Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State, has declared that he is not at war, with anyone.
During a courtesy visit by the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialization on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, he stated, “I am, rather, defending the state against predators; I am protecting Rivers against those who feel that they own the life of others.”
Fubara stated that the failed attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt, was a deliberate ploy to strengthen the call for a state of emergency.
“It is the handiwork of detractors who want to undermine the state to achieve their evil plans,” he declared.
The governor alleged that some youths were hired to engage in a protest to demand for extension of tenure for former local government chairmen who had served out their statutory three-year tenure.
“The protesters and their sponsors were aware that some members of the National Assembly were guests at the Hotel Presidential, that was their reason for the attempt to detonate an explosive device near the facility.
“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 few seconds after, it blew his hands off.
“The idea was that as you were hearing state of emergency, by the time they finish, when you return to have your sitting tomorrow, the debate will be from somebody from this state who called you people to tell you not to come.”
Fubara wondered why the law is silent or slow to take its course over offenders because somebody appears to be bigger than the law.
“Is there nowhere in the country where tenure elongation for former local government chairmen has been an issue?” Fubara queried.
