Supporters of the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, who converged on the Government House awaiting his return, have started leaving.
The immediate past local government chairmen and other political bigwigs loyal to Fubara were gathered as early as 6:00 am.
They were, however, disappointed as the governor’s whereabouts remained unknown as of 5 pm on Thursfsy.
Governor Fubara and his deputy had been out of office for six months after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing a political crisis.
The emergency rule was, however, lifted on Wednesday night.
Tinubu asked the governor, his deputy, and members of the state House of Assembly to resume.
The Assembly members had their first plenary on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the emergency rule was suspended.
Arise Television correspondent in Rivers State, Friday Olokor, who gave an update on the situation during the Morning Show programme, said the state remained calm despite political tension.
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The former Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, officially exited office and achieved a symbolic handover to the reinstated Governor of the State, Sim Fubara, in a state broadcast.
In his final state-wide broadcast, Ibas urged the people of the state to support Fubara as he resumed his duties of leading the state.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had suspended Fubara six months ago while declaring an emergency rule in Rivers State.
However, the president lifted the emergency rule on Wednesday while reinstating Fubara.
Providing updates on the situation in the state, Olokor said the absence of the governor has created uncertainty and a vacuum in governance, with residents anxiously waiting for clarity.
He explained that members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, which remains factionalized, were holding separate meetings to continue legislative activities.
Olokor noted that the political divisions had deepened the challenges faced by the people, who continued to bear the brunt of the crisis.
He added that there were expectations that both factions of the Assembly would work towards reconciliation to prevent a repeat of past political crises in the state.
He said: “Yes, thank you very much, as is expected right now in Rivers state, Port Harcourt specifically, the atmosphere is cool. There is no problem. The fact is that, right now, the whereabouts of the governor are not still known, even though there are speculation that he might come in today.
“Rivers state is being bandied as the hotbed of political antagonism, but from what we are seeing right now, the atmosphere is cool, calm, cosy. There’s no problem. And for the House of Assembly, we are still expressing some members of the House of Assembly right now.
“Well, like, as you know, a leadership is not supposed to have a vacuum. But since the governor is not around down, the atmosphere is tense, and the people of Rivers are waiting because nobody really know the whereabouts of the governor.
“So as it is now, the sole administrator, everybody, they are waiting to see what’s going on. But with the way it is now, nobody knows the time the governor is going to be around and how the handover is really going to be.
“Whatever I am going to tell you is going to be what I would call a political conjecture. For right now, it is the same, and nothing has really been known about the whereabouts of the governor, whether he’s going to come or not.
“Of course, normally, since a new the government is coming back, now, the feelings is that the members of the state assembly, even though factionalized, will be meeting in separate places to really put the acts together, because the state has suffered a vacuum in terms of legislation.
“The people have really suffered like it is said that where two elephants fight, it is the ground that suffers. The people of Rivers state have suffered a lot, and it is believed that they should come together to write, put things together, to really move everything forward.
“Right now, the members of the House of Assembly, it is believed that they might be meeting somewhere, the 20 members of the House of Assembly belonging to the APC and the other three. It is understood that they are meeting separately, trying to put this in order to make sure that the act of legislation continues.
“Definitely based on fillers, individually, there’s no way you cannot rule out the fact that factions will still be there, even though elections have been held and won.
“What matters is they coming together to put the past behind them, to move ahead, because the state, the people of the state have suffered. And the crave here is that history should not repeat itself again.”
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