Following a closed-door meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, retd, in the Presidential Villa last Wednesday, there are strong indications that suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, and the 32-member House of Assembly may return on September 18, 2025.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that at the meeting, Ibas was “ordered” by President Tinubu to ensure that he submits a comprehensive handover note of his six-month emergency rule before his 10-day vacation ends.

According to a source privy to this development, the detailed handover notes should explain all the funds inherited from Fubara, revenues accrued within the six months of the emergency rule and their respective sources “as well as expenditures during his stewardship and the various projects the funds were channeled into within the period under review, with clear specifications.”

The Wednesday night’s high-stakes meeting, therefore, nailed the coffin of a frantic move by powerful forces in the National Assembly to help push for a three-month extension period for Ibas, which would have seen him remaining on the saddle till December 2025.

Those behind this move were of the opinion that, according to the source, “the three months window would allow Ibas to complete some of the key ongoing projects like the reconstruction of the demolished House of Assembly Complex, the ongoing workers verification exercise and the installation of sensitive equipment in government institutions.” If this move had scaled through the hurdle, then Fubara and all the democratic institutions would only need to wait till January 2026 to be restored.

However, with the peace deal struck “whether pyrrhic or long lasting”, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Nyesom Wike “is vehemently against such backdoor scheme and wants the emergency rule lifted as soon as practicable on September 18.”

Recall that on Saturday, August 30 after casting his vote during the local government election, Wike said the governor and Assembly members are ready to return to Government House. Two days after, the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Tony Okocha, re-echoed that the September 18 date was sacrosanct.

The source hinted that the marching order was that Ibas must submit his administrative report to the President’s table “two days before his return from vacation”, adding that “the President may likely make a pronouncement to lift the emergency rule on September 18, a date that would make it exactly six months since the state of emergency was proclaimed.”

On March 18, President Tinubu proclaimed emergency rule in Rivers to douse political tension between Wike and Fubara.

Sharing his thoughts on Fubara’s return, a Port Harcourt based human rights activist, who did not want his name in print, said: “Upon his return from vacation, Mr. President’s next foreign trip would be to New York where he is expected to attend the United Nations General Assembly. There, he is going to be face to face with advanced democracies and civil societies. It is only morally right, as a self-styled democrat, for him to lift the suspension and restore all democratic institutions in Rivers state to avoid a backlash from the harsh American media.”

Meanwhile, Fubara, who is currently in London with his family may likely return to the country anytime soon to resume duties. “When he returns, he will then be handed over a list of political appointees including commissioners that he will work with,” another source said. (Sunday Vanguard, excluding headline)