Governor Siminalayi Fubara says he enjoys ‘’freedom’’ in governing Rivers State because God allowed the political crisis in the state to happen.
Recalling the efforts of Primate of the Anglican Communion Church of Nigeria Henry Ndukauba to end the crisis, Fubara said: ‘’God has a way of doing his things. Maybe if we had got peace, I wouldn’t be enjoying the freedom that I am enjoying today.’’
He spoke on Tuesday night when Ndukauba led bishops of the Anglican Communion to pay him a visit in Government House, Port Harcourt.
But hours after the governor’s comment, the Martins Amaewhule-led 27-member House of Assembly reconvened and restated that all Fubara’s appointments were contemptuous of courts’ judgments and extant laws of the state.
It went a step further to direct the Clerk of the House, Emeka Amadi, to disclaim the appointees through a publication.
While addressing the Primate, Fubara said: “I start first in a very unusual way to say thank you. This appreciation would have come much earlier. Many of you here may not understand why I am thanking him.
“When the crisis started, as a man of God who believes that the two main parties(Fubara and his immediate predecessor, Nyesom Wike) are people from his communion, he made several phone calls and booked several appointments but none of them was granted to him.
‘’I want to thank him for what he did even though it didn’t yield the required result, but you see God has a way of doing his things.
“Maybe if we had got peace then, I wouldn’t be enjoying the freedom that I am enjoying today.
‘’So at times, God will be saying let the trouble be there so that there will be peace. But that is not to say that we encourage trouble.
‘’ Peace remains the best thing, both internally and externally because it attracts development.”
The governor expressed happiness that the Diocese was holding its Standing Committee Meeting in Rivers State at a time when his government needed prayers to keep functioning.
He said Bond of Peace which is the theme of the meeting, was apt as daily events and occurrences indicated that peace was urgently needed in the country.
Fubara said God was directing the activities of his government and that he would not take the glory and power.
His words “ I thank the church for standing with us. Your prayers are greater than the noise-making or the protest that we are engaging in.
“ You all are seeing the kind of governance we are providing. It is the governance of peace and freedom for people to operate. Ours is a government that listens and admits at any point we are at fault and makes amends.
‘’We are not seeking for attention.’’
Primate Ndukauba explained to the governor that they appreciated his achievements in the state.
He said: “Despite the challenges that you are facing, we thank God that you have kept focus and you are executing the things that you needed to do as the executive governor of this state.
“ God has the power to raise and to remove, but it has pleased Him that you are there today.
“Though the situation may be challenging, we have seen the enormous work that you are doing and we thank God for you. We will continue to pray for you.”
