PREVIEW
Siding with his mercurial Abuja minister, Nyesom Wike, the president risks provoking more attacks on oil production
President Bola Tinubu’s imposition of a state of emergency in oil-producing Rivers State where crude pipelines have been damaged in a series of attacks has secured parliamentary support – but has been condemned as partisan politicking by the opposition.
Lawmakers in both chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate approved Tinubu’s appointment of a sole administrator for the state governed by opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s Siminalayi Fubara.
PDP leader Atiku Abubakar described Tinubu’s decision as ‘unlawful’ and an ‘imposition of autocratic federal control over a duly elected state government.’ Tinubu has accused Fubara of doing little to prevent the pipeline attacks.
Close to 25% of Nigeria’s oil production comes from Rivers State, and protecting the Trans-Niger Pipeline, the target of the attacks, is crucial to Tinubu’s plans to boost oil exports. Quickly moving to guarantee the pipeline’s security, said state officials, was vital to retaining investor confidence.
But humiliating Fubara also carries real significance for Tinubu and his Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Wike, nominally still a member of the PDP, had appointed Fubara, then his protege, to succeed him as governor and defend his interests, only for Fubara to turn on his former boss (AC Vol 65 No 21, Tinubu dismantles the opposition in Edo and Vol 64 No 23, Tinubu tightens grip, opposition regroups). Last month, Nigeria’s Supreme Court ruled that Fubara had acted illegally when he governed the state without the majority of legislators loyal to Wike and ordered the central bank to withhold revenues to Rivers State.
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