewhule and his group about the justness or otherwise of their action. As far as Amaewhule was concerned, what mattered was what Nyesom Wike, his mentor wanted, and Wike wanted Fubara removed as governor so he could put in his place a more pliable placeholder. This is antithetical to the imperative of democracy, which stipulates that the governed must be consulted whenever a leader, no matter how mighty, decides on a policy or programme.

The ordinary people of Rivers State paid a very high price for the democratic regime currently in place in Nigeria. In February 1999, when the general elections were held in the country, Rivers State and the Niger Delta generally were in the grip of profound tension as youth battled the Western oil companies over such pressing matters as environmental devastation and poor renumeration for the oil derived from their land. As a matter of fact battle ships of the Nigerian Navy were deployed in the Niger Delta all through that period as Rivers State youth struggled to make their voices heard against the cynical megaphones of the Nigerian government which was in alliance with the oil companies.

It is not on record that Nyesom Wike gave aid and comfort to these intrepid youth during this trying period in the life of Rivers State. They battled on alone and unassisted, and in fact their struggle was one of the major reasons General Abdulsalaam Abubakar, military head of state during this turbulent period, was anxious to hand over to a democratically-elected government. General Abubakar’s hope was that with a democratic government in place nationwide, real dialogue would commence with the irate youth of the Niger Delta. The subsequent rise of such political personages as Wike and Goodluck Jonathan is due, in large measure, to the work of pro-democracy activists in Rivers State and the wider Niger Delta.

One would have therefore expected a little dose of humility from Nyesom Wike as he battles Siminalayi Fubara over the governorship of Rivers State. There is an African proverb that says that a chicken does not forget the person who plucked its feathers during the rainy season. The ordinary people of Rivers State who played a powerful role in emplacing democracy should be given their just due by Wike, and the best way to do this is to respect their wishes which they expressed in 2023 by voting overwhelmingly for Siminalayi Fubara. To do otherwise is to resort to blatant dictatorship.

Governor Fubara has not openly expressed his desire to run for a second term. But if he does so it is perfectly his right to do so. Nyesom Wike embarked on a ‘’thank you’’ tour of certain local government areas of the state last week, and in each town he went he repeated the mantra that ‘’agreement is agreement’’, ostensibly meaning that there was an agreement with Governor Fubara not to contest for a second term. This is profoundly anti-democratic. No law in the land bars Fubara from presenting himself for a second term. It is for the citizens of Rivers State to reject or endorse him in the polls.

Eminent voices like the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) are now mediating between the two parties. Gabriel Toby, a former deputy governor and a respected elder statesman in his own right has also called for calm and reason to prevail, pointing out that the move to impeach Governor Fubara would only set the political and economic calendar of Rivers State back. I agree. Like Gabriel Toby, I urge that the democratic imperative be given its head in the beleaguered state.