The reinstated Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, visited President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.
Messrs Tinubu and Fubara met behind closed doors during the visit which came just days after the Rivers governor resumed duty following the end of the emergency rule in the oil-rich state.
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President Tinubu had declared the emergency rule following a prolonged political crisis caused by the rift between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
PREMIUM TIMES obtained a video clip which showed the Rivers governor making the remarks.
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‘Why I visited Tinubu’
Speaking to reporters after emerging from the closed-door meeting, Mr Fubara explained that he visited Mr Tinubu to inform him that he (Fubara) had resumed his duties as governor after the emergency rule.
The Rivers governor said he had “a father-son discussion” with the president during the visit.
“It was not much. It was a father-son discussion. To tell him ‘thank you’ and the areas, if at all, there’s any issue, for him to guide me properly.
“So that we won’t be in any situation where there will be a crisis again (in Rivers State),” he said.
‘We’ve made peace’
Mr Fubara reiterated that he and Mr Wike have made peace and are committed to working together.
“So long as I am concerned, we have made peace. Fubara and his principal (Wike) are working together,” he said.
‘Tinubu’s intervention was timely’
Mr Fubara, in another video, said Mr Tinubu’s declaration of the emergency rule in Rivers was timely.
“I am here to thank Mr President, especially for his intervention. We all knew what was happening in Rivers State. The political tension in Rivers State.
“If he (Tinubu) had not intervened timely, nobody knows what would have happened in the state,” he said in the clip uploaded on Facebook page on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, Mr Tinubu’s spokesperson.
Continuing, the Rivers governor said: “I am also here to tell him that we are ready to hit the ground running for the state.
“I believe that my coming back after the lifting of the suspension is a new and stronger hope for our people. We’re also working with all the parties: The assembly members, national assembly members, elders and everybody. This time around, we’re working for the betterment of our dear state.”
Background
On 18 March, President Tinubu declared emergency rule in the South-southern state in the wake of the prolonged political crisis caused by the rift between Governor Fubara and Mr Wike.
The president also suspended Mr Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and the state legislators for six months.
Many Nigerians and groups, including the NBA and PDP Governors Forum, had separately criticised Mr Tinubu for the declaration and suspension of the elected governor and lawmakers in violation of the Nigerian Constitution.
Mr Tinubu lifted the emergency rule hours before the six months elapsed and asked the governor and other elected officials to resume duties.
Mr Fubara consequently returned to Rivers State on Friday after the emergency rule.
The governor subsequently returned to the Rivers Government House before making a state-wide broadcast announcing his resumption of duties.
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