Rivers State Governor Sir Siminialayi Fubara has claimed that the recent explosion near Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt was an attempt to fabricate insecurity and push for a state of emergency in the state.
This statement came during a meeting with the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, led by Chairman Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
Fubara stated that the explosion, which occurred during a protest by supporters of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, was a deliberate act intended to coincide with the committee’s visit.
He suggested that the perpetrators aimed to give the impression of heightened insecurity in the state.
The governor clarified his position, saying he is not in conflict with anyone but is focused on defending the state and protecting its supporters.
“I am not fighting anybody. I am defending the State against predators and protecting supporters of the interest of Rivers State against those who feel that they own the life of others,” Fubara said.
He further alleged that the failed attempt to detonate the explosive at the five-star Hotel Presidential was part of a strategy to support the call for a state of emergency by those seeking to undermine the state.
Fubara accused the same individuals who discouraged the Senate Committee’s visit of orchestrating the act to gain political points.
Addressing the delegation, Fubara explained that some youths were hired to protest for the extension of tenure for former local government chairmen who had completed their three-year terms.
He said the protest and the explosive attempt were planned to coincide with the presence of National Assembly members at the hotel to bolster the call for emergency rule.
“As a matter of fact, let me tell you, I know of everything that is happening… the (protesters) were aware that you are in the state. So, there was an attempt to create a serious problem,” Fubara disclosed.
He detailed how the explosion plan failed, “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 a few seconds after, it blew his hands off.”
Fubara continued, “The idea was that as you were hearing the state of emergency, it will be so that by the time they finish when you return to have your sitting tomorrow (Thursday), the debate will be from somebody from this state who called you people to tell you not to come. He will now raise the issue of a state of emergency, and say, after all, distinguished colleagues saw it happen while you were in Rivers State, that you saw what happened.”
The governor emphasized his belief in divine protection and justice, “When you are with God, even your child who is planning evil, will go and tell somebody that, God is with this man because he is clean, this is what my father is planning. That is what is keeping us in this State.”
Fubara expressed concern over the apparent lack of legal action against offenders, questioning why the law seems inactive when it involves influential individuals.
He noted, “There is nowhere in the country where tenure elongation for former local government chairmen has been an issue.”
The meeting concluded with further deliberations on the state’s security and governance issues, as the Senate Committee continued its visit in Rivers State.