Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni has criticised Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara following the governor’s statewide broadcast on Friday.
In a post on his X handle on Saturday, Mr Oseni suggested that the governor had been “bullied and subdued.”
“Fubara is celebrating peace of the graveyard, after he has been bullied and subdued. Peace is better than war, he says, play back all his tapes for him,” Oseni wrote.
Governor Fubara, in his broadcast, explained why he refrained from challenging the constitutionality of the emergency rule declared on the state by President Bola Tinubu, saying he chose peace, stability and progress over confrontation.
“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 the sacrifice was not too great to secure peace, stability, and progress of Rivers State,” he said.
He added that he resisted pressure from his supporters to challenge the measure, describing it as a necessary sacrifice.
Fubara also commended Tinubu for brokering reconciliation between himself, Federal Capital Territory minister Nyesom Wike and members of the state House of Assembly.
“Our leader, Nyesom Wike, all members of Rivers State House of Assembly, and I as your governor have all accepted to bury the hatchet and embrace peace and reconciliation in the best interest of our dear state,” Fubara said.
The governor reaffirmed his loyalty to Tinubu and urged Rivers residents to support the peace process, while calling on political leaders and institutions to ensure it endures.
President Tinubu lifted the emergency rule on Wednesday, ending the six-month tenure of ex-naval chief, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), as Rivers sole administrator.
Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu returned to Port Harcourt on Friday, where they were received by supporters.
