Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara says he was not fighting anybody but defending the state against “predators”.

“I am, rather, defending the state against predators; I am protecting Rivers against those who feel that they own the life of others,” Fubara said when the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.

Fubara stated that the failed attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt was a deliberate ploy to strengthen the call for a state of emergency.

“It is the handiwork of detractors who want to undermine the state to achieve their evil plans,” the governor added.

Fubara further alleged that some youths were hired to engage in a protest to demand extension of tenure for former local government chairmen who had served out their statutory three-year tenure.

Governor Fubara said: “The protesters and their sponsors were aware that some members of the National Assembly were guests at the Hotel Presidential. That was their reason for the attempt to detonate an explosive device near the facility.

“In fact, there was a plan to detonate dynamite at the Hotel Presidential because you people were there. But, this God that we serve, it happened that the man who was trying to do it detonated it but just a few seconds after, it blew his hands off.

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“The idea was that as you were hearing state of emergency, by the time they finish, when you return to have your sitting tomorrow, the debate will be from somebody from this state who called you people to tell you not to come.”

Fubara wondered why the law was silent or slow to take its course over offenders because somebody appeared to be bigger than the law.

He said: “Is there nowhere in the country where tenure elongation for former local government chairmen has been an issue?

“Is it that the Constitution that governs Nigeria is different from the one that operates in Rivers? These are the very pertinent questions we should ask.

“Why should it be that when it comes to the case of Rivers, the law is always silent? Is it that there is somebody bigger than Nigeria? That is the question I want you to go back with.”

Fubara, therefore, enjoined the members of the committee to factor in the interest of Rivers State as they recommend the privatisation and commercialisation of public companies, saying when the state buys stakes in such companies, they could be protected and supervised to be viable.

“It is only when we own it that those assets can be protected. It is only when we own it, that is when those assets become viable to the state, and also become viable to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the governor added.

Speaking, the committee chairman, Orji Uzo Kalu, said the team was in Rivers State to carry out oversight duties on some projects under its purview.

Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District in the Senate, commended Fubara for his love for peace and his determination to offer quality governance.

He also commended him for keeping pace with providing the right climate to engender economic growth.

Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to sheath the sword and call his supporters to order to foster peace in Rivers.

He said: “Wike must put the interest of the state above all considerations.

“Wait for every judicial interpretation and act on judicial interpretation.”

The Star