Niger Delta rights activist and member of the Rivers Elders Forum, Ann-Kio Briggs, has criticised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for allegedly betraying the people of Rivers State by failing to act decisively during the prolonged political crisis in the state.
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Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Briggs said that despite the loyalty of Rivers residents to the PDP since 1999, internal divisions and power struggles within the party left citizens to bear the brunt of the crisis.
“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 public 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 stated.
The activist faulted both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP for deepening the crisis and criticised the secrecy surrounding the peace agreement reached between Fubara, Tinubu, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. She warned that the lack of transparency could erode the governor’s credibility.
“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… it becomes very difficult to flow with the politicians,” Briggs said.
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 President Tinubu in March 2025, insisting that funds expended during his tenure belong to the people.
“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 political crisis in Rivers began months after Fubara assumed office in May 2023, following a fallout with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, over control of the state’s political structure. The rift escalated into the House of Assembly, leading to deep divisions among lawmakers and instability across the state.
In March 2025, President Tinubu declared a six-month state of emergency, suspending Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the House of Assembly. Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas was appointed sole administrator to oversee state affairs until the emergency rule ended on September 17, when Fubara was reinstated.
While Fubara publicly acknowledged Tinubu’s intervention, Wike declined to reveal the details of the agreement. “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,” Wike said.
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