Rivers People Deserve To Know What Fubara Agreed With Tinubu — Ann-Kio Briggs

Niger Delta rights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has said that the people of Rivers State deserve to know the terms of agreement between Governor Siminilayi Fubara and President Bola Tinubu before the six-month emergency rule ended in the state.

Briggs, who stated this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, warned that Fubara might find himself in a situation where residents would begin to doubt his credibility if there is no accountability.

This, she said, was unacceptable to people from the riverine area of the state, where the governor hails from.

I think it’s not acceptable when politicians make these agreements over our heads; it’s like shaving the head of someone behind their back,” she stated.

“We are the people who have paid the greatest price in all of these things, and to not be aware of the decision which will affect us, and therefore, we can’t gauge the extent to which these decisions will affect us, it becomes very difficult to flow with the politicians.

“It’s just an impossible situation where we have found ourselves. We don’t know what the President has insisted on, we don’t know what was agreed upon, and where that leads the people of Rivers State. So, we need to know what was agreed on,” Briggs added.

The activist also joined the call for the former sole administrator of the state, retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, to render an account of the six months he spent managing the affairs of the state.

According to her, the state funds spent during the emergency rule belonged to the people of the state and should be accounted for.

Fubara returned to office as the state governor following the end of the emergency rule on September 17, 2025.

He arrived at the Government House in Port Harcourt, accompanied by his wife, key stakeholders, and security heads.

On arrival at the Government House, the governor inspected his official residence and later proceeded to his office.

He and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, as well as members of the House of Assembly, were suspended on March 18, 2025, when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state, citing political instability.

Tinubu also swore in Ibas as the role administrator, who handed over the reins of power last Wednesday.

Months after he was inaugurated as governor in May 2023, Fubara fell out with his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over the political control of the state.

The political conflict spilled to the House of Assembly, creating a division.

But in June, the President met with Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule, and other members of the assembly, signaling a reconciliation among the key actors.

Following the meeting, Wike said he and his successor had agreed to work together.

But the minister declined to disclose the terms of the agreement, saying that the most important thing was that peace had returned to the state.

Speaking during a media chat at his residence in Abuja, he said that rather than disclose details of the peace deal, he would instead allow people to speculate.

“I will allow you to speculate; it’s not my business. All I know is that peace has come.

“If you are not satisfied with that, there is nothing we can do. What is important is that peace has returned; whatever thing anybody says is not my business,” said Wike.

In a statewide broadcast, Fubara acknowledged Tinubu’s intervention, adding that the key actors agreed to bury the hatchet and embrace peace.