By Abiola Olawale
An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and 2023 governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has declared that suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, will exercise “zero powers” upon resuming his duties following the end of the state of emergency.
Cole, a prominent businessman and co-founder of Sahara Group, who contested against Fubara in the 2023 elections, claimed that Fubara’s ability to govern independently has been purportedly curtailed, describing the situation as one where the governor would find himself “in a complicated situation” upon resumption.
Cole, who spoke ont Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, said Fubara would not be able to make any decision as a governor without interference.
He said: “We cannot be in a situation where we have an elected governor of a state, like Rivers State, which is a very critical state not just for the people of Rivers but Nigeria as a whole, and what you then see is that you have an elected governor that has zero powers. I don’t think it portends well at all.
“It’s extremely difficult, and I think the governor will be finding himself in a very difficult situation. First of all, the way politics has played out in Nigeria, almost every situation is that a governor, in leaving office, looks for somebody who he believes can continue whatever agenda they had moving forward.
“But time and time again, we find out that where the new governor or whoever has come in as governor is left alone to run his administration, then things progress.
“However, when such doesn’t happen…almost always we have ended up in this whole godfather-godson fight, and it’s never been good for democracy.
“Everywhere that fight has occurred, the people have tended to suffer a lot more. My prayer is that as we come back, because we don’t know what we’re going to see starting from tomorrow, the one thing that we are sure about is that the governor is not in a position to make any decisions,” the politician added.
The APC chieftain, however, advised Fubara to find a way to reach an agreement with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to allow him [Fubara] to make certain decisions as an elected governor.
“What I would do if I were him would be to now sit down with the honourable minister and appeal for some leeway to allow certain decisions to be taken by me as governor, and others to be taken by him, whatever peace agreement they had.
“The truth is that we do not know the details of that peace agreement, so I cannot tell the extent or the limits of the powers that he has now.”
The New Diplomat reports that this comes after Rivers State has been a hotspot of political instability since late 2023, when tensions erupted between Fubara and his predecessor, the current Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The crisis escalated dramatically in December 2023 after Fubara demolished the state House of Assembly complex.
In a bid to restore order, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on March 18, 2025, suspending Fubara and appointing Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) as sole administrator.
