Judul : Briggs slams PDP, questions transparency of Tinubu's Rivers peace deal
link : Briggs slams PDP, questions transparency of Tinubu's Rivers peace deal
Briggs slams PDP, questions transparency of Tinubu's Rivers peace deal
Niger Delta rights activist and member of the Rivers Elders Forum, Ann-Kio Briggs, has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party and alleged that the party betrayed the people of Rivers State by failing to act decisively during the prolonged political crisis in the state.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Briggs said despite the loyalty of Rivers people to the PDP since 1999, the party allowed internal divisions and power struggles to fester, leaving residents to pay the price.
“I definitely feel, as a stakeholder and elder, let down by the PDP political party because, since 1999, we have always voted, including me, for the PDP.
“If they had stepped in and done what they should have done from the beginning, not just in Rivers State but as a political party so prominent in the Niger Delta, the PDP would not find itself where it is today,” Briggs said.
Briggs also distanced herself from Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s open gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for brokering peace in the state, insisting that not everyone in Rivers owes such appreciation.
“Definitely not, even the President himself will be aware that not everybody in Rivers state is going to be eternally grateful to him or to even the minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, and all the politicians, as a matter of fact.
“I am not as happy or grateful to the APC party as the governor is; he is the politician, and I am not,” she said
She stated that both the All Progressives Congress and the PDP have played roles in deepening the crisis.
The activist faulted the secrecy surrounding the peace agreement reached between Fubara, Tinubu and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, warning that a lack of transparency could damage the governor’s credibility.
Briggs stated, “I think it’s not acceptable when politicians make these agreements over our heads; it’s like shaving the head of someone behind their back.
“We are the people who have paid the greatest price in all of these things, and to not be aware of the decision which will affect us, and therefore, we can’t gauge the extent to which these decisions will affect us, it becomes very difficult to flow with the politicians.
“It’s just an impossible situation where we have found ourselves. We don’t know what the President has insisted on, we don’t know what was agreed upon, and where that leads the people of Rivers State. So, we need to know what was agreed on.”
She further demanded accountability from retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, who served as the state’s sole administrator during the six-month emergency rule declared by Tinubu in March.
According to her, funds expended during his tenure belonged to the people and must be accounted for.
“I think the biggest lesson has been learned by the people of Rivers State, the electorate, to know that we have rights that are much bigger and more profound than the rights the politicians believe they have.
“They won’t be where they are without the people of Rivers State,” she said.
The Rivers political crisis began months after Fubara assumed office in May 2023, following a fallout with his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over control of the state’s political structure.
The rift spilled into the House of Assembly, leading to a bitter division among lawmakers. This deepened instability across the state.
In March 2025, the President declared a six-month state of emergency in Rivers, suspending Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the House of Assembly.
Ibas was appointed as sole administrator to oversee the state’s affairs until the emergency rule ended on September 17, when Fubara was reinstated as governor.
During a media chat at his residence in Abuja, Wike declined to reveal what was agreed upon, saying,
Wike said, “I will allow you to speculate; it’s not my business. All I know is that peace has come.
“If you are not satisfied with that, there is nothing we can do. What is important is that peace has returned; whatever thing anybody says is not my business.”
In a statewide broadcast, Fubara acknowledged Tinubu’s intervention, adding that the key actors had agreed to bury the hatchet and embrace peace.
In a statewide broadcast, Fubara praised Tinubu’s intervention, saying the principal actors in the crisis had resolved to put aside their differences and work together in the interest of peace.
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