Rivers: Wike, Fubara reconciliation tears supporters apart

Supporters of Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers State, are divided over his reconciliation with Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.

While some applauded the development, others regarded the peace, negotiated by President Bola Tinubu, as fragile and the governor’s surrender.

On Thursday night, the president arranged a truce between Fubara and his political godfather, Wike.

The closed-door meeting took place in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, where Tinubu hosted Wike, Fubara, and Martin Amaewhule, the suspended Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, together with a few other lawmakers.

According to presidency sources familiar with the pact, Fubara agreed to complete his current term in exchange for a vow not to run for reelection in 2027.

“It was one of the issues raised. In fact, it was the main issue. He agreed to conclude his tenure in peace and leave the stage after that,” said a source.

“Yes, they reached an agreement yesternight (Thursday). The goal is for peace to return to Rivers State. But I think Fubara got the shorter end of the stick,” another source revealed.

Chronicle NG gathered that Fubara also agreed to allow Wike to nominate all the local government chairpersons across the 23 LGAs of the state.

Speaking to the press after the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Wike confirmed that the political rift between him and Fubara had been resolved, with both camps agreeing to end hostilities and work in unity.

“We are members of the same political family,” Wike said.

Wike acknowledged that the crisis had lingered for months but described the Thursday agreement as conclusive.

“Yes, just like humans, you have a disagreement, and then you also have time to also settle your disagreement. And that has been finally concluded today, and we have come to report to Mr President; that is what we have agreed to. So for me, everything is over,” he noted.

Fubara verified the truce, calling it a divine intervention and a watershed moment for Rivers State.

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Fubara also vowed his entire dedication to maintaining the unity gained at the presidential peace meeting.

The conflict between Wike and Fubara began immediately after the latter took office in May 2023.

Tensions rose in October 2023 when members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who supported Wike launched impeachment proceedings against Fubara.

In response to a suspicious fire, the governor demolished the Assembly complex and relocated parliamentary meetings to temporary quarters.

In the months that followed, the power struggle pushed the state into a governance crisis.

In December 2023, President Tinubu intervened, facilitating a fragile truce that resulted in a peace agreement in which Fubara yielded key political jobs to Wike’s supporters.

However, the arrangement failed, and the dispute revived when the president declared a state of emergency on March 18, 2025.

Tinubu’s proclamation froze the governor’s executive powers for six months, citing increased insecurity and administrative gridlock.

He then appointed a single administrator, former Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.).

Meanwhile, the truce has created a schism between supporters of the suspended Rivers State governor.

Concerns focused mostly on the nature and composition of the reconciliation.

Dr Leloonu Nwibubasa, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment, described what happened in Abuja as a surrender rather than a reconciliation.

Speaking in an interview, the former commissioner stated that there was no reconciliation because the governor did not accompany his supporters.

He branded the development as cruel, claiming that Wike had succeeded in cowing the governor into submission.

Nwibubasa stated, “What I see is not reconciliation. What I see is a surrender. In a reconciliation, parties come with their supporters, and discussions are made, and concessions are made. Where Governor Fubara walked alone to the presidency without a single one of his own supporters, not his deputy, not his secretary to the state government, not his chief of staff, not his factional speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, and others.

“On the other hand, Wike went with his entire House of Assembly loyalists and elders, and you say they went for reconciliation. No, I think Governor Sim was called to surrender, and he did.

“And the composition of that visit to Mr President is a story itself, and it tells you to what extent these very divisive and vicious Abuja politicians have gone to cow the governor into surrender.”

Speaking on the implication for the state, Nwibubasa said it was a return to the trenches.

“What it behoves for Rivers people is clear: that the political structures, economic structures and realm of leadership of Rivers State have returned to the old order,” he added.

Also, a group, the Rivers Emancipation Movement, in a statement on Friday, said the reconciliation was not in the interest of the people of the state.

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The group said any resolution that massaged the ego of “a few selfish individuals and undermined the collective interest of Rivers people will not stand.”

The National President of the group, Zoe Tamunotonye, mentioned that Fubara betrayed the people of the state who stood by him by not carrying them along in the process.

The statement partly read, “This development marks the second Abuja-brokered reconciliation attempt. The first failed to yield any meaningful resolution or address the real causes of the political tension that has paralysed governance and destabilised peace in Rivers State.

“REM unequivocally frowns at this so-called reconciliation in its entirety. It is nothing more than a hollow, self-serving political arrangement that prioritises the narrow interests of a few political actors while completely ignoring the collective pain, sacrifices, and aspirations of the Rivers people. This is not reconciliation—it is a calculated collusion that will fail again.”

The organisation said that the truce was based on “falsehood, self-interest, and short-term political convenience” and hence would not continue.

Deji Adeyanju, a human rights activist and political pundit, called the peace agreement asprecarious.

“Wike has proved time and again that his word holds no weight. The recent reconciliation between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike should not be mistaken for lasting peace,” Adeyanju stated.

Referencing Wike’s past political behaviour, Adeyanju said, “From his vow at the PDP convention to abide by the outcome, which he swiftly disregarded, to his betrayal of Dr Peter Odili, a man he once called his political father, and his calculated political attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Wike’s pattern is clear; he honours only his own ambition.”

He issued a warning that the reconciliation should be seen not as a breakthrough but as a “trap”.

“Governor Fubara must prepare his mind that this reconciliation is a trap and not a truce. Wike will not only undermine him now but will breach the agreement on purpose,” he said.

Rivers: Wike, Fubara reconciliation tears supporters apart