Suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has held a meeting with the suspended Speaker of the House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, along with other aggrieved state lawmakers.
Multiple sources confirmed on Thursday evening that the meeting concluded with Fubara holding Amaewhule’s hand as the two shared jokes and laughter.
It was learnt that the meeting, held in Abuja, marked the first attempt at reconciliation between the governor and the state lawmakers.
A source, who spoke to The Nation in confidence, described Fubara’s meeting with the lawmakers as productive, but noted that a larger peace meeting is planned to discuss the terms of reconciliation.
“The suspended Governor is determined to make peace. He has started the real engagement,” the source said.
Fubara was suspended from office on 19 March after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, a move later approved by the National Assembly to stem the escalating political crisis in the state.
The president appointed former Naval Chief, Vice-Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas, as administrator for Rivers for an initial six-month period to allow the warring politicians to reconcile their differences.
Though Fubara had previously met with his estranged benefactor, Nyesom Wike, and President Tinubu regarding the Rivers situation, the Thursday meeting with the lawmakers was said to be the most significant step yet towards genuine reconciliation.
Wike had stated on several occasions that for any meaningful reconciliation to occur, Fubara must meet with the various stakeholders he had offended, particularly members of the House of Assembly, whose salaries and allowances he reportedly withheld for over two years.
