Rivers: Wike’s hold tested

Just when the political feud between Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, appeared resolved, fresh sparks seem to have pulled the state back into a crisis.

On Thursday, the State House of Assembly, dominated by lawmakers loyal to Wike, revived an impeachment process against Fubara, its third attempt within three years, again raising the question of who holds the political levers of the oil-rich state.

Multiple sources told Weekend Trust that prior to the latest flare-up, the governor was gaining an edge, helped by growing sympathy among citizens who believe he is being targeted by entrenched political interests.

The governor’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December has further reconfigured the power map, with party insiders saying he has become more politically active and assertive than during his days in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A coalition of former Rivers leaders, including ex-governors Peter Odili, Celestine Omehia and Ada George; a former PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus; and the President-General of Ohanaeze Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, has publicly aligned with Fubara.

Others backing him include a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara; a former transport minister, Abiye Sekibo; and youth-influential ex-factional speakers Edison Ehie and Victor Oko-Jumbo. In addition, former local government chairmen sacked by the Supreme Court in February last year are also said to be mobilising grassroots networks for the governor, strengthening his claim to structure.

However, Wike’s camp disputes any suggestion of political retreat. His ally, Prince Favour Reuben, insisted that the minister still “dominates Rivers politics,” citing his influence over most National Assembly members from the state; 27 of the 31 state lawmakers; 23 local government chairmen and their councillors; political appointees on state boards; and a vast mobilisation war chest.

Speaking to Weekend Trust, a political ally of Wike, Prince Favour Reuben, said despite the recent realignment by the governor, the FCT minister still has a firm grip on the state’s polity as “majority of the people that matter in the state are with him.”

But an associate of Fubara, Omatsogunwa Jerry, argued that Wike’s influence has dwindled as “the governor controls the structure in the state.”

Wike’s fate hanging — Fage

Political analysts, who spoke in separate interviews with Weekend Trust, said the situation is still hazy. Some of them warned that the minister’s approach may be costing him more grounds than he admits.

Professor Kamilu Sani Fage, a political scientist at Bayero University, Kano, and a lecturer of political science, Dr Kabiru Sufi Sa’id, told Weekend Trust that the minister’s confrontations across party lines could create strategic vulnerability for him.

Fage said: “You see, the fate of Wike, I really want to say, is hanging. Already, he has taken a tough stance on his party, the PDP, and now he has also taken a negative stance against the APC in his case.

“If he is to do such a confrontation on both sides, I think he is gradually dragging the carpet under his own feet. At the moment, his fate is hanging because it is neither here nor there.”

According to Professor Fage, Wike’s survival in the political arena depends on his ability to persuade rather than intimidate.

“The way forward for Wike is for him to be a real politician. Politicians persuade people to support them. You cannot, as a politician, start to intimidate people and expect that you are going to make it.

“Whatever resources he has been able to amass, he cannot survive if his power base is eroded. If the president finds him to be a liability, not an asset in Rivers State, he will dump him, and that will mean that he will not have any base to stand on,” he said.

On his part, Sufi said Wike’s unclear party loyalty, one leg in the PDP, one in the APC has complicated his standing within the APC.

“As it is now, he (Wike) wants people to believe that he is still a PDP member, but I think his mind is in the APC. For now, the APC wants him to be clear about where he belongs.

“I think that is why the secretary of the party had the courage to pick a fight with him. That may push him to align with the party, but Wike will not do that easily unless he is assured of leading the party in Rivers State,” Sufi said.

Similarly, a political analyst, Jackson Lekan Ojo, told our correspondent in a telephone chat that Wike lacks the capacity to stop Fubara from securing the APC ticket following recent developments.

Ojo argued that if Fubara enjoys the backing of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC), as it appears, he would secure the APC ticket to run for his second-term bid.

“The internal dynamics of Nigeria’s party politics favours any aspirant endorsed by the party’s national leadership,” he said, adding that “once the president, who is the leader of the APC, signals support for a candidate, there is little room for opposition.”

Ojo stressed that Wike’s influence, though significant, cannot override the authority of the APC’s national leadership.

He said Fubara’s loyalty to the party and alignment with its top hierarchy would almost certainly guarantee him the ticket.

Ojo said Wike is actively mobilising his political machinery and grassroots structures, backed by substantial financial strength, while Fubara focuses on governance.

He argued that the real contest would be determined at the polls, not merely at the level of party nominations.

In the same vein, other political scientists, including Bernard Mikko and Aminu Yakudima, who also spoke to Weekend Trust separately, described Wike’s contest against Fubara inside the APC as “a lost battle,” noting that party conventions typically recognise a sitting governor as a state leader once he joins a party.

Mikko, who said party leadership in any state conventionally rests with the sitting governor, dismissed contrary views as mere “noise” from individuals outside the party structure.

He said Wike’s influence is limited to his ministerial position, adding that calls are growing for his disengagement to restore focus.

He cautioned that early election talks and threats against party leadership are unnecessary and distracting.

For another political analyst, Aminu Yakudima, the political landscape in Rivers has changed in favour of Fubara.

Yakudima said with Fubara’s position in the APC, Wike can hardly influence or implement anything negative against him.

What triggered the recent crisis?It was gathered that the trigger for the renewed crisis was the rejection, by Fubara, of a supplementary budget allegedly pushed for by Wike through the state lawmakers loyal to him. The governor was said to have argued that the budget passed by the National Assembly during the emergency rule year was sufficient for the rest of 2025 and has the cycle till June 2026.

In June last year, the National Assembly passed the sum of N1.48 trillion appropriation for Rivers State.

President Tinubu had proposed the 2025 Rivers budget in May after appointing Ibok-Ete Ibas as the administrator of the state following the declaration of emergency rule and the suspension of Fubara.

Fubara had disclosed on December 17 that there was over N300 billion in the state government account when he was suspended, but he met N600 billion upon return.

A source told Weekend Trust that following Fubara’s rejection of the supplementary budget proposal, Wike summoned key political allies, including members of the state assembly, to the residence of an elder statesman from the state in Port Harcourt where they “adopted a confrontational approach” to Fubara’s stance.

Early last December, the state assembly, through Speaker Martin Amaewhule, accused Fubara of unapproved spending and awarding contracts to his cronies.

It was gathered that Fubara, sensing an imminent political showdown with Wike, began aligning with the APC, a move believed to have been approved by President Tinubu. Governor Fubara officially defected from the PDP to the APC on December 9, 2025.

Fubara’s impeachment plots

Weekend Trust gathered that the renewed fight against Governor Fubara was caused by the support he is enjoying from the national leadership of the APC, some governors of the party and the Presidency.

This will be the third time the state lawmakers are attempting to impeach Governor Fubara in less than three years.

Recently, the national leadership of the APC cautioned Wike and his supporters against making comments that disrespect the office of the governor.

The stance of the APC leadership had led to the exchange of words between Wike and the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, who rebuked the National Vice Chairman, South-South, of the party, Victor Gaidem, for degrading the office of the governor. Gaidem, an ally of Wike from Rivers State, had recently referred to Fubara as “the so-called governor of Rivers State.”

Earlier, the national chairman of the APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, had affirmed Fubara as the leader of the party in Rivers State, but recently clarified the statement, saying no one person controls the party at the state.

The statement had been countered by Wike who has continued to lay claim to the control of political structures in the state and warned against assumptions of an automatic second-term ambition.

On Wednesday, Emeka Bekee, chairman of the APC in Rivers, had declared Fubara as the leader of the party in the state as clearly stated in the party’s constitution.

Early signs without end in sight

The rift between Fubara and Wike began less than a year into the former’s administration.

At the heart of the disagreement was the control of the state’s political structure.

Wike, who had played a central role in Fubara’s emergence as governor, insisted on retaining firm control of the political machinery of the state.

He had repeatedly claimed to have personally financed the purchase of nomination forms for all PDP candidates in Rivers for the 2023 general elections.

Fubara, however, sought to assert his authority as the constitutionally elected governor. What initially appeared as a disagreement over influence quickly escalated into a full-blown power struggle that paralysed governance in the state.

The crisis soon engulfed the State House of Assembly, splitting it into two factions, with 27 members, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, aligning with Wike; and four others with Fubara.

The pro-Wike faction had initiated impeachment proceedings against the governor, leaving legislative activities stalled, budget presentation delayed and executive–legislative relations strained.

President Tinubu had, in December 2024, brokered a truce built around an eight-point resolution. Reports said under the agreement, Fubara was asked to withdraw all court cases related to the crisis; and the House of Assembly to halt impeachment proceedings.

The pact, which Wike and Fubara were reported to have committed to, also recognised Amaewhule as speaker and directed Fubara to re-present the 2024 budget proposals to the assembly.

But the truce was short-lived as loyalists of the governor had claimed that the deal favoured Wike and undermined Fubara’s authority as governor.

Citing prolonged political instability and the risk of violent confrontations, President Tinubu, on March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency in the state and suspended Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state assembly for six months, and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas as sole administrator.

In June 2025, President Tinubu brokered a fresh peace deal between Wike and Fubara. The agreement paved the way for the termination of emergency rule and the restoration of democratic governance in September.

After the reconciliation meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Wike declared the crisis resolved, saying, “We are members of the same political family. Everything is over.”

Fubara echoed similar sentiments, describing the moment as divine intervention. “What Rivers State needs is peace,” he said.

Reports later said the peace deal came with far-reaching concessions. Sources claimed Fubara had agreed not to seek re-election in 2027; accepted Wike’s leadership within the PDP; and allowed him to nominate candidates for local government elections.

During a visit to Akuku-Toru and Degema Local Government Areas last Tuesday, Wike vowed that “the mistakes” made in the 2023 elections would not be repeated in 2027.

We have no party allegiance in Rivers–Wike

The minister, during his thank-you visit to Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers, said there is nothing like party allegiance in the state.

He called for unity of purpose for the growth and progress of the state.

According to a statement by his spokesman, Leye Odeyinka, Wike said that unity had brought progress and development for Andoni people, stressing the need for leaders at the local and state levels to remain united for the good of all.

He advised the people to continue to work together, assuring that more would come to Andoni if the leaders remained united.

The minister said politicians in the state were united under one umbrella, the “Renewed “Hope Family” tagged Rainbow Coalition, to ensure the reelection of President Bola Tinubu for a second term.

“We don’t have party allegiance in Rivers. What we have is a Rainbow Coalition under the Renewed Hope Family in pursuit of a common course and interest.

“You supported Tinubu in 2023 and today we are seeing the results. Do the same in 2027.

“For our local politics, at the appropriate time we will take a decision to correct the mistake we made in 2023,” he said.

The statement quoted the member representing Andoni in the Rivers Assembly, Ofiks Kagbang, as saying that Wike had done so much for the constituency, pledging that the people would follow his directive in 2027.

“I am an ijaw son and I want to let you know that ijaw people are grateful people. The one in the government house is a mistake and we will correct that mistake when the time comes,” he said.

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