We Are Not Clear on Fubara–Tinubu Deal, Rivers People Deserve Answers — Ann-Kio Briggs

Human rights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has demanded transparency on the terms of the agreement reached between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Bola Ahmed Tinubu before the end of the six-month emergency rule in Rivers State.

Briggs said residents had only been left with rumours, as neither the governor nor other political actors had offered a clear explanation.

“We are not clear on the terms and agreement. What we’re getting is rumour And at no time do we have categorically a statement either from him or from the other player.  I think it’s not acceptable,” she said.

She likened the secrecy to “shaving the head of someone behind their back,” stressing that Rivers people had paid the greatest price in the political crisis.

Briggs also argued that Nigerians as a whole deserved clarity for the sake of integrity and fairness.

“You can’t come into a state, get a hold of all their resources and funds, stay there for six months, and just walk away as if you were never there. He was here… within that six months, he spent our money. That’s just the truth,” she said.

“It’s our money. It’s not Lagos State money. It’s not Katsina State money. It is the money of River State” she added.

The activist maintained that for accountability, Governor Fubara and stakeholders must publicly clarify the terms of Tinubu’s intervention and explain how state funds were managed during the six-month period.

Fubara, along with his deputy Ngozi Odu and members of the state assembly, had been suspended on March 18, 2025, when President Tinubu declared a state of emergency over political instability.

He was reinstated on September 17 after the emergency rule was lifted, returning to the Government House in Port Harcourt, where he was received by his wife, security heads, and stakeholders before resuming official duties.

Story credit: Channels Television