A fresh revelation has emerged over what actually transpired in Aso Rock Villa on Tuesday night during the peace meeting brokered by President Bola Tinubu between the Rivers State’s Governor, Siminilayi Fubara, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Chief David Briggs, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Water Resources, made the disclosure after attending the meeting.
Briggs claimed that Governor Fubara was coerced by President Tinubu into signing the peace accord with Wike.
Chief Briggs said Governor Fubara signed the resolution under duress. He said there were indirect threats issued by President Tinubu before handing the governor the document to sign.
The former commissioner said he was at the Villa with other Rivers elders, who were equally invited, hence he witnessed first-hand what transpired.
He said President Tinubu threatened that there would be consequences should Governor Fubara refuse to endorse and abide by the tenets of the document which he described as a ‘presidential proclamation’.
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Briggs said: ‘I was there, so I’m a witness. What I say is primary, not secondary. We were invited for a meeting but that was not a meeting.
‘What happened is that Mr. President walked in with a written resolution, addressed us and declared that what he has in his hand is a presidential proclamation.
‘He emphasised the fact that he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and anybody who dares to say no to what he is saying would face the consequences.
‘That, in a simple layman’s word, is called a threat. Let’s get it very clear, if you are in the position of the governor, what will you do? Will you get up and go and say no to Mr President with that kind of subtle but energetic threat?’
He disclosed that most Rivers people who were present at the meeting including Adokiye Amaesimaka were shocked at the President’s attitude and decided to ask questions.
‘That being the case, one of us asked him (President Tinubu) a simple question. To be specific, Adokiye Amaesimaka asked him, ‘You said Sim should do this, Governor should do that. You have not said what the 25 or 27 Assembly members who defected from PDP to APC without consulting their constituencies and constituents, should do’.
‘And of course, you can see the situation, the President’s reaction was very clear and simple but very dangerous.’
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Governor Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads over who should control the state’s political structure since October. This has since put the state in serious tension.
Some of the resolutions issued by the President had directed that all impeachment proceedings against the governor be dropped, as well as all matters instituted in courts consequent upon the crisis be dropped, among numerous others which favour the Wike camp.
Nevertheless, the state Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, had insisted that Governor Fubara did not sign the peace accord with his former Boss under duress.
Johnson, who spoke on Wednesday in a television programme, explained that he was at the meeting and did not see the governor negotiate from a position of weakness.