The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has stated that the political crisis in Rivers State deprived Governor Siminalayi Fubara the opportunity to seek a second term, blaming bad counsel from political allies and other interests.
Wike made the comments at the August edition of his monthly media conference, which aired live on Channels TV on Tuesday, while reflecting on his relationship with an estranged political ally.
According to the former Rivers governor, he frequently warned Fubara not to leave the political machinery that had propelled him to prominence.
“I said, look, don’t derail. I came as governor; I had a crisis. When I came as governor, there was nothing. They didn’t even relocate the Government House,” Wike said.
He narrated inheriting an administration with limited resources, saying he had to borrow ceremonial vehicles from a former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko.
“When I came, I had to borrow vehicles from the former governor of Ondo, Mimiko, these parade vehicles. Nobody kept any vehicle; I didn’t have one vehicle.
“But before I left as governor, I packed out from Government House one and a half years before. I renovated Government House. I bought vehicles for the governor, the deputy governor, and the governor’s wife. I did that,” he said.
Wike mentioned that he expected Fubara to build on the foundation he left behind rather than abandon it.
“Somebody had laid a foundation. Look, this is where I stopped. If you continue this way, our dream is to be able to compete with Lagos. What is wrong with that?” he said.
The FCT minister claimed that individuals who had opposed Fubara’s emergence as governor later became his close allies and encouraged him to confront his political benefactors.
When an interviewer asked whether he still loved Fubara, Wike replied, “If I don’t love him, why would we support him? That’s the point I’m making.”
He revealed that efforts were made to reconcile both camps but said political considerations ultimately prevented any settlement.
“There was a time we all thought, we all agreed, and said, ‘Look, can we allow bygones to be bygones?’ But something fundamental came up in politics.
“They said, ‘Look, if you allow this now, there are those who are here who want to see that we are no longer politically relevant,’” he said.
The former Rivers governor also claimed that external interests sought to take control of Rivers State for financial gain.
“There are external forces who want to hijack Rivers State. You don’t allow them to hijack Rivers State. There are those who see Rivers State as a cash cow.
“I can tell you so many things happened. There are people, even some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who you would never believe can play that kind of role, who were virtually living with us in government,” he said.
According to him, some of those people eventually persuaded Fubara to oppose his political party.
“When this thing happened, they were so bitter that they started giving the governor wrong advice: ‘Don’t worry, the law says this; the law didn’t say this.’
“They were sending them aircraft, and then they would relax in the jet. To them, they were king. So, for him to continue to be there, they would exert that kind of influence.
“We said no, this cash cow must end now. You won’t have it again. Take as much as you can, but you have to stop,” Wike said.
The long-running feud between Wike and Fubara began soon after Fubara took office in 2023, when Wike accused his successor of moving too swiftly to demolish the political machinery that produced him and establish an independent foundation within the first 100 days.
The power struggle erupted into open conflict involving the Rivers State House of Assembly, with lawmakers loyal to Wike threatening impeachment against the governor and President Bola Tinubu declaring a six-month state of emergency in March 2025, temporarily suspending Fubara and the legislature.
After being reinstated, Fubara resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, citing the need to thank Tinubu for intervening in the matter.
He later secured nomination forms to run for a second term in the APC governorship primaries but withdrew in May 2026, a decision Wike and others attributed to prior peace talks in which the governor decided not to seek re-election in exchange for the suspension of impeachment proceedings.
Fubara publicly announced in July 2026 that he had returned to the political family that had brought him to power, that he had joined the Rainbow Coalition led by Wike (a cross-party alliance that supported Tinubu), and that he had endorsed the coalition’s favored governorship candidate.
“Somebody comes, and that’s why you have to be careful. Those who didn’t want you to be governor now became your friends. Obviously, they will destroy you, thinking that coming closer to you is to fight us.
“At the end of the fight, I have not lost anything. What have I lost? Nothing. But you have lost. Your intention was to go for a second term, was it not? And you are not going,” Wike said.
