By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

A fresh political crisis has reignited in Rivers State, barely four months after an emergency rule ended in the state.

President Bola Tinubu had, in March 2025, declared the emergency rule in Rivers, citing a protracted political rift in the state.

The political rift between Governor Sliminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike was over the control of the political structure in the southern state.

President Tinubu suspended the governor, his deputy, Ngọzi Odu, and all the Rivers State House of Assembly members, who were loyal to the FCT minister.

He appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired vice-admiral as a sole administrator to govern Rivers State for the six months.

In June the same year, President Tinubu brokened a peace deal between Wile and Fubara, with an agreement which was not made public.

In September, Tinubu declared an end to the emergency rule, reinstating Governor Fubara, his deputy, and all Rivers lawmakers.

However, at the end of November, the Rivers lawmakers accused Governor Fubara of leaving the primary and secondary school structures in the state in ruins, alleging that the governor had mismanaged over N600 billion left in the state treasury by the sole administrator.

The lawmakers also accused the governor of dishonesty in December

Claim

As the tension continues to rise in the state, Wike, the lawmakers, and Fubara have been directly and indirectly throwing tantrums at each other.

Many people on social media had shared video clips of comments and actions by the parties.

An X user, @BiaPulse, on 1 January, posted a video, showing Governor Fubara criticizing judicial officers at an event. He claimed that the video was recent.

The X user shared the video alongside the caption that reads, “Breaking News:You people don’t know the law,you just want pacify your pay masters-Governor Fubara”

In the video, Fubara claimed that judges lie and turn the law upside down to pacify their pay masters.

The video had already garnered traction,  attracting over 600k views with over 1.2k likes as of 1 January.

Verifying the claim

A quick check by subjecting the screenshots from the video to Google Lens, showed that the video was from October 2024 at the opening of the 2024/2025 Legal Year and Re-Dedication Service.

This period was during the first phase of the Rivers crisis, before the Supreme Court tipped the balance of power in Rivers and reinstated the lawmakers.

In a report corroborating the video clip,  Fubara said judges are seen to represent God, who must not be afraid to look at those who come to equity, and dispense justice rightly without fear or favour.

The Governor warned that, because court judgments have far-reaching implications, great care needed to be taken in making judicial pronouncements.

He said, “Let me say it here so that you will understand: Judges, you are the God that we are seeing. Your position is to stand and defend us. Your position is to look at whoever and tell the person the truth.

“Because if you don’t do it here, you will have a big question to answer. The preacher said it, every evil done in the course of administering justice, you will pay for it dearly.

See this similar report here.

Another video from the October 2025 Rivers legal year event was different. This is an indicator that the video shared by X user as recent, was misleading.

Verdict

The video of Fubara criticizing judges and the claim that it was recent, is MISLEADING. Findings show that the video was from October 2024