A former Commissioner for Water Resources in Rivers State, Chief David Briggs, has alleged that Gov. Siminalayi Fubara was threatened by President Bola Tinubu into signing the Rivers peace pact.
Briggs who attended the peace meeting allege that Tinubu intimidated Governor Fubara into signing the eight-point peace resolution with Wike, his immediate predecessor and political mentor.
Chief Briggs stated that Fubara signed the resolution under duress, following alleged indirect threats issued by Tinubu before handing him the document to sign.
Briggs’ revelation came as most of the agreements were yet to be implemented.
According to Briggs, he said he was at the villa with other Rivers elders, who were equally invited; hence, he witnessed first-hand what transpired on Monday.
He said Tinubu threatened that there would be consequences should Governor Fubara refuse to endorse and abide by the tenets of the document, which he described as a “presidential proclamation.
“I was there, so I’m a witness, and what I say is primary, not secondary. We were invited to a meeting, but that was not a meeting. What happened was that Mr. President walked in with a written resolution, addressed us, and declared that what he had in his hand was a presidential proclamation. He also emphasized the fact that he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and anybody who dares to say no to what he is saying will face the consequences.
“That, in a simple layman’s word, is called a threat. Let’s make it very clear: If you are in the position of governor, what will you do? Will you get up and say no to Mr. President with that kind of subtle but energetic threat?”
Furthermore, he disclosed that most Rivers people who were present at the meeting, including Adokiye Amaesimaka, were shocked at the president’s attitude and decided to ask questions.
He continued: “That being the case, one of us asked him (President Tinubu) a simple question. To be specific, when Adokiye Amaesimaka asked him, you said Sim should do this, the governor should do that, but you have not said what the 25 or 27 Assembly members who defected from the PDP to the APC without consulting their constituencies and constituents should do.
“And of course, you can see the situation; the president’s reaction was very clear and simple but very dangerous.”
It will be recalled that Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads with each other over who controls the state’s political structure since October, a development that has since put the state in serious tension.
Some of the resolutions issued by Tinubu had directed that all impeachment proceedings against the governor be dropped and matters instituted in courts consequent upon the crisis by Fubara and his team be dropped, among others, which favor the Wike camp.
