The renewed brawl between Nyesom Wike and Siminalayi Fubara has moved from the State legislature into a full-blown judicial dogfight. In a fresh gambit, the proWike faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly wrote to the Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, urging him to do the needful by investigating the alleged gross misconduct levelled against the embattled governor. But even before the ink on that letter dried, the Rivers State High Court stepped in, issuing an order restraining the Chief Judge from receiving or acting on any such correspondence from the Speaker, the Clerk of the House, or any other party involved in the impeachment plot against Fubara and his deputy.
On its part, the Rivers State chapter of the APC promptly weighed in, calling on the Chief Judge to obey the interim injunction. In a statement signed by the party’s State Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, the Assembly’s move was dismissed as “a needless legislative overreach,” adding pointedly that no matter how beautifully crafted the allegations against the Governor and his Deputy may be, they remain painfully subjective in the court of public opinion. The party chairman, Chief Emeka Beke, was even more blunt, describing the Assembly’s latest step as a “choreographed legislative coup d’état against the collective interest, growth and development of our party in the state.” At this point, Rivers State politics appears set for what Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, in one of his songs, calls “Rorfor-Rorfor fight”, a messy, no-holds-barred brawl where no one truly wins.
To forestall the looming political embarrassment, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) moved over the weekend to set up a seven-man peace committee, led by Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN). Signals from within PANDEF suggest that both gladiators have expressed readiness to cooperate. Yet, observers who understand the depth of this feud and the kind of arm-twisting and humiliating concessions Wike is likely to demand, are already predicting the collapse of the peace initiative. Reports sifted from the earlier peace meeting by the duo with President Bola Tinubu was that Fubara must forgo a second term. But the entire political calculus shifted when Fubara joined the APC, effectively emerging as the party’s leader in Rivers State, a position affirmed by the party’s national leadership.
That development reportedly sent shockwaves through Wike’s camp and his allies in the House of Assembly, triggering their recent statewide campaign tours even before INEC’s whistle for the official commencement of campaigns. But beyond the facade, a Sunday Vanguard investigation of January 18 made some interesting revelations. The real trigger of the current brouhaha is deeper. The realisation among Wike’s camp that with Fubara now firmly at the helm of the APC in Rivers, their coveted second-term tickets are no longer guaranteed is at the root of the renewed squabble. In other words, this fight has nothing to do with the governor’s so-called “gross misconduct” other than the political survival of his tormentors. Having maltreated and undermined the governor for months, they now fear he could frustrate their re-election bids.
With options running out, impeachment has become their weapon of last resort, a tool of blackmail aimed at extracting his commitment for automatic tickets. Whether Fubara will yield to such terms remains an open question. Given the indignities he has endured, many believe the current standoff presents him with a rare opportunity to break free from Wike’s long stranglehold. If he misses this moment, they warn, he risks remaining politically captive, perhaps permanently. In Rivers politics today, the fight is loud, the stakes are personal, and the mask of “public interest” has all but fallen off. What remains is a raw struggle for power, dressed up in robes, resolutions and restraining orders. We wait to see how the drama ends.
• Paul Nwosu Ph.D is the immediate past Commissioner for Information, Anambra State.
