Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has accused the now-suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, of failing to prevent militants from attacking oil pipelines in the state. Fagbemi made this claim while defending President Bola Tinubu’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
Fagbemi stated that while Fubara may not have directly instructed the militants, he did not take steps to stop them.
He explained, “We are in a democracy. There were what I will call telegraphing of the militants, I will say, by the governor. And the reason I say so is, when he began, he said oh, he will let them know when it was time to act. Let us say it was false. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week later, they swung into action. You saw or witnessed the vandalisation of oil pipelines.”
The Attorney General further noted that Nigeria’s economy depends heavily on crude oil, and any attack on pipelines is a direct threat to the nation. He stressed that Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly had to be suspended because they failed to maintain a stable environment for governance.
President Tinubu had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on Tuesday, suspending Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the State House of Assembly for an initial six-month period. He cited political instability, constitutional violations, and security threats as reasons for the decision.
The political crisis in Rivers State has been ongoing for months, largely due to a power struggle between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. The situation worsened in December 2023 when Fubara ordered the demolition of the state’s House of Assembly complex.
The tension escalated further when 27 lawmakers, who were loyal to Wike, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). This led to legal disputes regarding their legitimacy as members of the Assembly. On February 28, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that these lawmakers were still valid members of the Assembly and criticized the governor’s actions as unconstitutional. The ruling noted that Rivers State had effectively become a one-man government due to the Assembly’s dysfunction.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, governance in the state remained in crisis, with the executive and legislature unable to work together. By March 2025, the state’s annual Appropriation Bill had still not been passed.
The security situation worsened on Monday night when an explosion occurred on the Trans Niger Pipeline in Bodo Community, Gokana Local Government Area. Another explosion was reported on Tuesday at a pipeline manifold in the Omwawriwa area of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area.
Citing fresh security reports, President Tinubu expressed concern over the recent acts of vandalism, which he claimed were carried out by militants allegedly supporting Fubara.
To restore order, the President appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Étè Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator of Rivers State. Ibas, who served as Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021, is expected to oversee governance in the state until stability is restored.
