Anger is boiling over in Rivers State since Governor Siminalayi Fubara announced his withdrawal from the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship primary and the eventual emergence of the former Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Rep. Kingsley Chinda as the governorship candidate of the APC.
Although, Governor Fubara sounded philosophical in the announcement and pledged to support whoever emerges as his replacement, urging his supporters to stick with the party, the political dynamics in the state may hardly align with the governor’s position. The governor has won so many admirers across the spectrum of Rivers residents who have been craving for his return for a second term. The bulk of such admirers are the state workforce who the governor has turned around their career prospects through labor friendly policies that were non existent throughout the eight years of Nyesom Wike administration as governor.
Many civil servants who had stagnated on a particular grade level and ranking for more than eight years have had their appointments generously reviewed, while openings were created for new employees to join the service, among other pecks like the annual Christmas bonus of N100,000 for all levels of public servants. The same applies to the retirees who experienced a new lease of life by regularly getting their pay as at when due, without the endless and energy sapping physical revalidation exercises that produced nothing at the end of the day which was the hallmark of Wike’s era.
Observers say Governor Fubara was able to achieve this much because he maintained reasonable distance from Wike, which apparently was one of the things that put a wedge between the governor and the FCT minister. “So Fubara’s ouster through Wike’s orchestration to many is like forcefully removing breast from the mouth of a lactating baby, ” a civil servant lamented.
But beyond the civil servants, the ethnic configuration in the state has been unabashedly tinkered with by the enthronement of another Ikwerre candidate less than eight years after the FCT minister vacated the seat as governor.
Observers say the ouster of Governor Fubara would have been taken with some sense of equanimity, if he was replaced with someone else from the riverine divide which has been denied the position for many years until Governor Fubara was elected. Similarly, proponents of ethnic balance also point at the Ogoni axis of the state with four local government areas, but has not produced either a governor, deputy governor, chief judge or even speaker since the history of the state.
Late Senator Barinada Mpigi from the Ogoni extraction was being touted as the most likely choice for the FCT minister to fill that vacuum. But as Mpigi couldn’t make it, observers say Ogoni is not lacking in men and women who could have equally be taken to give the people a sense of belonging. That would have also mean that the governorship position is retained within the Rivers South East Senatorial District where Governor Fubara hails from.
In a television interview, newspaper columnist and Ogoni activist, Dornu Kogbara openly condemned the choice of Chinda describing it as rather insensitive. She said: “Kingsley Chinda is a nice man, but I feel he should have rejected the offer to become the APC governorship candidate from Wike because it’s wrong. Chinda comes from more or less the same village as Wike. We have had three or four Ikwerre governors. Chinda is Ikwerre as well. It’s insensitive for Wike to bring another Ikwerre candidate. There’s never been an Ogoni governor, deputy governor, speaker, or chief judge in Rivers State.”
She emphatically declared ‘war’ against Chinda. “I’m going to fight Chinda over this governorship thing. It’s not personal because I like him, but for ethical reasons, Chinda should have refused to play this role. He knows it’s not his turn. His ethnic group’s turn”.
Also speaking, Niger Delta rights activist, Ms. Ann-Kio Briggs, expressed deep concern and frustration over Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s withdrawal from the APC governorship primaries. She stated that the political confusion surrounding Fubara’s gubernatorial ambitions stems not from the Rivers people, but from excessive interference by the APC leadership and the Presidency. Ms. Briggs blamed the All Progressives Congress (APC) for creating deep uncertainty and instability in Rivers State regarding whether Fubara would run on their ticket.
She heavily criticized the level of interference from federal actors, warning that attempting to override the organic support the governor enjoys from his people will not bring peace to the state.
Meanwhile, reports indicate massive wave of defections is rocking the APC in Ogoniland, with furious party supporters openly regretting ever supporting former Governor Nyesom Wike against Governor Siminalayi Fubara. The angry stakeholders, youths and elders accused the political structure in the state of continuously sidelining Ogoni people despite their population, contribution and sacrifices since the creation of Rivers State in 1967.
According to them, since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, no Ogoni indigene has been allowed to govern Rivers State, while Ikwerre politicians have continued to dominate the state’s power structure for decades. The protesters described the latest political moves as “an insult to other ethnic nationalities,” alleging that Wike is now trying to impose another loyalist from his own local government and ethnic extraction on Rivers people again.
“We have suffered political exclusion for too long. Rivers State does not belong to one ethnic group or one political family. Enough is enough!” one of the aggrieved leaders reportedly declared. The visibly angry Ogoni indigenes questioned why prominent Ogoni sons and several qualified Riverine leaders have repeatedly been ignored whenever discussions about governorship succession begin.
Read also:
- Breaking: Gov. Fubara withdraws from APC governorship primary
- APC declares Kingsley Chinda Rivers governorship candidate for 2027 hours after Gov. Fubara’s withdrawal
- Fubara: ‘I remain a member of APC’
“Are there no capable Ogoni sons? Are there no qualified Riverine leaders? Must power remain in one circle forever?” they asked. They further warned that 2027 will no longer be business as usual, declaring that Ogoni people have now resolved to unite and project one of their own for the governorship seat.
In a strong message to other ethnic groups, they called on the Riverine axis, Kalabari, Opobo, Okrika, Etche, Ekpeye and other marginalized groups to join forces with them to “liberate Rivers State from political captivity. This is no longer about party politics. This is about fairness, justice and equity. Rivers belongs to all of us, not to one man and his brothers,” they said.
On the whole, the sentiment in Rivers State is tilting highly against the APC and this will not only speak loudly against the governorship candidate, but president Tinubu especially with an Obi who but for Wike’s alleged manipulation won the state in 2023.
