Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike left the Presidential Villa in the same vehicle on Sunday night following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, according to presidential officials acquainted with the matter.
According to officials, although the two political adversaries came separately, Fubara rode away with Wike following the president’s intervention.
The warring parties described it as a symbolic move that could end their long-running political conflict.
“Two of them did not come together. Fubara came first, and then Wike came later. But at the end of the day, both of them left the villa together in the same vehicle. Doesn’t that mean they both settled?” a source said.
Another insider verified the encounter, stating, “Yes, he met with them last night. “This is true.
The two of them agreed. He spoke to two of them. But I cannot tell you what he said.”
The Nation first reported on the encounter early Monday, reporting that Fubara then escorted Wike to his Guzape mansion in Abuja.
The meeting could be a watershed moment in the Rivers political crisis, which has crippled governance in the oil-rich state for nearly two years.
The feud between Wike and his political godson, Fubara, began soon after the latter took power in May 2023.
Tensions rose in October 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 moved parliamentary meetings to temporary quarters.
In the months that followed, the power struggle pushed the state into a governance crisis.
In December 2023, 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 plan fell through, and the crisis returned, resulting in President Tinubu proclaiming a state of emergency on March 18, 2025.
Tinubu’s statement froze the governor’s executive powers for the first six months, citing increased insecurity and administrative gridlock.
He then appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.), the former Chief of Naval Staff, as the sole administrator.
The president intervened again and calmed the situation, bringing the state of emergency to an end in September 2025.
Months later, Fubara and the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly remain at odds, with the Assembly issuing an impeachment notice against the governor.
