Gov Fubara Plans Massive Development Initiative As Legal Battle Ends

… Marks birthday in style

For the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, with the Supreme Court judgment which affirmed his election as Governor on Thursday, January 25, his mandate to take Rivers State to the next level has been given the final stamp.

In a State-wide Broadcast on Friday morning following the affirmation of his electoral victory by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Thursday, he said: “We are deeply elated by the verdict of the Supreme Court of our dear nation, which has finally affirmed our victory. I owe this victory, not to my efforts or our ingenuity but to God and you the good people of Rivers State.

“In this regard, what is important to us is the accelerated growth and development of our dear State. Now that the litigations are over, we call on the opposition political parties in the State to join hands with our government to build the Rivers State of our dreams. I extend the olive branch to my contenders and all others who went through the hog and or who withdrew their cases for the love of the State. I believe we are all Rivers people and by that brotherhood, let us therefore, put aside our differences and bond together to build one indivisible and greater Rivers State that posterity will remember us for.”

Speaking further, the governor said his administration, which in just seven months has recorded remarkable achievements in the areas of human capital development, social investment engineering, infrastructural development, micro and macroeconomic advancement and sustainable socioeconomic development across sectors, is poised to deliver more to the Rivers People.

He added: “In addition, we have made some substantial progress in infrastructure, housing, security, urban renewal development as well as rural healthcare. We intend to sustain the tempo and expand the development net in the great ride to prosperity in our State.”

Fubara who turns 49 on Sunday, January 28, is expected to bring his financial wizardry which recommended him for the job as successor to Eze Nyesom Wike, who is now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. In supporting Fubara for the governorship in 2022/23, the then Governor Wike who enabled his picking the PDP Governorship ticket had described Fubara as the most qualified person to succeed him as governor. And, so far, the governor has not disappointed the state’s stakeholders and citizens.

Since he took office, the governor has set on an agenda of economic development anchored in industrial projects and result-oriented economic policy. At a meeting with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Rivers/Bayelsa chapter led by Vincent Okuku, last year, Fubara said he was working on an Investment policy document to ease doing business in Rivers State. Okuku who wondered how anybody wants to create jobs without promoting manufacturing, said the group is thrilled at the plans of the governor. “By this, they will attract respect and their social value will change. When you work and earn, you have dignity, instead of hoping to hit the jackpot. In the past, if you left secondary school and wanted a job, you would go to Trans-Amadi. We want to go back to that era.”

He said manufacturers were happy that the governor wants to work with them. “Together, we will create jobs for the youths in Rivers State. We employ skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled labour; young or old, men and women. We are happy with his plans. That was our mission.” He further said the interaction with the governor “is to bring him close to us so together we can return Rivers State to the status of an industrial hub. For now, many see the state as an oil/gas city, but we want to project the industrial side of this great state.” As Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara has started on an ambitious note, with grand signature projects such as the Port Harcourt Ring Road project for which he signed a N195.3bn contract with Julius Berger. The project when completed would span six local government areas of the state, thereby decongesting Port Harcourt.

Born Siminalayi “Sim” Joseph Black-Fubara in Opobo Town in the Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State on January 28, 1975, the governor had his primary education in Opobo Primary School and secondary education at Comprehensive Secondary School, Opobo before proceeding to study Accountancy at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. He got his MBA and MSc in 2013 and 2016 respectively from the University of Port Harcourt. Governor Fubara started his career in 2003 as a principal accountant with the Rivers State Senior Secondary Schools Board. He rose to the position of director of finance and accounts at the State’s government house in 2015 and rose to the position of permanent secretary in March 2020. He was appointed the accountant general of Rivers State on December 23, 2020, up till May 2022, when he won the People’s Democratic Party governorship primaries for the 2023 general elections. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management, and of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.

In celebration of his 49th birthday, all roads lead to Opobo, Governor Amaopusenibo Fubara’s hometown, for a thanksgiving service on Sunday, January 28.