By Our Reporter
Is Sim Fubara, the governor of Rivers State still enjoying very active network alongside his supporters in the state house of assembly, while Nyesom Wike and his G25 “legislators” have been disconnected from network area?
Two days ago, Fubara had been led to Aso Rock, like a Christmas lamb about to be slaughtered, at the instance of Wike and the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The mission was to get him to append his signature on a document that would put a seal of authority to confirm Wike’s “third term” as governor of the state.
The game plan worked. Wike signed with his red biro, to confirm his authority as the oga. But Fubara’s signature appeared in black, an apparent sign of submission to his oga. The information commissioner, Joe Johnson, has however refused to say if Fubara’s signature on the document was forged.
TNN called him repeatedly on Tuesday. Twice, he said he was in a place he could not talk. Later in the night when it was convenient for him to talk, he refused to give a direct answer to the question posed to him thus: “did the governor sign the peace document at Aso Rock?”
His response came in form of a question: “what do you want me to say? Then he added that all the state wanted was peace, but refused to define the peace as it relates to the governor’s signature. The next scene in the drama was for the commissioner to cut the call and did not answer subsequent calls that followed immediately after.
While some have said that Fubara did not sign the document that was seen in Wike’s camp as a peace document, others believe that he actually signed it, especially after the governor said at Dr Peter Odili’s Pamo University on Tuesday, that he was ready to accept and do anything for peace.
But the governor was smart enough to drop the microphone and walk away from the podium before tears started rolling off his cheeks. He looked more like a conquered man who must have been thoroughly brow-beaten by his oga.
Fast forward to the following day, Wednesday, at an Isiokpo High Court presided over by Mr Justice O. Ben-Whyte, who was to sit over and decide on suit No. IHC/230/2023 between Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly, and others.
Counsel to the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, had informed the court that he has the instruction of his clients (the 25 persons whose seats as members of the house of assembly were declared vacant) to withdraw the matter from court as a result of the development arising from the agreement of the parties in this suit.
But Fubara’s counsel, D. O. Okoro, SAN, informed the court that he does not have the instruction of his client to withdraw the matter, inferring that Fubara may not have been in agreement with the contents of the Aso Rock document, even if what looked like his signature was on it.
The court has however Okoro to confer with Fubara and report back on January 31, when the next hearing would take place, to clear the air on his true position regarding the decision to pull out of the court case.
The implication is that Sim’s network is still very much active, while those of Wike and his G25 may be having some K-leg. Since they went to Isiokpo, their network has been out of coverage and will very likely remain so till January 31.
