A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and former lawmaker representing Ekiti North Senatorial District, Senator Ayo Arise, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu would soon lift the suspension on Governor Siminalayi Fubara to return to office.

Arise who commended the intervention of the president in the Rivers political crisis, noted that warring groups have agreed to embrace peace in the interest of the state.

The APC chieftain who spoke in an interview with journalists on Saturday, added that the recent statement of Vice President, Kashim Shettima at a public event was not made to vilify President Tinubu.

He argued that Shettima only appreciated former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, for saving him from being removed as Governor of Borno State by former President Goodluck Jonathan over escalation of insurgency.

The VP at the book launch of Adoke titled, “OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3 billion Nigerian Oil Block” claimed that the ex-AGF had told Jonathan that he had no power to remove a sitting Governor, raising speculation that the Vice President was indirectly condemning Tinubu for suspending Fubara.

He noted that the statement was not to attack the president’s decision to suspend Fubara over the political crisis in the state.

The APC chieftain emphasised that the two scenarios were completely different, stressing that the political tussle in Rivers would further escalate if necessary actions were not taken to restore peace and harmony.

Arise said, “I believe, what the vice president did was to go and make a comment to say thank you to somebody who did him a favour because it was a favour.

“There’s no way Boko Haram could have taken almost 14 local governments and a President will sit down and say a state of emergency will not exist to save that governor from the invaders, the Boko Haram people.

“So I think the fact that Adoke suggested to the then president that he couldn’t remove him, which is neither here nor there, even though there’s no remover in the case of Fubara. We can see that progress being made significantly towards, reabsorbing Fubara to his seat.

“And the fact that the governor and his erstwhile predecessor in office were at loggerheads, I think the best thing that happened was that the president took leadership and before things broke down beyond repairs, he had this state of emergency proclamation and I believe by and large, he followed the procedure.

“So many things in our constitution and even the constitution of America where we copied from, they are not explicitly written and they are not perfect by any means. This reminds us of the doctrine of necessity.

“When in our constitution, it was mandatory for the president to transmit to the VP and not considering the fact that the president could have a heart attack and it could be incapacitated.

“Now a president is sitting down and all of a sudden, you’re hearing that the fuel stations are being bombed, pipelines are being bombed. Should you wait for two or three days until Nigeria is no longer able to actually have a source of revenue before taking this action?

“I believe that action was taken appropriately and the procedure was followed thereafter. So for those people saying that the president does not have the powers to remove a Governor, I think it’s a no.

“The outcome would have been very different. So Adoke didn’t do Nigeria any favour or any governor any favour because if I were the president and I saw danger facing the governor and the people of the state, I would have removed the governor and put a military person there to face these people.

“And I believe the intention was not to vilify the president or to say that the president doesn’t have the powers, the two scenarios are completely different”. (Nigerian Tribune)