Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has returned to the country and immediately resumed work after the expiration of six-month of emergency rule, which led to his suspension. He landed at the local wing of the Port Harcourt International Airport at about 12:19pm in a private jet with a registration number 5N-BTX from Abuja to the warm reception of a large crowd of supporters who had waited, singing and dancing since Thursday.
The governor was accompanied by his wife, Valerie Fubara and his chief of staff, CoS, Dr. Edison Ehie, the governor was officially received at the airport by the deputy governor, Prof Ngozi Nam Odu and other political leaders and stakeholders in the state.
Governor Fubara described the past six months of state of emergency as “enormously challenging”, swore not to take the kindness of the President for granted but abide by all the precepts of the peace agreement reached some months ago.
In his first statewide broadcast hours after his resumption of duty on Friday, Fubara pledged unalloyed loyalty to President Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Barr Nyesom Wike.
“It is without doubt that the last six months have been enormously challenging for our dear State under the emergency rule.
“As your Governor, I accepted to abide by the state of emergency declaration and chose to cooperate with Mr. President and the National Assembly, guided by my conviction that no sacrifice was too great to secure peace, stability, and progress of Rivers State.
“This was why I also resisted the pressure to challenge the constitutionality of the declaration of a state of emergency, the suspension of democratic institutions, and all other actions that we endured during this difficult period”.
Fubara said in the course of the six-month period, “Mr. President graciously brokered the peace process with all the parties successfully. Our Leader, His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and I, as your Governor, have all accepted to bury the hatchet and embrace peace and reconciliation in the best interest of our dear Rivers State.
“We believe the political crisis is now behind us and that peace and stability have once again returned to Rivers State, though not without the hard lessons learnt from the emergency rule”.
He added that the responsibility of entrenching a lasting peace in the state now rests on the Government, the State House of Assembly, political leaders and stakeholders to put aside their differences, work for the common good, and advance the interests of the people above all else. “We have a duty to ensure that the peace we have all embraced remains permanent in our dear Rivers State.
“On behalf of the Government and the good people of Rivers State, I extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. President for his fatherly disposition and decisive interventions in resolving the political crisis and for graciously restoring full democratic governance to our State.
“Personally, I will never take Mr. President’s kindness for granted, and for that, I hereby reaffirm my utmost loyalty and eternal gratitude,” he said.
