If there were siblings in governance, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his Benue State counterpart, Hyacinth Alia, would be identical twins. There is so much that the two have in common.

To begin with, they were political greenhorns whose kernels, so to say, were cracked for them by benevolent spirits. Without any known structure, they shot their way to the executive office of their respective states; a feat made possible by their benevolent godfathers.

On getting into office, both were struck by a political virus caused by hubris, so much so that they lost their sense of humility. Believing that they have matured politically, they began moves aimed at rendering irrelevant the godfathers on whose structures they secured the votes with which they were sworn into office as governors.

In both cases, the romance between godfather and godson continued for the first few months after inauguration before power struggle began to tear them apart.

In Rivers State, Governor Fubara, during his inaugural speech, had lavished praise on Wike for helping him to become the governor of the second richest state in Nigeria. “A billion thanks are insufficient to express my gratitude to my boss and our indomitable leader. My family lacks the words to thank you. The Opobo Kingdom cannot thank you enough. Only God can reward you in commensurate terms,” he said.

Six months later, the first signs of animosity appeared as Fubara sought to end his walk in Wike’s shadow, reversing some of Wike’s policies and removing some of the key officials appointed by him. Wike, on his part, was bent on maintaining his influence, insisting that the structures on which Fubara rode into office must not be destroyed.

Soon, the crisis degenerated into a confrontation between Governor Fubara and the House of Assembly where 27 of the 32 members were loyal to Wike. The governor would not submit the state’s budget to the assembly for approval and also made appointments into his cabinet without the appointees undergoing screening at the House.

Matters came to a head on October 29, 2023 with the bombing of a section of the House of Assembly Complex on the eve of an impeachment attempt on Governor Fubara, allegedly by some foot soldiers of the embattled governor Fubara, forcing the lawmakers to relocate the venue for their proceedings to their quarters and signaling the beginning of a long political battle.

The following day, 27 lawmakers allegedly backed by Wike initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara over what the Deputy Speaker, Maol Dumle, called a “misconduct unbecoming of a governor”.

On October 31, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu mediated in the political rift between Fubara and his political godfather Wike at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The peace effort, however, collapsed after a short while, leading to the resignation of nine members of the Fubara cabinet loyal to Wike.

Governor Fubara and Wike later signed a peace deal at another meeting convened by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, prompting the lawmakers in the state to withdraw the impeachment notice against Fubara. But the peace pact again collapsed with a declaration by Fubara that the state had no House of Assembly, causing further confusion with his recognition of a three-member House of Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo. He also relocated the legislative business of the Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt.

The Appeal Court in Abuja later reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers, saying that the lower state High Court which had nullified the membership of the 27 lawmakers for defecting from PDP to APC lacked the jurisdiction to grant the ex-parte order it issued.

The pro-Wike lawmakers then gave Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the 2024 budget to them for consideration. His efforts to re-present the budget were, however, unsuccessful as he could not gain access into the assembly quarters.

The battle took a new twist when 26 of the lawmakers served a notice of impeachment to the governor over alleged misconduct. President Tinubu, however, intervened once again and saved Governor Fubara from impeachment after a meeting in which the President reportedly told Fubara point blank that he had no choice but to accept Wike as his political leader.

The embattled governor has since heeded the President’s golden advice and pledged his unalloyed loyalty to Wike as the political leader of Rivers State.

For now, all appears quiet in the state. Fubara seems to be keeping to the peace deal, sacking his EXCO and appointing new SSG and Chief of Staff. The assembly, on its part, has withdrawn the impeachment notice; a simple solution to a problem that had looked intractable. Fubara was told the simple truth: you must respect your leader, Wike.

In seeming replay of the Rivers scenario, Governor Hyacinth Alia and his political mentor Senator George Akume are currently in the trenches. The two APC henchmen recently held separate congresses in Benue, thus producing parallel EXCOs. The disagreement between them began soon after Alia was sworn in. Keen watchers of events in the state knew it would come to a head as 2027 draws closer. Now, it is in the open.

But the solution is simple: Alia needs to be told the simple truth that he is governor but his leader is none other than Akume. A river that forgets its source will in no time become extinct. Akume is today the political leader of Benue State, in fact, of the Tiv Nation; a fact succinctly put by President Tinubu in Abuja on Tuesday.

Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at a function of the APC, the President said: “Senator Akume, apart from Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, is the longest serving public servant in our current dispensation.

“He is in his 70s. He started work at the Beue State Government House.

“He was a Director of Protocol, a Permanent Secretary, a governor for eight years, a Senator for 16 years, a minister for four years and now the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.” The President ended by calling him an elder statesman.

The President advised both Akume and Alia to mend fences. He specifically told Akume: reach out to our junior brother. Please, build Benue together.

“Benue deserves peace and development. What binds us together supersedes whatever divides us.”

Speaking like a father and a leader, the President left more unsaid than he actually said at the occasion, because like the Yoruba say, oro di hun. The words of our elders are indeed words of wisdom. And wisdom, Alia knows too well, is profitable to direct. This is why he should learn from Fubara. Humility pays.

He should also learn from some others who rode to the pinnacle of power in their states almost from obscurity but nevertheless chose the path of humility throughout their tenure. (The Nation)

Update news