Rivers gov refutes shutting down oil operations

Abdullateef Fowewe

The Rivers State Government has denied a social media post that the state Governor Siminalayi Fubara has shut down oil operations in the state.

The post claimed that Fubara ordered the closure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other oil companies in the state following a court ruling on Wednesday.

Reacting to the claim in a statement the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said the report is false and concocted propaganda.

Johnson stated that Fubara is committed to the rule of law and does not rely on unconventional and crude approaches to respond to governance matters.

The statement reads, “The attention of Rivers State Government has been drawn to a spurious news item circulating on social media on ‘Gov. Siminalayi Fubara shutting down NNPCL and all oil companies in Rivers State.’

“The report was not only false but concocted propaganda from the imagination of the author and enemies of the State. The story was also circulated by an inconsequential and unverified medium.

“Governor Siminalayi Fubara is committed to the rule of law and does not rely on unconventional and crude approaches to respond to matters of governance.

“We, therefore, enjoin Rivers people and well-meaning Nigerians to discountenance the spurious and fake report as Governor Fubara at no time contemplated and/or directed such needless order of shutting down the economy for any reason.”