Presidency May Make Yet Another Frantic Attempt At Peace Building In Rivers if…

There are indications that the Presidency which is keeping a wary eye on Rivers State as the fight between two formidable sides in the Rivers crisis escalates may likely intervene.

It would be the second time, if it agrees to meddle in the Rivers crisis, that the nation’s Presidency would intervene.

Sources that are following developments in Rivers hint that President Bola Tinubu who has vowed to remain neutral is under some pressure to do something.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara had on inauguration day ordered his Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to go after the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike  who is being roundly accused here of using his position as the immediate past Governor to acquire State assets.

Fubara  who revved up his rhetoric vowed in a video that has gone really viral to bury anyone or group of persons who have dared literally to “point a gun” at him and gone ahead to “pull the trigger.”

On the other side of the divide, Wike and his supporters are dangling an impeachment threat, even though their voices have not been as loud since Fubara’s side obtained an injunction restraining Wike’s lawmakers from parading as members of the State Assembly.

And went ahead to elect a new Speaker, Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo to replace Edison Ehie who resigned his position to take up the role of Chief of Staff.

Our information suggests that given the pressure that is building, the Presidency may be compelled at the last moment to invite both parties to appear before the nation’s number one citizen.

Rivers State is critical to the economic survival of the nation which is struggling to harness all available resources – human and material – to rejuvenate the economy.

Given the presence of several sensitive oil facilities which dot the Rivers landscape, it would be suicidal for the government at the centre to ignore the oil rich State.

A prominent elder who spoke under anonymous conditions to the Port Harcourt Telegraph remarked. “It is safe to posit that the peace deal brokered by the President has completely collapsed.

“What is left as the gladiators fight in the open is the paper on which the terms of agreement was written and signed.”

It is not clear at whose instance President Bola Tinubu might be contemplating to invite leaders of the warring factions to Aso Villa.

Whereas there were claims when the President intervened at first that it was Fubara who allegedly approached him for help, there is no sign at this time that the Rivers Governor is the one now piling pressure to rekick-start the peace process.

Rather, pressure is gradually piling around Minister Wike who is about to face the kind of treatment that Amaechi received under his tenure in 2015.

It is perhaps a clear indication as the saying goes that what truly goes around also comes around.

Wike had set up a probe, ostensibly to indict Amaechi who was bound to play a critical role in the Buhari administration.

The effort didn’t work.

Somehow, Amaechi miraculously appeared before the Senate with a copy of the report of the probe panel ordered in Port Harcourt which cleared him of any liability.

On the basis of convincing evidence presented before the Senate, Amaechi successfully went through screening  and eventually became the country’s Minister of Transportation.

Wike is however Minister, but a past that may be troubling  is steadily creeping into the present. Will Wike survive the kind of treatment that he dished out to Amaechi now that the possibility of a probe is looming large?

Fubara is talking tough. For those who are seemingly reading his body language, this may mean that the Rivers Governor is on top of the situation as the conflict deepens.

Some well placed citizens seem to think that pro-Wike forces who want to avert a messy battle with Fubara may be persuading the President who is respected by Governor Fubara to come immediately to the rescue.

On ground, Fubara is gathering momentum, particularly as more Rivers people gravitate in his direction and restate their stand that their leader cannot be made a puppet by anyone.

Outside the State, Nigerians are equally expressing strong views as political events in Rivers unfold and the combatants put all options on the table.

“Here is a sitting governor ostensibly put in place by the man before him who demanded, expected and still expects loyalty, but who it appeared wanted to also be running the government on his behalf and issuing instructions”, the Executive Director of Development Specs Academy, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, remarked on Arise Television.

Ikechukwu who reviewed the situation noted that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike is currently at a disadvantaged position as the war for the soul of Rivers State intensifies.

Noting that Wike’s disagreement with Fubara “was not a very smart thing on the part of the Ex-governor”, Ikechukwu told Tinubu’s FCT Minister that he is “taking on the man who was in charge of your finances, who knew where the bones were buried.

“He was the Accountant General of the State, and who had previously informed Nigerians how you were the one who bought forms for those who contested.

“Even that alone is a matter on which somebody will ask questions of where did you get all that funds from, among other things.

“Now the paper agreement and understanding is not working, Fubara has opened up all the flanks, and I think the person who stands at a disadvantage in the line of fire is Wike”, Ikechukwu added.

While the Fubara administration consolidates on all fronts, the celebration of its one year in office is increasingly taking centrestage across the nation.

So far, the Rivers State Government has commissioned the Aleto-Ebubu-Eteo end of the Old Bori Road and also flagged off the reconstruction of the Elele-Omoku Road.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Aleto-Ebubu-Eteo Road, Governor Alex Oti of Abia State who admitted that Fubara and himself worked for Rotimi Amaechi in the past lauded Fubara for the great efforts that he is making as governor.

Promising that he would reciprocate the kind gesture of the Rivers State Governor, Oti said Fubara cannot afford to allow those who are strenuously  trying to undermine his administration to divert his attention from state duties.

As things are, Fubara who is apparently very focused appears right now to have an edge in the battle to preserve the mandate of the Rivers people and ensure that the State governed by the rule of law is stable, safe and peaceful.

In the meantime, another project, the Ogoni-Andoni end of the Unity Road expected to create further access to Andoni villages will be commissioned this weekend.

Recall that the idea of the Unity Road was originally conceived by the Dr. Peter Odili administration.

The design of road was later extended to Opobo by the Amaechi administration, but curiously, the Ogoni-Andoni end of the Unity Road was abandoned by the government of Governor Nyesom Wike.

Some people, including Andoni sons and daughters allege, that section of the road, was abandoned because of Wike’s conflict with Prince Uche Secondus,  former national chairman of the PDP.