Daily Independent gathered that the governor, after arriving the quarters used for sitting along Aba Road in the morning in compliance with the recent Supreme Court judgment, met a locked gate, and all efforts to gain access proved abortive.
The visit of the governor to the Assembly sitting venue followed a letter by the governor to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, on Tuesday, notifying the Assembly of the governor’s intention to present the 2025 Rivers State Appropriation Bill before them on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 by 10a.m.
Speaking at the gate of the lawmakers’ sitting venue, the governor expressed shock that he was denied access into the premises to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill despite formally notifying the leadership of the House of Assembly of his readiness to do so.
The governor emphasised that, in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, it was pertinent for every actor to be more interested in saving the economy of the state and ensuring that public sector workers are not subjected to untold hardship.
He said, “For that reason, I made all frantic efforts to reach the speaker, which I believe, he cannot deny that, and other members of the Assembly.
“I went further to send WhatsApp information to him and others, notifying them that I will be coming by 10 O’clock this morning to present the budget so that there won’t be any reason why Rivers State will be in any fix because of me, as being alleged.
“But it was unfortunate when we got there this morning, we were denied access, and the next story I am hearing is that we didn’t make any communication. But I leave it to God who sees in secret places.”
Governor Fubara stated that he did everything needed to be done to ensure that the situation was properly sorted out, but believes that when the lawmakers get instruction, maybe, later, they will comply with the Supreme Court judgment.
The governor said: “I had to bring this up because I am aware of some news going round in the media that there was no communication, and that I was not complying. They even said that I was not making any effort. So, I feel it is an opportunity here where everybody can hear from me and understand the situation that we are facing.
“Like I said, nothing lasts forever. Even the greatest power, one day, it will end. What is most important is what we do with the power, and I have chosen, even if I have the power as they claim, and that I don’t know how to use it, I do not intend to abuse my powers.
“Because power, when you abuse it, is what leads to this kind of situation. I will not abuse it. I will continue to work and operate with so much restraint because I know that there is life after power.”
Fubara Not Sincere, Playing To The Gallery— Rivers Assembly
Meanwhile, the Rivers State House of Assembly has disagreed with the claims by the state governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, that he was blocked from entering the House to represent his 2025 Appropriation Bill.
The House said it never received any official communication from the governor indicating his interest to bring his appropriation bill to the floor of the House.
The Spokesperson of the House and Chairman, House Committee on Information, Dr. Enemi Alabo George, described the claims of the governor as a mere comedy skit scripted to paint the House in bad light.
George recalled that on March 3, the House of Assembly wrote to the governor requesting him to bring his 2025 appropriation bill to the lawmakers following the judgment of the Supreme Court.
He said: “We were the ones, who immediately after that judgment appealed to the governor to bring his appropriation bill. We acted immediately because we have the interest of the state at heart and didn’t want Rivers people to suffer any harm.
“Despite withholding our entitlements for over a year and demolishing our chambers, we still wanted him to hasten up the presentation in the interest of the progress of Rivers.
“We indicated our intentions in that letter and even gave him a timeframe because of the urgency of the matter. To regularise his appointments, we also urged him during our subsequent sitting to submit the names of his nominees for the positions of commissioners and some boards’ membership for screening and confirmation.
“But the governor rebuffed our pleas. We sent employees of the Assembly to deliver these resolutions to him but as usual they turned them down at the gate and even brutalised them. We resorted to engaging the services of a courier company.
“But he still did not heed our call forgetting that there are essential services like hospitals, schools and others to be funded. Our intention was to finish everything about the budget on March 15th so that we could send necessary information and documents to relevant agencies of the government to allow the release of Rivers allocations at the end of March. But with what he is doing, we don’t know what he wants to achieve.
“How can he turn around to claim that we blocked him from re-presenting his budget? This is the height of insincerity. We even need the budget to be passed because the governor has been owing us our entitlements for more than a year and without the budget we can’t get our entitlements.
“The governor and his team simply and deliberately acted Wednesday’s drama with a singular motive to tarnish the image of the Assembly”.