Following the thwarted attempt by some unscrupulous individuals to detonate an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Hotel Presidential, a five-star hotel in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has accused his detractors of a deliberate plot to instigate a state of emergency to undermine the state.
Governor Fubara made this assertion while addressing a delegation from the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
The Governor explained that hired youths had staged a protest demanding the extension of tenure for former local government chairmen who had completed their statutory three-year term. According to him, the protesters and their sponsors knew that several National Assembly members were staying at the Hotel Presidential. The plot involved detonating an explosive device near the facility to justify calls for a state of emergency.
“In fact, there was a plan to detonate dynamite at the Hotel Presidential because you people were there. But this God that we serve, it happened that the man who was trying to do it detonated it but just a few seconds after, it blew his hands off,” Governor Fubara revealed.
Governor Fubara suggested that the attempt was designed to create a crisis that would be used as evidence during a Senate plenary to argue for a state of emergency in Rivers State. He expressed frustration over the perceived immunity of certain individuals from legal consequences, especially regarding the unusual demand for tenure elongation for local government chairmen.
“I am not fighting anybody. If I am fighting, people will know that I am fighting: My pattern will change. What we are doing is to defend ourselves. We can’t just fold our hands. Only a tree will be standing and somebody will come and cut it off. It doesn’t happen as a human being. If you know that danger is coming, you shift. What we are doing is just to protect ourselves,” Fubara emphasized.
The Governor urged the Senate committee to consider the interests of Rivers State in their recommendations for the privatisation and commercialisation of public companies. He expressed the State Government’s interest in acquiring stakes in such companies to ensure their protection and viability.
In his response, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu commended Governor Fubara for his dedication to peace and quality governance. He also called for unity and urged former Governor Nyesom Wike to foster peace by calming his supporters.
“We want to plead with you, continue to be holding your people back because if your people demonstrate like the other people, we will have a state of anarchy, and it is not good to have anarchy,” Senator Kalu remarked.
The Senate committee chairman pledged to work collaboratively with the Rivers State Government to achieve goals that benefit all Nigerians, emphasizing the need to address the existing hardships and promote growth and prosperity.
