Fubara Wanted to Resign Before Rift With Wike Worsened', Prominent Elder Statesman Speaks

• A former spokesperson of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has said Rivers governor, Sim Fubara, wanted to resign from his position
• Sara-Igbe said Fubara contemplated stepping down due to the face-off with his estranged boss, the minister of the federal capital territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike
• According to the Niger Delta leader, Governor Fubara was not fully in control of Rivers state funds

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 6-year-experience covering politics in Nigeria

Port Harcourt, Rivers state - The national coordinator of the South-South Leadership Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has said Governor Siminalayi Fubara offered to resign his position before the crisis in Rivers state worsened.

Speaking on Saturday, December 16, in an interview on Channels TV, Sara-Igbe, a former spokesperson for the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), said the governor opted to resign because apart from the way forces above him prevented him from asserting his independence, he didn’t have enough control over the state’s funds and had difficulty running his government.

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Sara-Igbe alleges interference in Rivers governance

Sara-Igbe stated that but for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP's) intervention, Governor Fubara would have resigned.

He explained:

"The money coming from the federation account, Wike tied the money to one project or the other. So, when the money comes, it goes to the banks and they collect theirs from it and pay the contractors. Of course, we didn’t even know the cost of the contracts, so when this governor felt, ‘how will I run a government when I don’t have the resources’, the minister became hostile to the governor and the governor said ‘okay, let me resign if that is the case’. The PDP elders prevailed on him not to resign, thinking it would be messy."

Onochie offers perspective on Rivers crisis

Meanwhile, the former chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta Onochie, said President Bola Tinubu intervened in the feud between Wike and Fubara "because of concerns for the well-being of the people of Rivers state".

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Onochie stated this via a post on her verified X (formerly Twitter) page recently.

Tinubu’s reconciliation move has failed – APC

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Tony Okocha, the caretaker committee chairman of the APC in Rivers state, said efforts made by President Tinubu to settle the rift between Wike and Fubara failed.

Speaking at a press conference at the All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat in Abuja recently, Okocha said although he was not part of the President’s intervention, he believed the reconciliation move has broken down.

Labour Party withdraws petition against Fubara

In another related news, Legit.ng reported that the Labour Party (LP) withdrew its petition challenging the election victory of Governor Fubara, the PDP candidate in the 2023 Rivers state poll.

The LP had previously contested Fubara’s win, presenting its case to the Appeal Court in Lagos. However, the court dismissed the petition, affirming Fubara’s electoral success under the PDP banner.

Source: Legit.ng