As the battle of supremacy between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his erstwhile godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, festers with a fresh wave of resignations of Wike’s loyalists from Fubara’s cabinet, ANN GODWIN writes that the development could pave the way for the governor to become the authentic driver of state’s affairs.
From May 30, 2023, less than 24 hours after Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was sworn into office, indications emerged that he was not fully in-charge of his administration as the first four commissioner-nominees sent to the state House of Assembly for screening and confirmation were former cabinet members of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
The four nominees were former Attorney General of the state, Prof. Zaccheaus Adangor; former Commissioner of Works, Dakorinama George-Kelly; former Commissioner of Finance, Isaac Kamalu; and former Commissioner of Education, Prof. Chinedu Mmom.
The list was followed by another batch of five commissioner-nominees on October 26, 2023, also alleged to be Wike’s loyalists. The final list comprising names of 10 additional commissioners-nominees and Special Advisers, among others, was also said to have been influenced by Wike, who is now the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Guardian gathered that of the 18 cabinet members, Wike allegedly appointed 16, some of whom had served eight years in his administration. Furthermore, Fubara’s Special Advisers were said to have been appointed by his estranged political godfather while he (Fubara) appointed only his Personal Assistant (PA).
Political observers during the period had raised concerns on the implications of Fubara not determining who he appoints into his government, warning that recycling the old eggs would not give room for younger politicians to rise.
According to the State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sydney Tambari Gbara, the commissioners were not just appointed by Wike but were also sending their memos to him for approvals while the sitting governor was only directed to assent to the memos for money to be released.
Some youths and elders in the state, among other stakeholders, had expressed their displeasure and dissatisfaction over the situation in the media. But the governor calmed frayed nerves, saying the appointees merited the positions because “they worked hard and well” while serving under his predecessor. He had added that their wealth of experience would usher in a new dawn; but little did he know that he was treading a dangerous path.
As such, he continued to contain the early warning signals that reared their heads within the first three months of his administration. But they seemed endless. It was gathered that at a point, the governor became very uncomfortable with the seeming control of his programmes and policies as well as open confrontations by some commissioners in his administration, and attempted some resistance, which led to the impeachment moves against him on October 30, 2023, by pro-Wike lawmakers.
Although Wike came under harsh criticisms at the peak of the crisis by many who accused him of “holding the state hostage,” the Minister during a live interview on Africa Independent Television (AIT), on November 24, 2023, expressed disappointment at the conduct of the governor, stating that he doesn’t like “ingrates” and that money and power would always reveal the nature of a person. He further added that Fubara diverted the situation to “ethnic politics.”
The crisis in the state further deepened between December 15 and 18, 2023, when nine commissioners resigned from Fubara’s cabinet. Those who resigned included Commissioners for Justice and Attorney General, Adangor; Finance, Kamalu; Works, George-Kelly; Education, Mmom; Special Duties, Emeka Woke and Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mrs. Inime Aguma.
Other cabinet members who exited office were Commissioners for Environment, Austin Ben-Chioma; Housing, Dr. Gift Worlu and Transport, Dr. Jacobson Nbina.
They hinged their resignations on personal principles, conscience, other commitments, etc.
While the gale of resignations was on, the two factions of the state House of Assembly held parallel sittings. While pro-Wike lawmakers held their sitting at the Assembly quarters, the lawmakers loyal to the governor sat at the Government House.
The crisis took another turn on December 11, 2023, when the 26 lawmakers loyal to Wike defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The development created a tense and chaotic environment in the state, prompting President Bola Tinubu to initiate an eight-point peace pact between Wike and Fubara.
Among the peace terms were: “That the names of all commissioners in the Rivers State Executive Council who resigned their appointments because of the political crisis in the state should be resubmitted to the House of Assembly for approval.
“That the parties in the feud agreed to recognise the leadership of Martin Amaewhule in the Rivers State House of Assembly and not that of Edison Ehie. The two camps agreed to recognise Amaewhule and his 26 allies who decamped from the PDP to the APC.”
Sequel to the agreement, Fubara resubmitted the names of pro-Wike resigned-commissioners to the Assembly for screening. On January 15, this year, the House screened and reconfirmed them with the usual ‘take a bow and leave’ on grounds that they had been previously screened and confirmed as cabinet members. While swearing in the commissioners on January 24, this year, the governor, who assigned them back to the respective ministries they supervised before they resigned, said: “I urge you to do the right thing. I can see how heavy your hearts are. I don’t blame you. You were caught in the crossfire.”
Observations by The Guardian show that the purported peace brokered by the President is not working out. Emboldened by public sympathy towards his administration over the crisis, Fubara has begun to talk tough while the returnee commissioners, on their part, are increasingly becoming confrontational to the governor.
Recently, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Woke, made uncomplimentary remarks about the current administration, which has attracted calls on him to apologise to the governor but he was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report. Woke was Wike’s Chief of Staff as governor.
Issues that led to the fresh wave of resignations
A SOURCE close to the matter told The Guardian that some other pro-Wike commissioners find it difficult to demonstrate commitment and loyalty to the Fubara administration, hence their decision to quit his government. Just last week, two pro-Wike commissioners, who were among the nine returnees, resigned after the governor redeployed them to other ministries. The two ex-commissioners were Adangor and Kamalu. The Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, had approved the redeployment of Adangor to the Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office) while Kamalu was moved to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment but both of them rejected the new roles assigned to them. Adangor in his resignation letter said he resigned due to alleged interference by the governor in his duties, while Kamalu in his own letter stated that the peace sought for in the state was yet to be attained.
The Guardian gathered that the main reason for the reshuffling and redeployment was because the actions and activities of the duo were allegedly teleguided by Wike, which hurts the current administration.
The resignation of Adangor and Kamalu brings to four the number of commissioners who have resigned since the presidential peace pact was signed.
The Commissioner for Power, Henry Ogiri, and his Works counterpart, George-Kelly, had resigned in March this year following their appointments by the Federal Government.
There are, however, optimisms in some quarters within the state that this new wave of resignations would clear the moles in Fubara’s cabinet and enable him to become the “real governor.”
For a legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Dr. Chukwuma Chinwo, the gale of resignations by pro-Wike commissioners would help the governor to know where he stands and those who are for him and against him.
He noted that the nine commissioners who resigned at the start of the crisis last year and were returned have demonstrated lack of honour, respect and commitment to duty.
Chinwo explained that the governor has the right to appoint and withdraw responsibilities or even reassign duties to any of his cabinet members, stating that the constitution is clear about that.
He noted that the government could function effectively without the ex-commissioners.
“With the resignations of the commissioners, no vacuum will be created despite the activities of Assembly members who are also loyal to Wike.
“The governor can operate especially as he has special advisers and permanent secretaries. He can operate effectively. I even tell people that a governor has the power to appoint acting commissioners pending the formal approval and confirmation of those appointees by the House of Assembly.
“There are rooms for acting Commissioners and they can work effectively. We had an acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who acted for over four years. So, the governor has the power to appoint acting Commissioners,” he said.
On the implications of the current wave of resignations, Chinwo said: “The implication is that it will reduce the powers of Wike to having more moles in Fubara’s government because he had a mole in the Attorney-General for instance. “There is a case that I am involved in which we sued the Attorney General representing the Governor of Rivers State; we sued Martins Ahmewhule, the Speaker and four members of House of Assembly, and shockingly the Attorney-General was defending the pro-Wike House of Assembly members that they are right in their actions.
“So, this development will not only weaken Wike’s power to have inside intelligence in the present administration, those insiders who he wants to use to create crises will disappoint him.”
For a Research Development and Policy Expert, Sunny Dada, the fact that some returnee commissioners resigned again is “a conflict indicator.”
According to Dada, their actions show that whatever peace pact they pretended to have signed in Abuja was a fluke and didn’t work.
Dada also agreed that the governor can get acting commissioners or use permanent secretaries to work should the pro-Wike Assembly refuse to accept his nominees.
He further noted that it is strange to hear that commissioners in a particular government have their loyalty attached to a past governor.
“At least, in advanced democracy, we see that the loyalty of a public officer is to the state, to the citizens. But in our clime, the loyalty of public officers usually rests with the one that appointed them.
“So, speaking from our context, it is very strange to see that commissioners in Fubara’s government have their loyalties to Wike instead of the governor. The recommendation may have come from Wike but the fact is that the governor is the one that approved their appointments; their loyalty should be for him because ultimately, his loyalty is also to the citizens,” Dada said.
He reasoned that the Wike group would restrategise, adding that the ex-commissioners were like their eyes in the government.
“So, since they have been given a technical knock-out by reshuffling because the governor didn’t want to sack them so it does not look like he is disrespecting the President who ordered him to bring them back, so he will not be accused of not implementing the peace pact; they will re-strategise,” he added.
He said the strategy could come in various ways as early warning signs, urging the security agencies and relevant institutions to quickly rise up to ensure that they nip whatever that is coming in the bud.
Some residents, who spoke with The Guardian on the matter, said the political battle in the state would be a long one because the House would most likely not confirm any new list of commissioner-nominees sent by the governor.
“So, automatically Rivers State will be without commissioners for Justice and Finance for a very long time because the governor must submit the names of any new person to the House of Assembly for approval. We already know what is going to happen at the House,” Emma Chidindu said.
