The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, on Wednesday, alleged that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State tele-guided militants to blow up pipelines in the state.
He made the allegations while justifying President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State, following the protracted political crisis, which engulfed the state.
Fagbemi, who met with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly before speaking with newsmen, alleged that Fubara became culpable in the blowing up of pipelines when he put militants in the state on stand-by because of impeachment threats on him.
According to the AGF, the Governor deliberately did nothing to disuade the militants from taking destructive action on critical national infrastructure.
He said: “We are in a democracy. There were what I will call telegraphing of the militants, I will say, by the governor. And the reason I said so was when he began, he said, ‘oh, he will let them when it was time to act,’ to the militant.
“Let us say it was wrong. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week after, they swung into action, vandalising oil pipelines.”
He said for a nation that relies almost totally on oil, for anyone to touch the pipeline, he is not only an enemy of Rivers but Nigeria.
He also blamed the governor and the members of the state house of assembly for what he termed as unruly behavior, which culminated in a toxic atmosphere where governance in the state was jeopardized.
He shrugged criticisms that the president’s action was hasty, noting that people were already living in fear while others were dying.
Fagbemi justified the Governor and his deputy’s suspension because it is an extraordinary situation.
According to him, no responsible government would sit back and watch an ugly situation in the state to get out of hand without taking steps to salvage it.
Fagbemi also said the destruction of the State House of Assembly, allegedly by the Fubara’s government preventing the lawmakers from discharging their responsibilities was the genesis of the crisis which warranted the presidential declaration.
He explained that, the President indirectly gave Fubara a soft landing by allowing all warring parties to the crisis make amends within six months.
He said already impeachment threats were dangling before the governor, pointing to the fact that the state was in jeopardy and all the stakeholders were lost for solution.
The AGF, however, clarified that with the State of Emergency now in place, allocations meant for the state would be released to them on the request of the new sole administrator.
