…as Wike, Fubara sign agreement
Major actors in the Rivers State political crisis, Governor Sim Fubara and his immediate predecessor, Nyesom Wike, on Monday, agreed to resolve the weeks-long conflict.
The agreement was reached after President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders met with with Governor Fubara; a former governor of the state, Peter Odili, and the immediate past governor, Wike, and other stakeholders at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
According to a resolution signed by the warring factions on Monday night, President Tinubu directed that all matters instituted in the courts by Governor Fubara and his team in respect of the political crisis be withdrawn immediately.
Also, all impeachment proceedings initiated against the Governor by the state House of Assembly should be dropped immediately.
Governor Fubara, Wike; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Speaker, Rivers State Assembly, Martin Amaewhule; PDP Chairman, Rivers State, Aaron Chukwuemeka and APC Chairman, Rivers State, Tony Okocha signed the resolution.
According to the resolution, “The leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly as led by the Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule shall be recognised alongside the 27 members who resigned from the PDP.
“The remunerations and benefits of all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and their staff must be reinstated immediately and the Governor of Rivers State shall henceforth not interfere with the full funding of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”
President Tinubu also directed that due to the inhabitable state of the Rivers State House of Assembly building, the lawmakers “shall choose where they want to sit and conduct their legislative business without interreference and/or hindrance from the Executive arm of government.”
Furthermore, Governor Fubara, who had earlier presented the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to four members of the Assembly “shall re-present the state budget to a properly constituted Rivers State House of Assembly.”
President Tinubu further directed that the names of all commissioners in the Rivers State Executive Council who resigned their appointments because of the political crisis in the state “should be resubmitted to the House of Assembly for approval,” adding, “There should not be a caretaker committee for the local governments in Rivers State” declaring the dissolution of the Local Government administration as “null and void”.