Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has announced an end to the political rift between him and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Wike announced that reconciliation has already taken place.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television program on Thursday, Wike stated that he would not engage with Fubara unless he had forgiven him.
“I have already said that we have been speaking. I will not engage with a man I have not forgiven. Everything is over.
“I am not a politician who says one thing today and another tomorrow. We must move forward,” he said.
The minister, however, accused unnamed individuals of attempting to frustrate the peace process by deliberately twisting legal interpretations of local government elections in the state.
“Unfortunately, there are people who do not want peace. Today, I watched individuals twisting the law, claiming illegality in the conduct of local government elections.
“But ask them: what did they do to prevent such illegality in the first place?” Wike queried.
Wike also praised President Bola Tinubu for helping in the political situation.
He praised Tinubu for restoring tranquility in Rivers despite the actions of what he dubbed “conflict merchants.”
“The president has done a great deal for us, and peace has been restored,” he added.
The feud between Wike and Fubara began shortly after Fubara took office in May 2023.
By October, tensions had risen as Wike supporters in the Rivers State House of Assembly tried to impeach the governor.
In reaction, Fubara ordered the demolition of the Assembly complex when a suspected fire broke out, forcing legislators to evacuate to temporary chambers.
The power struggle intensified over the next few months, pushing Rivers into a governance crisis.
President Bola Tinubu intervened in December 2023, brokering a tenuous peace agreement in which Fubara relinquished several political posts to Wike’s loyalists.
That peace eventually failed, and the war resumed, causing Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on March 18, 2025.
The proclamation, which halted Fubara’s executive powers for six months, cited increased insecurity and administrative gridlock.
Tinubu then nominated a single administrator, former Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.), to govern the state during the emergency period.
However, on Wednesday, the president lifted the prohibition and reinstated Fubara as state governor.
