Some analysts are beginning to liken the seemingly intractable political crisis in Rivers State to the story of ‘Abiku’ told in one of Wole Soyinka’s classical poems. Abiku is like a spirit child whose mission is to torment the family by repeatedly ‘visiting’ the family by birth, only to die at the most unexpected period. The Abiku, being a spirit, after dying would reincarnate in the mother’s womb again when she conceives and complete another nine-month cycle in the womb, would be delivered, but will die at its prime or any moment it sees that the parents are beginning to look up to it with hope and assurance.
Abiku is a killjoy. Its mandate is to inflict heartbreak and perpetual sorrow in any family it chooses. Oftentimes, it spurns appeasement, no matter what is being offered. Like play, like play, as it is said in our local parlance, the political situation in Rivers State has assumed nothing short of the Abiku phenomenon, apparently defying every attempt to enthrone normalcy in the roiling political atmosphere.
What is abnormal in one finishing a term of service and handing over to another, or influencing the emergence of a successor, because that is the genesis of the whole hullabaloo that has literally shut down socio-economic development in Rivers State since October 2023.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had a free rein in Rivers as governor for eight years. He enjoyed power like a lord of the manor. He brooked no opposition, no matter who the person might be. His word was final. Even the state House of Assembly, as far as he was concerned, did not exist. The lawmakers were mere figureheads, like muscular bulls without ravenous teeth. Wike ran the show and exited when it was constitutionally due. And it was also constitutionally due for another person to take over, and Siminalayi Fubara took over on popular acclaim, having met the constitutional requirement of garnering the highest number of votes in the gubernatorial election.
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And then, all hell was let loose! Wike, who never allowed anyone to even ‘cough’ in his time as governor, now wanted Fubara to dwell in his armpit and govern the state. Initially, Fubara took shelter in the armpit, perhaps thinking that he would enjoy a welcoming aroma. But he soon discovered that an armpit remains an armpit no matter how it is deodorized. He was suffocating and wanted out.
But Wike would not have his prey slipping away. So pronto, he beckoned on his minions in the state House of Assembly to barricade Fubara’s escape route. His impeachment was plotted. But providence brought Edison Ehie, then House leader who foiled the plot, and Fubara survived. The fight thereafter escalated. The assembly was split with factional speakers. The courts were awash with conflicting judgements on the imbroglio. Then, President Bola Tinubu intervened with presidential recommendations that were observed more in breach.
The Supreme Court also came with a pronouncement that flattened Fubara and his faction, giving an undue advantage to Wike and his allies. Fubara, like a dog severely scolded by its owner, and tucking its tail between its legs, swallowed lock, stock, and barrel the judicial pronouncements of the apex court and committed to implementing all recommendations. But the Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly was not ready to play ball. So Fubara hit a cul-de-sac as the state was inexorably sliding into anarchy. The explosion at the Trans Niger Pipeline in the state became a tinderbox that brought the crisis to a fever pitch.
With a subterfuge that security in the state had collapsed, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency and suspended all democratic institutions in the state for six months. Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (rtd) was appointed to oversee the state for the period. Ibas rounded off his term on September 18, 2025, and Fubara returned to office on September 19. It was expected that all sides in the political standoff must have learnt useful lessons with a resolve to bury all hatchets and begin to project the interest of the state above narrow self-interests.
Shortly after both Fubara and the lawmakers resumed, a photograph of members of Wike’s allies and Fubara was released after a meeting they said was held to smoothen all the rough edges among all members of the family. Wike, in one of his regular media chats, also publicly acknowledged that every issue between him and Fubara and all members of the political family had been sorted out and settled. But, as it turned out, the House of Assembly was still clothed with the garb of aggression. During its first sitting after the emergency regime, the House demanded a supplementary budget for approval from the governor, who had barely resumed office after his six-month suspension.
The lawmakers also shunned state functions for which they were statutorily expected to partake. These were pointers that they still had an axe to grind with Governor Fubara.
The lawmakers are equally turning the heat on the governor, contending that critical infrastructures are decaying, especially in public secondary and primary schools, while there is N600 billion left by Ibas, part of which they contend should have been deployed to fix the decaying facilities. They further said the governor is causing bureaucratic bottlenecks by deliberately withholding the list of prospective commissioners to be screened to fill positions left following the Supreme Court verdict, which voided the appointment of commissioners screened by the Oko-Jumbo faction of the assembly.
It was also learnt that the lawmakers demanded N300 million constituency funds each after they had reportedly pocketed N350 million for the same purpose from Ibas, despite Ibas buying them brand new SUV vehicles. Currently, they are demanding brand new Toyota Hilux jeeps from the governor.
In the wake of the defection of 17 members of the assembly, including the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, to the APC, the House is said to have passed a resolution to convert their legislative quarters into a permanent chamber, even as the governor is making frantic efforts to get the assembly complex reading so he can present the 2026 Appropriation Bill before the lawmakers. To nail the coffin in their plot to frustrate the governor, the lawmakers have reportedly adjourned for Christmas break, foreclosing the planned presentation of the budget by the governor.
Keen watchers of the unfolding developments still believe that the lawmakers are acting the script written for them by Wike even as the minister had publicly declared that peace has been restored in the state. For Governor Fubara, who had apparently burnt all the bridges in a quest to play along and ensure peace in order to keep his administration focused on delivering service, this is another trying time when he must employ the wisdom of Solomon to navigate.
For some observers, the governor has only one option to escape the booby traps being laid by Wike and his allies: jump into the APC and enjoy special immunity from the president. With this, he can sleep with two eyes closed and escape the sword of Damocles hanging menacingly above his head.
