A former senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, Olaka Nwogu, has explained the lingering political crisis in Rivers State, attributing it to failure of political actors to honour agreements reached to stabilise governance in the state.
Nwogu made this assertion while featuring on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme aired on Channels Television.
According to the ex-lawmaker, the turmoil rocking the oil-rich state is a direct outcome of broken commitments by leaders, particularly the inability to respect terms earlier agreed upon to restore peace.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu initially intervened in the Rivers crisis by brokering a peace deal anchored on an eight-point agreement, which all parties reportedly accepted.
However, Nwogu said the deal eventually collapsed due to non-compliance by the state governor.
“I think basically what’s happening, as unfortunate as it is, there’s a consequence of when leaders do not keep to their words and their commitment.
“There was initially a first agreement that President Bola Tinubu brokered. Because of lack of adherence to that agreement by the governor of the state, the agreement packed up.”
Nwogu noted that despite objections from some quarters who argued that the President lacked the authority to intervene, all parties had willingly submitted themselves to the agreement.
He explained that the breakdown of the deal triggered a chain of events that ultimately led to a Supreme Court ruling, which, in his words, declared that governance had broken down in Rivers State.
This, he said, prompted President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency to prevent the situation from degenerating into chaos.
Following the declaration, Nwogu disclosed that renewed consultations were held across the state in a bid to restore political stability.
These discussions, he said, resulted in another consensus among key stakeholders, which was again presented to President Tinubu, who acted as a guarantor to the new understanding.
“They said the President had no right to do that, even though we all subjected ourselves to that agreement that has the eight point plan.
“Events that developed out of it culminated even in the Supreme Court judgment that there’s no governance in Rivers state and Mr President had to impose the state of emergency to save the state from descending into anarchy.
“After the emergency, or during that period, there were discussions across the state to find political harmony.
“And when the leaders amongst ourselves agreed, we all took ourselves to Mr. President and again, another understanding was brokered, which Mr president was like a guarantor to that understanding.”
However, the former senator maintained that the persistent tension in Rivers State is still rooted in the same issue—failure to honour agreements.
“The reason you see what is happening in Rivers State is strictly the lack of adherence to agreement.
“You cannot govern a state like Rivers if you are unable to stand by the commitments that you make. It’s a complex state,” he said.
He urged political leaders in the state to prioritize trust, dialogue, and respect for agreements as the only pathway to lasting peace and stability.