Tonye Cole: Without Tinubu’s intervention, Rivers crisis would have lingered

Tonye Cole, former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, says President Bola Tinubu’s intervention was pivotal to resolving the political crisis in the state.

BACKGROUND

Since 2023, Siminalayi Fubara, governor of the state, and Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), have been at loggerheads over control of the political structure of the state.

The feud sparked a political crisis which culminated in conflicting court orders and polarisation of the Rivers house of assembly.

On March 18, Tinubu imposed emergency rule in the oil-rich state in the wake of the crisis.

The president also suspended Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and all members of the Rivers assembly for six months.

He appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired naval chief, as sole administrator of the state.

The emergency rule is expected to end on Thursday, September 18.

‘FUBARA BOXED INTO STATUS QUO THAT CAUSED RIFT’

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’ on Wednesday, Cole recalled the public fallout between Fubara and his predecessor, describing it as a crisis that plunged Rivers into “a very, very unfortunate state of emergency”.

“I recall always saying the only person who can resolve the Rivers crisis when the governor, Sim Fubara, and the honourable minister, Nyesom Wike, had a very public falling out is Mr President,” Cole said.

“If he had not weighed in, there is no way the issue would have been resolved. We found ourselves in a very, very unfortunate state of emergency — one which was not welcomed at all, but that’s where we are.”

Cole said Tinubu’s involvement led to a reconciliation, though it left the governor politically constrained.

“And in the midst of all of that, there was a reconciliation between the governor and his godfather, the honourable minister. It was not a palatable situation but that’s where we are,” he said.

He added that the current political atmosphere suggests Fubara has again found himself boxed in by the same forces that restricted his independence when he first assumed office.

“Tomorrow we have the governor coming back and the scenario is like when he started — which is that he found out that he was totally surrounded and could not take decisions by himself,” Cole said.

According to him, the “status quo” is exactly what sparked the initial clash between the governor and his predecessor.

“I believe that we are finding ourselves back to the very, very beginning. Status quo revealed that he’s returned to the situation that caused him to begin his fight,” he said.

Cole added that Fubara must now make a clear choice between accepting the political conditions he previously opposed or bracing for another confrontation.

“So we are going to see if this time around he’s going to choose to live with the status quo that he fought against or go back to another fight. Only the governor can tell us,” he said.