The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has faulted the now-suspended Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara over his silence when militants blew up pipelines in the state.
Fagbemi, on Wednesday, was reacting to the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu and the suspension of Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
The minister clarified that Fubara failed to dissuade the militants from vandalising the pipeline, which made him their indirect ally.
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 say so is, when he began, he said oh, he will let them know when it was time to act.
“Let us say it was false. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week later, they swung into action. You saw or witnessed the vandalisation of oil pipelines.”
Fagbemi argued that with the nation almost reliant on crude oil, anyone “touching” the pipeline is not only an enemy of Rivers but Nigeria.
The minister said Fubara and the members of the state House of Assembly had to be suspended as they failed to ensure a conducive atmosphere for governance in the state.
