Thousands of Rivers residents who gathered at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Thursday to welcome Governor Siminalayi Fubara left frustrated after waiting for several hours without seeing him.
Supporters began arriving as early as 6 a.m., some travelling from distant rural communities, only to disperse by midday when it became clear the governor would not appear.
By 1 p.m., the large crowd had thinned out as many expressed disappointment and fatigue.
Among those who mobilised supporters were former local government chairmen loyal to Fubara, including ex-Obio/Akpor chairman Chijoke Ihunwo and former Port Harcourt City chairman Ezebunwo Itche-Mati.
They were seen making frantic calls in a bid to get updates on the governor’s movements, but by afternoon, his whereabouts were still unknown.
Interestingly, allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the recently elected local government chairmen did not show up at the Government House, signalling a clear division between the rival political camps.
Some of the supporters who left the scene voiced their frustration openly.
One young man told reporters, “We cannot keep waiting here endlessly. People are hungry, and if the governor wants to address us later, we will come back.”
The gathering coincided with a major political milestone, the expiration of the six-month emergency rule imposed on Rivers State.
The emergency administration was put in place following the prolonged crisis between Governor Fubara and the state House of Assembly, which is dominated by Wike’s loyalists.
President Bola Tinubu had dissolved political structures earlier in the year and appointed retired Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as interim administrator to stabilise the state.
After months of uncertainty, Tinubu formally announced on Wednesday the end of the emergency rule, declaring that full democratic governance had been restored in the oil-rich state.
AFRIPOST reports that the governor’s absence at such a symbolic moment might deepen anxieties among his supporters but also highlights the fragile state of politics in Rivers.