National News
By Ahmed Yusuf
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has attributed Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s inability to pursue a second term in office to the prolonged political crisis in Rivers State, accusing the governor’s associates and external interests of misleading him.
Speaking during the August edition of his monthly media chat aired on Channels Television on Tuesday, Wike said he repeatedly advised Fubara to remain loyal to the political structure that produced him but alleged that the governor ignored the counsel.
According to the former Rivers State governor, he inherited an administration with little or no functional infrastructure but worked hard to rebuild the Government House and provide official vehicles for top government officials before leaving office.
Wike said he expected his successor to consolidate on the foundation already laid instead of attempting to dismantle it.
“I told him not to derail. Someone had already laid a foundation. The dream was for Rivers State to compete with Lagos, and there was nothing wrong with continuing that vision,” he said.
The FCT minister alleged that politicians who initially opposed Fubara’s emergence as governor later became his closest advisers and encouraged him to confront the political family that supported his rise to power.
According to Wike, those actions ultimately backfired, leaving Fubara unable to actualise what he described as his ambition of securing a second term.
“At the end of the day, I have lost nothing. But he has lost because his intention was to seek a second term, and that is no longer happening,” Wike stated.
Responding to a question on whether he still had affection for the Rivers governor despite their political differences, Wike insisted that his support for Fubara in the past was proof of his goodwill.
He disclosed that attempts were made to reconcile both camps, but political considerations eventually frustrated the peace efforts.
Wike further alleged that powerful external forces sought to take control of Rivers State because of its economic importance, claiming that some influential individuals, including legal practitioners, encouraged the governor to challenge his political benefactors.
According to him, those advisers gave Fubara misleading legal interpretations and emboldened him to resist reconciliation.
The political rift between Wike and Fubara erupted shortly after Fubara assumed office in 2023 over disagreements surrounding the control of the state’s political structure.
The crisis later escalated into a prolonged confrontation involving the Rivers State House of Assembly, impeachment threats against the governor and the declaration of a state of emergency in 2025.
Following his reinstatement, Fubara defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in resolving the crisis.
Although he initially obtained nomination forms to contest the APC governorship primaries for a second term, he later withdrew from the race. In July 2026, the governor publicly declared his return to Wike’s political family and endorsed the coalition-backed governorship candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
