Our reporter/ Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State on Wednesday revealed that the intention of the man who detonated an explosive in Port Harcourt Tuesday, was to blow up the Presidential Hotel.
Fubara, who made the disclosure when the Senate Committee on Privatization led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu visited government house in Port Harcourt, said the failed attacker targeted the facility that was accommodating high profile individuals including the members of the Senate committee to justify the call for imposition of a state of emergency in the state.
“The idea was that as you heard 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, Fubara said.
“But you see, when you are with God, even your own 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”.
The governor wondered why it seems that the law is silent or inactive to take its course over offenders because somebody appears to be bigger than the law on the agitation because there is nowhere in the country where tenure elongation for former local government chairmen has been an issue.
He further clarified that he is not fighting anybody but rather 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.
According to him, there is no governor in Nigeria who can take 10 per cent of the abuse railed at him by former local government council chairmen.
The governor explained he has taken those insults and attacks in his strides without going hard at the purveyors because their plan is to distract him, stressing that he has remained focused on delivering good governance and democratic dividends to Rivers people.
“Where on earth can the tenure of local government chairmen be elongated? You were a former governor, was it tried in your time? Even those of you who are Senators here, even in your own states, has anyone tried this before?
“Is it that the Constitution that governs Nigeria is different from the one that operates in Rivers State? These are the very pertinent questions we should ask.
“Why should it be that when it comes to the case of Rivers State, the law is always silent? Is it that there is somebody bigger than Nigeria? That is the question I want you to go back with.”
“I tell you, we know everything that is happening, and you know it, everybody knows it. We should be bold enough to look at the faces of people and tell them the truth.
“I am not fighting anybody. If I am fighting, people will know that I am fighting; my pattern will change. What we are doing is to defend ourselves, we can’t just fold our hands. Only a tree will be standing and somebody will come and cut it off.
“It doesn’t happen as a human being. If you know that danger is coming, you shift. What we are doing is just to protect ourselves. So, distinguished Senators, I am not fighting anybody.”
“Somebody thinks or some people feel they own life. I don’t own life. The person who owns life is God. What we are doing here is to serve the people of Rivers State because God has given us this opportunity.
“It doesn’t matter the channel the opportunity came from. But the most important thing is God, and nobody takes the place of God in anything,” he added.
The governor told members of the committee to factor in the interest of Rivers State as they recommend the privatisation and commercialisation of public companies, saying that when the state buys stakes in such companies, it can be protected and supervised to be viable.
“I will also appeal to you that in this process of privatisation, anything that has to do with our own state here that needs to be privatised, the Rivers State government will be interested.
“Because you can’t come here and own our property when we have the resources to have shares or to acquire some portion of it.
“So, as a committee, if there is anywhere you can support us; if there is anyone that is still available, let us know, and let us get the details so that we can own it.
“It is only when we own it that those assets can be protected. It is only when we own it, that is when those assets become viable to the State, and also become viable to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he noted.
In his remarks, the Chairman Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu, said they were in Rivers State to carry out oversight duties on some projects under their purview.
Kalu commended Governor Fubara for his love for peace, determination to offer quality governance and keep pace with providing the right climate to engender economic growth to all residents in the state.
The Senate committee chairman also urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to sheath the sword and call his supporters to order as a commitment to fostering peace and putting the interest of the state above all considerations.
One person was killed in an explosion along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The explosion which occurred at about 9 am Tuesday involved one person who may have inadvertently triggered it.
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