Amid the euphoria that greeted his return to office yesterday, Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, recalled the circumstances that surrounded his six-month absence from office and why he did not see any need to challenge his suspension.
Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu and members of the state’s House of Assembly were all suspended on March 18 in a broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declaring a six-month emergency rule following an intractable face-off between the governor and the lawmakers.
Addressing the people in a statewide broadcast, Governor Fubara hailed the intervention of Presisent Bola Ahmed Tinubu in resolving the political crisis and restoring democratic governance in a fatherly and decisive manner.
Fubara said: “On behalf of the government and the good people of Rivers State, I extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. President for his fatherly disposition and decisive interventions in resolving the political crisis and for graciously restoring full democratic governance to our state.
“Personally, I will never take Mr. President’s kindness for granted, and for that, I hereby reaffirm my utmost loyalty and eternal gratitude”.
He described the last six months of emergency rule as challenging even as he recalled the steps President Tinubu took to reconcile all the warring parties.
The governor said he resisted the pressure to challenge the emergency rule because of his conviction that no sacrifice was too great to secure peace.
He said: “It is without doubt that the last six months had been enormously challenging for our dear state under the emergency rule.
“As your Governor, I accepted to abide by the state of emergency declaration and chose to cooperate with Mr. President and the National Assembly, guided by my conviction that no sacrifice was too great to secure peace, stability and progress of Rivers State.
“This was why I also resisted the pressure to challenge the constitutionality of the declaration of a state of emergency, the suspension of democratic institutions, and all other actions that we endured during this difficult period.