By Ayo Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, met with the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, in Lagos.
The closed-door meeting comes just twenty-four hours after the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, held a chat with newsmen on Monday in Abuja, accusing Fubara of making himself a “tool” for those who wanted to fight him but could not do so directly.
“He (Fubara) gave himself as a tool for those who could not fight me directly. Sometimes, when I go back in my quiet moment, I play the video of the speeches of the governor — what he said and did to me, I weep. Was it necessary? This is somebody who brought you, gave you food and everything. Then you became a tool for his enemies to fight him. We are all humans. When people say, there should be peace. Nobody said there should not be peace.
“How will you feel? You know what you passed through by sending your son to school and to make him a human being. All of a sudden, your son with other people came in with a gun to shoot you. Is it something that you will just forget? I have told people who do not understand what betrayal means that they may be betrayed 10 times more than this. That is my prayer. I have said I want peace but you must show that the peace you want is genuine and you must have taken steps”, Wike said on Monday.
President Tinubu had on March 18, declared a six-month emergency rule in Rivers State. The President had suspended Fubara, his deputy, and Rivers Assembly members, following a protracted political crisis in the coastal state.
Last month, President Tinubu and Fubara met in London. While details of the Lagos meeting have not been disclosed as at press time, sources within the presidency said discussions centred on peace efforts and the restoration of political stability in the oil-rich state.
Fubara had in a recent statement on May 29, confirmed that peace process is ongoing.
“We are already in the peace process. I want you to thank Mr President for his timely intervention to salvage the situation, and stabilise the polity and the State. If not for Mr President, the story today would have been different.
“I don’t know how he gets his information, but the truth is that he acted with wisdom at the right time. He is the one you should thank. And let me also thank him personally for his intervention, and the personalities across the country, who moved in and appealed to him to intervene.
“We have to come down from our high horses and subject ourselves to the peace process. And that is what we are doing. What is important is for the State to move forward. It is not about you, the interest of the State is paramount”, he said.
