December 14, 2023

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Malagi, says the political crisis in Rivers State was not orchestrated by the Federal Government.

The minister, who spoke during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday, said the fact that some of the actors in the crisis are in the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu does not mean the situation in the state was engineered by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government.

“The fact that it is happening in Rivers does not mean that it is the Federal Government that is orchestrating the political crisis,” he said.

“I’ve not found evidence to say that it is the Federal Government that is engineering the crisis in Rivers State,” the minister stated, adding that “it is easy to speculate because some of the actors are people who associate with the government at the centre”.

Malagi said there have been political situations in other states like Ondo and the President had intervened to resolve the crisis even amongst the same party members.

A String Of Intrigues
The crisis in the 32-member Rivers State House of Assembly had begun as a result of a rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a position in the APC-controlled government though he is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

The Assembly Complex was demolished on Wednesday by the governor amid tight security about two months after fire gutted the complex.

The state government said the structure was no longer fit.

The governor later presented the N800bn 2024 budget estimates to the Edison Ehie-led group at the Government House. Ehie was recognised by the court while the court restrained Martins Amaewhule from using the Assembly complex.

Ehie also declared vacant seats of 25 members who defected from the PDP to the APC. The 25 members were said to be loyal to Amaewhule, who is an ally of Wike, a former governor of the state.

In October, the Assembly under Amaewhule served an impeachment notice on Fubara and removed Ehie as the House leader. However, some members of the Assembly loyal to Fubara immediately impeached Amaewhule and made Ehie the new Speaker.

Father-Son Affairs Gone Sour

Wike had revealed his grouse with his successor, saying Fubara hobnobbed with some of his political enemies after getting into office. The FCT minister had described the governor as an ingrate, who wanted to hijack his “political structure” in the state.

The ex-governor had also accused his successor of burning the state Assembly complex to prevent his impeachment, an allegation the governor denied.

However, Fubara had apologised and said Wike would continue to be his principal.

Also, President Bola Tinubu and PDP governors had intervened but there seemed to be no end in sight to the political upheaval in the oil-rich South-South state.