Rivers Crisis: Governor Fubara Dissolves State Executive Council

By Charles Igbo

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council – his Cabinet.

The Governor who, not a few people say has just become “his own man” dissolved his Cabinet in the aftermath of the crisis which rocked the State Monday morning.

The State House of Assembly was embroiled in a coup and counter coup which, surprisingly, saw the Governor’s loyalists gain the upper hand.

Some members of the Assembly loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike, the current FCT Minister had planned to start a move for the impeachment of the Governor Monday morning.

But on Sunday night, political hoodlums detonated explosives in the Assembly Complex. Their identities remain unknown, but there are two versions of who were responsible for the attack on the Assembly Complex.

While one version says it was meant to stop Members of the Assembly from sitting to impeach the Governor, another said it was by those against the Governor whose aim was to destabilise the State.

However, Members said to be loyal to Wike converged on the Assembly Monday morning and suspended those loyal to the Governor, including the Leader of the  Assembly, Honourable Ehie Edison.

Same Monday morning, when the Governor visited the Assembly Complex to assess the damage, he was greeted by gunshots and tear gas, which he said were fired directly at him by those he called “compromised Security Agents.”

In a counter coup, the Governor rallied round his supporters and the fallout in the State have been like claps of thunder.

First, the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, who was to preside over Fubara’s fate, and who had presided over the suspension of Edison and those loyal to the Governor was impeached and replaced by Edison.

The new Speaker quickly swung into action, suspended the Chief Judge of the State,  suspended Chairmen of Local Councils and the Lawmakers who suspended him and who planned the would-have-been impeachment of the Governor.

Now, the Governor has stamped his authority, fully, by dissolving his Cabinet. The target,  opinion is: Wike’s loyalists.