Rivers People Deserve To Know Fubara’s Agreement terms With Tinubu — Briggs
Niger Delta rights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs has envisioned that Governor Fubara’s credibility could become questionable before the right thinking members of the state, if accountability is discarded.
This is following the recent reinstallation of Mr. Siminalayi Fubara as the Governor of the state.
Niger Delta rights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has said that the people of Rivers State deserve to know the terms of agreement between Governor Siminilayi Fubara and President Bola Tinubu before the six-month emergency rule ended in the state.
Briggs, made this statement during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, lamenting that Fubara might find himself in a situation where residents would begin to doubt his credibility if there is no room for accountability.
She insisted that the people must not be left in a state of oblivion as to what goes on in their state.
Speaking, she said:
“I think it’s not acceptable when politicians make these agreements over our heads; it’s like shaving the head of someone behind their back,” she stated.
“We are the people who have paid the greatest price in all of these things, and to not be aware of the decision which will affect us, and therefore, we can’t gauge the extent to which these decisions will affect us, it becomes very difficult to flow with the politicians.
Describing the purported democratic situation of Nigeria as “an impossible situation”, Briggs added that Rivers people are still oblivious of what conditions the President had imposed on the Governor and its resultant effect on the people of the state.
Hear her:
“We don’t know what the President has insisted on, we don’t know what was agreed upon, and where that leads the people of Rivers State. So, we need to know what was agreed on,” Briggs added.
Furthermore, she urged the former sole administrator of the state, Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd.), to endeavour to render an account of the six months during which he managed the affairs of the state, insisting that the state funds spent during the emergency rule belonged to the people of the state and should be accounted for.
Fubara returned to office as the state governor following the end of the emergency rule on September 17, 2025.
Fubara returned to Rivers State on Friday amid jubilation by residents and his supporters.
He arrived at the Government House in Port Harcourt, accompanied by his wife, key stakeholders, and security heads.
On arrival at the Government House, the governor inspected his official residence and later proceeded to his office.
He and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, as well as members of the House of Assembly, were suspended on March 18, 2025, when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state, citing political instability.
Tinubu also swore in Ibas as the role administrator, who handed over the reins of power last Wednesday.
THE BACKWARDS OF WIKE-FUBARA ALTERCATION
A few months after Fubara’s inauguration as the Governor of Rivers State, in May 2023, he had a protracted war of words with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and predecessor, Nyesom Wike, over the political control of the state.
The political loggerhead transcended to the House of Assembly, which incidentally resulted in a division.
In a related development, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had accused major Nigerian television stations of fuelling the political rift between him and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Speaking in Abuja, Wike lashed out at Africa Independent Television (AIT), Arise TV, TVC News, and Channels Television, warning that they would no longer benefit from him or his allies.
“No more food for you. You sit in your studios and manufacture stories just to paint me black and incite Rivers people against me. You give your platforms to people who insult me every day without verifying facts. Enough is enough,” Wike said.
However, in what seemed like a turn of fate, in June, the President met with Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule, and other members of the assembly, signaling a reconciliation among the key actors.
President Bola Tinubu (C), Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara (L) and Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike (R) during their meeting at the Presidential Villa on June 26, 2025
Following the meeting, Wike said he and his successor had agreed to work together.
But the minister declined to disclose the terms of the agreement, saying that the most important thing was that peace had returned to the state.
Speaking during a media chat at his residence in Abuja, he said that rather than disclose details of the peace deal, he would instead allow people to speculate.
“I will allow you to speculate; it’s not my business. All I know is that peace has come.
“If you are not satisfied with that, there is nothing we can do. What is important is that peace has returned; whatever thing anybody says is not my business,” said Wike.
In a statewide broadcast, Fubara acknowledged Tinubu’s intervention, adding that the key actors agreed to sheath their swords and embrace peace and tranquility in the state.
