Chaos and Destructions: A timeline of Fubara-Wike dirty political war in Rivers

In his inaugural speech, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State promised to uphold the Nigerian Constitution and never to disappoint the people of the oil-rich state.

“The people have voted for us with much hope and expectation,” Mr Fubara said before the large crowd at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt, on 29 May 2023. “We cannot afford to disappoint them by working at cross purposes.”

He lavished praises on his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, for helping him to become the governor of the second richest state in Nigeria.

“A billion thanks are insufficient to express my gratitude to my boss and our indomitable leader. My family lacks the words to thank you. The Opobo Kingdom cannot thank you enough. Only God can reward you in commensurate terms,” he added.

But six months after Mr Fubara’s promise to Rivers people and his praise of Mr Wike, the governor and his predecessor have turned political enemies. Rivers State, dubbed the Treasure Base of the Nation, has become a theatre of chaos and destruction.

It all started with the bombing of a section of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on 29 October 2023.

Almost a year later, on 7 October 2024, three local government secretariats were set ablaze in Rivers.

Here is a timeline of the Rivers political crisis which some people have warned could derail Nigeria’s democracy.

Impeachment Attempt On Fubara

29 October 2023 – A section of the State House of Assembly Complex went into flames after suspected arsonists bombed it. This was on the eve of the impeachment attempt on Governor Fubara. The hitherto latent rift between Messrs Fubara and Wike manifested, signalling the beginning of a long political fight.

30 October 2023 – Some lawmakers, backed by Mr Wike, initiated impeachment proceedings against Mr Fubara over what the deputy speaker, Maol Dumle alleged as “misconduct, unbecoming of a governor.”

31 October 2023 – President Bola Tinubu mediated in the political rift between Mr Fubara and Mr Wike at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The mediation failed after a short while.

11 December 2023 – the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers announced their defection from the PDP to APC, citing divisions within the PDP.

12 December 2023 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt, via an order, cleared the way for Governor Fubara-backed four-member Assembly to hold legislative business without interference by the Mr Amaewhule-led faction.

13 December 2023 – Edison Ehie, the speaker of the four-member faction, declared vacant the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers who defected to the APC, setting the tone for another phase of the political fight.

Mr Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget to the four-member assembly.

But before presenting the budget, about five excavators began demolishing the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on the state government’s order around 6 a.m. on the same day.

14 December 2023 – Mr Fubara signed the N800 billion 2024 appropriation bill into law.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Zacchaeus Adangor, resigned, citing “personal principles.”

15 December 2023 – More Wike’s loyalists resigned as commissioners, increasing the tally to nine.

Fubara, Wike Sign Peace Deal

18 December 2023 – Messrs Fubara and Wike signed a peace deal at a meeting convened by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

20 December 2023 – The lawmakers withdrew the impeachment notice against Governor Fubara.

31 December 2023 – Mr Ehie, the factional speaker, who led a four-member Fubara-backed assembly, resigned.

4 January 2024 – Mr Ehie withdrew a contempt suit against pro-Wike lawmakers, suggesting the political crisis in the state was approaching an end.

17 January 2024 – Rivers Assembly reconfirmed the nine pro-Wike commissioners who resigned from the cabinet in December in the heat of the power tussle between Messrs Fubara and Wike.

22 January 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja set aside the state’s N800 billion budget signed into law in December 2023 by Governor Fubara.

Peace Pact Under Threat

26 January 2024 – The Rivers Assembly stripped Governor Fubara of the power to appoint caretaker committees for local government councils after the assembly rejected the governor’s veto against its legislation.

24 April 2024 – Governor Fubara reshuffled cabinet, and redeployed three Wike-backed commissioners. The commissioners rejected their redeployment and resigned hours later.

Peace Deal Collapses

6 May 2024 – Governor Fubara declared that Rivers has no House of Assembly. “Let me say it here, those groups of men who claimed to be assembly members do not exist,” Mr Fubara said, signalling the collapse of the controversial peace deal.

8 May 2024 – Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker from Bonny Constituency, emerged as the speaker of a three-member Rivers Assembly, creating more confusion and deepening the political crisis in the state.

10 May 2024 – Mr Fubara relocated the legislative business of the Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt.

A State High Court in Port Harcourt barred Mr Wike’s allies from parading themselves as lawmakers.

13 May 2024—Governor Fubara vowed to probe the administration of his predecessor, Mr Wike, amid political rifts between the estranged allies.

15 May 2024 – Five more commissioners resigned, citing various reasons.

21 May 2024 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt nullified the amended Rivers local government law, which granted tenure extension for the local government council officials in the state

Former President Goodluck Jonathan called for a cease-fire in the political rift between Messrs Wike and Fubara.

7 June 2024 – Rivers State Government approved N19.6 billion for the reconstruction of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex, six months after it was demolished.

18 June 2024 – Mr Fubara, in a statewide broadcast, directed outgoing council officials to vacate office immediately following the expiration of their tenure.

The crisis snowballed to street violence, leading to the death of two persons, including a police operative, prompting the police authority to take over all the 23 local government secretariats in the state.

19 June 2024: Governor Fubara inaugurated the chairpersons of the caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas in the state.

The Chairperson of the APC Caretaker Committee in Rivers, Tony Okocha, urged President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the State, saying there was a full-blown war in the state.

25 June 2024 – Dynamite exploded near Hotel Presidential along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, during a protest in solidarity with Mr Wike.

4 July 2024—The Appeal Court in Abuja reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers. The appellate court said the lower court lacked jurisdiction to grant the ex parte order it issued.

9 July 2024 – Pro-Wike lawmakers gave Governor Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the 2024 budget to them for consideration, their first legislative action after reinstatement.

17 July 2024 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt barred the PDP from conducting congresses in Rivers.

21 July 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja declined pro-Wike lawmakers’ prayer to stop Governor Fubara from spending state funds.

24 July 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja directed PDP to proceed with the conduct of congresses in Rivers state.

26 July 2024 – Again, a State High Court in Port Harcourt restrained the PDP from holding party congresses in Rivers.

A State High Court in Port Harcourt sacked Mr Okocha’s APC caretaker committee in Rivers and reinstated the Emeka Beke-led party executive.

13 August 2024 – Mr Wike vowed never to support Fubara again in his political life, saying his successor was “ungrateful”.

21 August 2024 – The PDP waded into Messrs Fubara and Wike’s political feud.

23 August 2024 – The PDP Governors Forum threw its weight behind Mr Fubara, urging the party’s leadership to accord Mr Fubara his rightful position as the leader of the PDP in Rivers.

25 August 2024 – APP in Rivers State asked Governor Fubara to seek re-election in 2027 under the party platform, claiming that the PDP had lost relevance in the state.

31 August 2024 – Mr Wike threatened to unleash hell in the state of any PDP governor who dares to take over the party structure from him in Rivers.

Confusion, Violence Over Local Elections

4 September 2024 – Justice I.P.C Igwe of a State High in Rivers orders Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct local elections in the state, using the 2023 voters register.

Gunmen again attacked APP office in Port Harcourt, the second time in less than a month, following speculations that Mr Fubara would join the party, an allegation the governor dismissed as “propaganda.”

20 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed suit seeking to sack pro-Wike lawmakers.

21 September 2024 – Governor Fubara’s allies picked APP forms for local elections, following PDP’s boycott of the exercise.

30 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja barred INEC from releasing voters’ register to RSIEC for local elections and further barred the police from providing security for the exercise.

2 October 2024 – Governor Fubara said INEC voters register was in RSIEC custody and declared two-day public holidays for residents to travel to their communities for elections.

3 October 2024 – The PDP and APC held a joint protest in Port Harcourt, demanding that local elections be called off.

4 October 2024 – Governor Fubara visited the RSIEC office and allegedly foiled an attempt by the police to “cart away” materials meant for the local elections.

Police barred operatives from providing security for the election.

5 October 2024 – Mr Fubara braved the odds and conducted local elections in the state where chairmanship candidates of APP won in 22 local councils in Rivers while Action Alliance won in one.

6 October 2024 – Mr Fubara inaugurated chairpersons at Government House.

7 October 2024 – Police unsealed local government secretariats after four months.

Hoodlums, dissatisfied with the conduct of the local elections, set ablaze the local government council secretariats in Ikwerre, Emohua, and Eleme.

President Tinubu asked political actors in the state to uphold the rule of law, de-escalate the situation, and discourage their supporters from engaging in destructive actions.

8 October 2024 – Governor Fubara constituted a seven-man judicial panel of enquiry to investigate the cause of post-election violence and make recommendations for the state government.

10 October 2024 – The Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the nullification of Rivers 2024 budget. The appellate court affirmed pro-Wike lawmakers as the legitimate legislative authority in the state.

Governor Fubara filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting the seats of the defected lawmakers remain vacant.