It was gathered that Ibas arrived at the forecourt of the Aso Rock Villa at exactly a few minutes to 1pm on Wednesday, amid growing outrage over Tinubu’s unprecedented move to suspend a democratically elected governor and dissolve the state’s legislative arm.
President Bola Tinubu is currently in a closed-door meeting with the man he handpicked to take over Rivers State’s affairs, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
This meeting is coming barely 24 hours after the president controversially declared a state of emergency in Rivers State.
It was gathered that Ibas arrived at the forecourt of the Aso Rock Villa at exactly a few minutes to 1pm on Wednesday, amid growing outrage over Tinubu’s unprecedented move to suspend a democratically elected governor and dissolve the state’s legislative arm.
On Tuesday, Tinubu, in a nationally televised broadcast, wielded his executive power to suspend Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
He had cited “prolonged political instability, constitutional breaches, and security threats” as justification for the drastic measure.
The move, widely condemned by opposition parties, civil rights groups, and legal experts, has further inflamed the volatile political battle between Fubara and his estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Rivers State has been in turmoil for months as Fubara, who Wike anointed as his successor, attempted to break free from his predecessor’s grip.
The crisis reached a boiling point late last year when Wike’s loyalists in the state assembly moved to impeach Fubara, triggering violent confrontations, police crackdowns, and counter-legal actions.
Despite several interventions by the presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the political warfare only escalated, paralysing governance in the oil-rich state.
With tensions soaring, Tinubu’s emergency declaration effectively neutralised Fubara, handing absolute state control to Ibas, a retired naval chief who served as Chief of Naval Staff under former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2021.
Ironically, Tinubu, during his time as the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), vehemently opposed these declarations, describing them as “a dangerous trend in governance” and “a ploy to undermine democratic institutions.”
His past statements, now resurfacing, expose a glaring contradiction in his current approach to the Rivers crisis.
SAHARA REPORTERS
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