Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has declared Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the leader of the Rainbow Coalition, urging members to unite under a common leadership.
Fubara made the declaration while addressing supporters at the unveiling of the coalition’s candidates in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where Wike was present.
The governor asked coalition members to stop identifying different political figures as their leaders, describing Wike as the “leader of the Rainbow Coalition” and his “Oga”.
According to Fubara, some members who supported him during the political crisis in Rivers State still maintained separate leadership identities despite the new political arrangement.
He said the groups had now come together under one umbrella and should no longer operate as separate political camps.
“I’m aware that there are some issues when some persons who followed me when we had the crisis, when you’re in your meeting, you say, ‘my leader, my leader’,” he said.
“We are now in one house. And because we have one house, there is no issue about who is the leader.”
Fubara acknowledged that some coalition members might still regard him as their leader but insisted that they should recognise Wike’s position in the alliance.
He urged members to resolve the leadership issue and move forward as one political family, warning against statements that could suggest the existence of competing leadership structures.
“I might be your Oga, but we have a common leader now,” he said.
“So please, going forward, this issue of ‘my leader, my leader, my leader’—I want it resolved here.”
The declaration places Wike at the centre of the coalition’s leadership structure, as Fubara calls on members to embrace a unified political identity.
