Misleading counsel from opportunistic allies and external interests has cost Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara his chance at a second term, according to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Reflecting on the rift during a live interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, Wike asserted that he had repeatedly urged his estranged political protégé to preserve the structure that enabled his rise to power.
“I said, look, don’t derail. I came as governor, I had crisis,” Wike recalled, contrasting his own tenure, when he rebuilt the Government House after inheriting depleted state assets, with the stable platform he left for Fubara. “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?”
Instead of building on that groundwork, Wike claimed, Fubara aligned himself with former opponents who misled him into fighting his political benefactors.
“Those who didn’t want you to be governor now became your friends. Obviously, they will destroy you,” Wike said. “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, is it not correct? And you are not going.”
The minister maintained that his early support for Fubara stemmed from genuine goodwill. However, reconciliation attempts foundered when political realities intervened, with associates warning Wike’s camp that backing down would threaten their political relevance.
Wike also accused external figures, including prominent legal practitioners, of attempting to exploit the state for financial gain. He alleged that these interests had treated Rivers State as a “cash cow” and plied the governor with poor legal advice and luxury treatment to retain their influence.
The feud, which erupted shortly after Fubara assumed office in 2023 over attempts to dismantle Wike’s political structure, led to severe political instability. The fallout brought repeated impeachment threats from pro-Wike lawmakers and a six-month state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu in March 2025.
Following his reinstatement, Fubara defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress to show gratitude for the President’s intervention. Though he initially sought the APC nomination for a second term, he withdrew in May 2026 as part of an earlier peace arrangement to avert impeachment. By July 2026, Fubara formally reunited with Wike’s political network, joined the pro-Tinubu Rainbow Coalition, and backed its chosen governorship candidate.