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…his poor handling of issues rubbished his govt

…how the crisis snowballed into greater dimension as Fubara tag us Wike’s sons

…Fubara needs to reassess himself and carve a fresh niche to solve Rivers crisis

Dr Gift Worlu is the Local Government Chairman of Abio/Akpor LGA, the largest in Rivers state, in this interview the seasoned grassroots politician chronicled Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration from genesis to revelation, how the governor looked elsewhere as he government catapulted into Emergency Rule, proffering solutions as to the way forward and other issues ,excerpts.

Read him:

It’s very interesting that you are from Obio Akpor, you are the chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area, and it does appear that you are also suing for peace in this matter that has now brewed between the Governor and members of the State House of Assembly. Is that correct?

Well, let me start by saying that I’m happy to be here. I came in yesterday, and the atmosphere in Abuja is peaceful, and I would like the same to be in my state and in my local government in particular.Now, what is happening in our state has a background to it, and sometimes when we discuss it, we overlook the background and just go to maybe to talk about a particular issue at hand. This impeachment is not coming from nowhere. You will recall that there were issues three months into the administration of the present Governor, and that issue to me was as a result of lack of understanding and poor handling on the side of the governor, at that time I was commissioner working with him.And I can tell you that throughout the period until when we resigned, came back and resigned again, the Governor never briefed the State Executive Council on what was going on, that for me is absolute poor handling of issue because it even shows that he doesn’t regard those of us who were commissioners at that time as important enough or as reasonable enough to entertain such issues.

Now, that matter prolonged and got us to the point where there was declaration of state of emergency, to make a long story short. And during that period of state of emergency, people sat down and tried to see how the matters could be resolved, so that when there is a return of both the Governor and the Assembly were suspended at that time, we can now move smoothly as a people and as a party.Don’t forget that Rivers State until now had PDP in total control. We were in control of the local governments; the 23 of them were under PDP control. We won all the House of Reps seats, except for one that Labour Party won. And the guy will later defect and join the PDP. We won all the senatorial seats, and of course we won all the Assembly seats, to create a record that I don’t think exists in any other part of this country.And so we thought that we were one big family that had gone out fishing and that we’ve caught a big whale. And then it was time for us to enjoy ourselves and also see how we can move our state forward, coming from the boisterous regime of His Excellency Nyesom Wike, our leader, who led us into that political struggle, and we came out very victorious.

Now, when those discussions during the emergency rule took place, some agreements were reached. And of course you’d recall that a budget was developed by the sole administrator then retired Vice-Marshal Ibas. And one of the things that happened in that budget was the fact that because Assembly provisions were not made for the assembly. So when the Governor came back, it was expected that he was supposed to do a supplementary budget to cater to the needs of the Assembly members and the Assembly Commission. And a few other things were also agreed for him to appoint commissioners to work with him, and then generally work with all of us members of the party who had said, okay, let bygone be bygone. But since he came back, he has refused to do any of those things.And instead he plays to the gallery, I’m sorry to be saying this because he’s still the Governor of our state, but he plays to the gallery. And sometimes I blame all of this on a culture that we have created for ourselves as politicians, a culture that rewards incompetence.

So where we are now is that it’s not important whether I am for impeachment or not, or whether anybody for that matter is for impeachment or not.What matters is that we need to appreciate the fact that this assembly exists for a reason. And one reason, as I know it, that a state assembly exists, or any assembly anywhere exists, whether it’s National Assembly or the legislative councils as we have them in the local government, is to check Executive excesses. Of course, you know what happened during this Christmas period. Some monies were paid to the accounts of Assembly members, N100,000 and the Assembly people have asked, who appropriated this fund? Is the money belonging to Rivers people.The Governor cannot give us N100,000 at will. It has to be appropriated for. So from where did you get the money that you are sending to us? Or is this thing a bait or kind of trap that you are setting for us? So we will receive the money and then tomorrow EFCC will come and ask us how we got that money and all of that. The N100,000 not USD? Naira not USD, as ridiculous as it sounds and it may look, it’s an important issue.

We’ve seen people go to jail for, I recall that in this country many years back, a minister was sacked because he received a gift of wristwatch and he happens to be a Rivers person anyway. But that’s by the way.So the point here is that the Assembly exists to ensure that people who are in Executive positions like myself, don’t just do whatever they like. So if we’re saying that we are for impeachment or we’re against impeachment, we have to put it in context. And for me, the context here is that the Assembly members who have the responsibility to check the excesses of the Executive and the Governor in this case, have pointed out a number of infractions.It is now left for the Governor to answer to those questions and then clear the air. If he has not done anything wrong, then of course the impeachment will not stand. But if he has done something wrong, of course he should face the law. That is the only way we can have a sane society.

Let’s not be too sentimental about these things.So you believe that the lawmakers that are now asking for their colleagues to reconsider, they’re being sentimental?

Not necessarily being sentimental. They have a right to say, okay, because of maybe where we’re coming from, can we still see whether we can tarry a bit and all of that, which is what I think they’re doing. But overall, it is now left for the rest of the members because it’s just two out of 26, right? It’s not left for the rest of the members to think that the plea that they’re making is reasonable or not.But in my view, if we get to the point where people do things, you’re in government office, you do something against the law, and then we come to radio stations and TV stations and go to organisations like PANDEF and all of that to go and discuss it as if that is government, that will not all go well for this country and it doesn’t matter who is involved. If the President of our country does some things that are unconstitutional, the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Reps have a duty and that is why we have elected them, that is why they collect our money every month as allowances and their salaries, that is why we call them honourable.They should honourably perform their duty of calling the President to order. If it is a Governor or local government chairman, you must be on your toes, knowing that there are people who are watching, you can’t just do anything you like. And then when the big stick is raised, you now run to court of public opinion. And some of these people who talk in the public space, they do so sometimes largely out of ignorance of how things work. Yes because if we didn’t have need for state assembly, why did we constitute them? And these people represent the constituencies that make up the state. What I believe they are saying is based on what the rest of the state wants. Have you heard what members of the opposition in your state are saying? Yesterday, members of the Labour Party defected to the ADC in your state, in Rivers State. And some of the things that they had to say were very uncomplimentary about the members of the State House of Assembly. They believe that they are just an extension of the minister of the FCT, who is from your local government area. As a matter of fact, I think the thank you tour that was done by the minister around the different local government areas came to an end on Sunday in your local government. You were at that gathering?

Yes, I was the host. And the people who came out there, a lot of them pledging their loyalty, they said very strongly there that they know at the federal level who to vote for come 2027, but they do not know who to vote for in 2027, but they know who not to vote for come 2027, indicating to the ordinary person that the Governor might most likely not get a second term if it was left to them.

So big questions as to what exactly, when you say the people on the street, when you say the constituents, and when you say what the lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly are doing, some people will say, do they really represent the interests of the people who elected them, or are they representing some other interests, contrary to what the people of the state who elected them would like?

Okay, now, the statement that you made reference to, I was the one who made it.

Oh, you were?

Yes, I made that statement, and it’s a deep statement, and that’s why maybe it is now re-echoing, and it’s clear. I’m the Chairman of Council elected by my people. We elected the Assembly members. The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly comes from my local government. He represents the constituency one of Obio Akpor. We have another rep, Lady Mrs. Emilia Amadi, who represents constituency two, which is where I come from, as well as the FCT Minister.

Now, we sent them there to represent our interests, and when I came out there and spoke about the fact that when it comes to who will be president, that we know where to go, but when it comes to governor, we don’t know where to go yet, but we know where not to go. It’s informed by the fact that, I come from a human psychology behaviour background. I used to teach in the university. I resigned for this office, and I know that virtually all human activities are purpose-driven. It is more when it comes to issues of economics or economy and politics.

People don’t go joining political parties as if it were, how would I call it now, a fun party. It’s not a thing of fun. It’s about who gets what, when, and why. It’s about the control of the machinery of states.And so when we came together and invested our time, energy, money, and everything that you can think of to elect a governor, we did so in expectation that at the end of the day, there will be a point where we will sit down and decide who gets what and why.Before working for the Governor, I barely knew him. I’m a Rivers person just like the Governor, but I didn’t know him, but we belonged to the same political family under the leadership of the then Governor, who is now FCT Minister.And I can tell you that, and the minister himself has echoed this before, that if it was an open contest, the Governor will not come 50th position of all the people who wanted to contest that office.But out of the magnanimity of our leader, don’t also forget that the current Governor worked closely with the former Governor as an Accountant General of the states, and he pleaded with the rest of us, say please, can we give him a chance? I think he’s a loyal young person who understands the working of the system. Let’s work with him.I’m sure you didn’t know him before now, because he has never been in the political space, and as a personality trait, I see him like an introvert, somebody who is on his own, a little bit withdrawn kind of person and it’s even showing now that he’s in the office of Governor of River State. If you know Rivers State very well, from the time of Odilli to Amaechi, even to Omeha, and then Wike, you know that Rivers Governors are people who are there setting the pace for others to follow if you like. And then we expected that he would be able to manage the affairs to make sure that all the various interests are not neglected.

There were people who had to surrender their ambition for him, because the ministers then as leader told them to do so. If I can tell you, and I want to tell Nigerians that, when people were eliminated one way or the other, and we got to the point that it was remaining just the Governor and the then Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Isaac Kamalu, in the process of trying to get that one person who will now stand for us, the Governor himself, the current Governor himself, nominated Kamalu to be governor because Kamalu at that time was his boss as commissioner for finance. He was accountant general.He said there was no way he was going to contest an office with his boss but in the wisdom of the leaders of our party and the system, they said for him to even say this means that he’s a very humble, loyal person. Let’s give him a chance. And then he goes there, he forgets everybody. Somebody was the Director General of that campaign, the person of Bro. Felix Obua. Somebody was chairman of the party at that time, Ambassador Desmond Dakobo. Somebody was chairman of the Elders Council. I served in the campaign committee, several other people, we brought money, we brought our time, we brought energy.

But you were made commissioner, weren’t you?

Yes, I was made commissioner, but the question is under what circumstances did we work? How freely did we work? As soon as he became Governor, he saw the rest of us as Wike’s people, as if he himself is not a Wike person. If anything, he’s like the first son of Wike. I am maybe somewhere down the line, just like other people. He became, by virtue of his office, he became the first son of Wike. And we expected him as senior brother to carry all of us along and treat us like his brothers. But he will soon label us Wike people. And we said no problem. We are Wike’s people, yes because we know this Wike. Let me tell you, part of the issue here, which is what Nigerians sometimes keep asking questions, who is the leader? Why are we not saying that the Governor is leader and all of that? You don’t become leader by position. It’s not position that makes you leader. What makes you leader is your performance and the results that you’re able to bring.

Since Alex Ferguson left Manchester United as coach, it has never been the same in Manchester United. Since Arsene Wenger left Arsenal, it has never been the same. That’s the power of leadership.His Excellency Nyesom Wike, as chairman of Council in 1999, was the leader of my local government. At that time, we had a senator from my local government who reported to him as local government chairman. We had a House of Rep member from my local government. They reported to the council chairman because he provided leadership. Fast forward, when he had issues with Amaechi and they parted ways, Amaechi went to the APC. Wike assumed leadership of the PDP and would later contest that election and he won. He won in 2015, he won in 2019, he won in 2023.

Which for you cements his position as leader of the state?

Yes, that’s what leadership is about. The question now is, is it leader of just the political family or leader of the PDP because now the governor has left the PDP, he is in APC.He is the political leader of the state.

Now, even what we have now in Rivers State, there is no APC or PDP. You said so earlier. I didn’t say so.

Okay, there is no PDP or APC as far as we are concerned anymore.

There isn’t?

Yes, there’s a renewed hope family that all of us belong to.
When you said there are no political parties in Rivers State, it’s a little worrisome because it is public knowledge that members of the House of Assembly and the Governor of the state moved from PDP to the APC. So when you are saying now, someone of your status in Rivers State, saying that there is no political party in Rivers State, then it begs the question, what exactly is happening? Is there going to be, when you are going to contest the next election, are you going to contest on the renewed hope party or what exactly?

You know, in our churches, sometimes you have a particular church having an event and inviting other churches to join them and they will all come together under what is called the body of Christ. We don’t quarrel about it.But when politicians come together in the interest of peace, in the interest of protecting their interests, in the interest of justifying, in our case now, the goodwill that we have enjoyed under the presidency of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola, Tinubu as a state, don’t forget that politics is local, all politics is local.And Rivers people, we have seen what we have never seen before. The kind of goodwill that we have enjoyed, whether it is in terms of projects in Rivers State executed by the federal government, whether it is in terms of appointments of our sons and daughters, whether it is in terms of the good relationship that we enjoy from the President, we have decided as a people that the time has come for us to keep party aside and work together in the overall interest of our state and the people and that’s what I mean.

I belong to the PDP. But when it comes to the issue of the election that is coming in 2027, I am not PDP. I am for Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. I am a member of the Renewed Hope family. That’s the point I’m making. And all of us are in that Renewed Hope family including the Governor and that’s where the FCT Minister is leader.

The question now is how will members, do you think that members, because PANDEF is trying to intervene in this thing.

You believe that, well, infractions, well, they haven’t quite said that, but they have asked very senior members of their team to intervene. And people will be wondering, isn’t this a little too late because we’ve seen at least two high-level interventions.

The very first one we saw before last, I think sometime in 2023, we saw the President inviting members of the key political actors to the Villa. And we thought that peace had been achieved. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the situation. Last year, we saw a total breakdown and the state of emergency declared in Rivers State. And then we saw attempts during that emergency period to try and reconcile the warring factions. And it did seem like some measure of peace was achieved at the time. When the Governor came back, he seemed pretty quiet. The minister as well seemed pretty quiet. Until only recently again, we saw moves and the Governor defecting to the APC, declaring that he was given a form 0001 one in the state, etc. And then, questions of the statements he made as to if he’s following Bola Asiwaju, he’s not following “corne-corner”, he’s going straight ahead. And people started wondering what is going on. I mean, has matters broken down again? And then, we now heard the former Governor of the state, the FCT Minister also responding and saying, who is following “corner-corner”? And asserting, so to speak, his own leadership or his own authority within the state political circle. So people are wondering at this time, given where we are, and of course, we saw the Assembly last week, broadcasting live their own proceedings, and I will not call it a threat, I will say their own attempt or their move to impeach the Governor of the state. So people know now, very certainly that all is not well within the politics of Rivers State. So given where it has gotten to now, do you think that all of these attempts to try and intervene and bring about peace because you said, when you came into Abuja, what you saw was peace, and that you would like such a situation to reign within your state. Do you believe that these interventions can bring about such a situation? Or do you think that this has since gone past the Rubicon?

Well, in my place, there’s a saying that when a husband and wife have issues, and the matter is brought to the Council of Chiefs. The duty of the Council of Chiefs is to put aside the differences and see how they can bring them together. But ultimately, these two individuals will go to their house, and the Council of Chiefs will go to their own houses. It is what the both of them make of what the Council of Chiefs has told them that will tell whether there is peace or not. I talked to you before about poor handling of affairs. If you wake up this morning and you decided to dress in the way you are dressed, it’s your personal matter. Nobody has a right, not even maybe your husband. Maybe he can say, oh, I like the way you are dressed, or I think you should do this but it’s your personal matter. But when it has to do with a matter of even what your husband will eat, because it affects him, you need to ask him, darling, what if I do this or I do that? Then when you talk about the state, you know that you cannot decide as you like. I also talked to you about the issue of incompetence. We saw the Governor of Delta State defect recently. You saw how that defection happened. We saw which other governor defect. A lot of governors have defected, even Bayelsa State. The day he defected, he did so with people. He called people around, because it’s not your personal thing.

When it happened in Rivers State, what did you see? It was one man standing alone. That’s not leadership, because leadership as I know it. It is said that if you think that you’re a leader and nobody’s following you, you’re just taking a walk.So the man has the yam. He has the knife. He’s the governor. He decides how he wants things to be. If he wants peace, he will decide. If he wants war, it’s up to him.

What do you think he needs to do now? What he needs to do since he became Governor, since he came back after the emergency rule, of course he came back and we’re already in office as chairman. We’ve never had a meeting with him. He has never called us. He has never called the Assembly for any meeting. He has not called the elders of the party and the system that he belongs to. And it culminated in his defection, which he did alone.But you heard also at some point that the Governor did say that that wasn’t really up to him, that he assumed that the Minister of the FCT was going to call that meeting. So who is leader at that point? I’m asking you now. If he thinks that it is the minister that should call the meeting, who is the leader?

See, as chairman of council in my local government, I know who my leaders are. If I want a meeting to hold, I reach out to them. I say, leader, I think we should do this and that and there should be a meeting for us to agree on how to move forward. That’s how it’s done. It doesn’t make me leader. But I am responsible for what happens in my local government. Of course, you saw the event that we had on Sunday. You saw the crowd there. You saw the enthusiasm of the people. It’s a function of the organic unity of purpose that we have in that local government, all of us working together.I have very senior members of the party in my local government including the FCT Minister and for every singular action that I take including coming to this studio, I let them know. If they say don’t go, I stay back because I believe they probably know more than me, they probably have a better understanding of things more than me.I can go back later and say, leader why did you say that I shouldn’t go? And they will explain to me. You have to have a relationship with people. But like I told you, a personality that is introverted and for crying out loud, this is where sometimes I think that there should be science in our politics.You don’t just throw up people, you don’t just allow anybody to become anything. We talked about testing people for drug use before we allow them to go into office, then you should also think about the personality of the individual.If somebody is to occupy the office of accountant general and he is not somebody who is talking too much, that is fine. But for you to be governor of a state, you must talk oh because you remembered how Nigerians were saying we have not heard from our leader, we have not heard from the President because you must talk.So you do believe that the leader in this situation made a mistake.

Is not the leader that made any mistake, I am only talking generally the way we go about leadership selection.

You talked about the magnanimity of the leader, you talked about the fact that he was the least favourite of all of the people to emerge and then you now said in terms of quality…

No, in terms of his political profile I meant.

But you have added personality to it.

Yes, I am saying that so many other things should be considered. He said this because from a human resources perspective, when you want to hire somebody and I teach this in the school, when you want to hire somebody for a job, you look at the person’s technical competence.

For example, for you to be a journalist, you have your training as a journalist. Then your character is also important. Your height may be considered and so many other things will be considered.The matter in Rivers State is certainly a development we will keep our eyes on especially with PANDEF trying to get involved as well as the lawmakers who are now saying that perhaps their colleagues should take a second look at this particular development.I don’t mind that there is peace, so long as it is anchored on justice and understanding. And when there is finally peace, people should take responsibility for sustaining it and in this case the Governor has very huge responsibility to ensure that there is peace in Rivers State.

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Super Eagles head coach, Éric Chelle, has said his team will fight secure third position at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The three-time champions will face the Pharaohs of Egypt in the third-place match at the Mohammed V Stadium, Casablanca on Saturday.

Nigeria finished second second at the previous edition of the AFCON hosted by Cote d’Ivoire.

Chelle said his team can’t afford to go back home empty handed this time around.

“We have to go back to Nigeria with the third place,” Chelle said during his interaction with the media on Friday.

The Malian has been credited for the Super Eagles’ impressive display in Morocco.

The 48-year-old is already looking to injecting new players into team despite the uncertainty surrounding his future.

“If God gives me the chance to be the coach after the AFCON, I’d love to bring in more players for the team,” he added.

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There was confusion among residents of the Odo-Kekere Community in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State following a building collapse in a local public school.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday evening after school hours, sent fear into residents in nearby buildings who were jolted by a thunderous sound.

Lagos State Government, Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Public Schools (SCRPS), while confirming the collapse, said the affected building was a classroom block in a bungalow.

It, however, stated that “no casualty was recorded at the building collapse”.

“All of our students are in perfect condition. The state government regrets the unfortunate incident,” it revealed in a statement on Friday.

Gov Orders Probe
The agency said that classified information reveals that the classroom block had already been marked for demolition to construct a befitting classroom.

It also disclosed that the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the immediate relocation of the pupils to nearby schools.

“However, a classified information from the SCRPS office reveals that the classroom block had already been marked for demolition in order to construct a befitting classroom edifice that will accommodate the huge population of students in the school.

“The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has also ordered immediate relocation of the pupils to nearby schools, so as not to disrupt their academic activities.

“A team of the officials of SCRPS will be visiting the school today to have an on-the-spot assessment of the incident in order to enable the government to work out modalities to begin immediate construction of an ultra-modern classroom block that will accommodate the huge population in the school,” it added.

Build Collapse
At least major incidents of building collapse have been reported in the nation’s commercial capital in the last six months.

In April 2025, a one-storey building under construction reportedly collapsed opposite the Idi Araba Central Mosque, killing one and injuring three adults.

In the same month, a three-storey building housing a local restaurant collapsed on Oremeta Street, Ojodu-Berger, leaving at least one dead and multiple people rescued.

In May 2025, a two-storey building under construction around Otta Ona Junction, near the Mobil Filling Station bus stop, Ikorodu, collapsed, resulting in three deaths and nine rescues.

In July 2025, a three-storey building collapsed on Asesi Lane around Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, injuring occupants and prompting rescue operations.

In September, a two-storey building collapsed on 4 Modupeola Street, Mangoro bus stop, Alimosho, with six people rescued.

A building collapse was reported on October 27, 2025; the building marked as distressed collapsed on 54 Cole Street, Cemetery Bus Stop, Oyingbo area, leaving one body recovered and 21 people rescued with injuries.