Gbali has accused Wike of orchestrating moves to prolong Rivers emergency rule.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the crisis in Rivers State appears far from over as Chisom Gbali, the Commissioner for Youth under the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has alleged that there are deliberate efforts to extend the emergency rule in the state.
Speaking in an interview on AriseTV, Gbali accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his allies of masterminding moves to destabilize the administration and justify an extension of the emergency rule.
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He also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s involvement in the matter, questioning the rationale behind the emergency declaration when the state remains largely peaceful.
“There is a plan to extend it (referring to the emergency rule). Before the end of the six months, they want to incite problems that will make the President make another pronouncement. Of course, you know if there is any pronouncement, it calls for the end of the administration,” he stated.
Gbali also pointed to subtle political strategies that indicate a calculated move to disrupt governance.
“In politics, there is what we call body language. You will see that if you study the body language, that is the plan — where they set aside the subsisting projects, wanting to design a budget. But you know someone that was sent to establish peace even wants to install sole administrators at the local government level,” he added.
The Commissioner directly accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, of masterminding these disruptions.
“The former governor, who is the FCT minister, and his cohorts — the assembly members, the local chairmen whose tenure elapsed, as it were — are the people I am talking about. Because they are not at rest with the achievement of the governor, they want to distort the administration,” he alleged.
Gbali further criticized President Bola Tinubu’s involvement in the crisis, arguing that national priorities are being ignored in favor of political maneuvers in Rivers State.
“All these issues are geared towards 2027, and we are so surprised that His Excellency will be meddling in this kind of matter when there are more burning issues,” he said.
He questioned the rationale behind declaring an emergency in Rivers State while other states facing dire security threats remain unaffected.
“People are dying every day in Plateau State, but there is no state of emergency. But in Rivers State, there was a declaration of emergency when we did not have anybody hurt. In Rivers State, everyone is going about their duty, and that is why everyone is calling on the President to rescind his decision,” he concluded.
