Former Rivers State Governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not guarantee a return ticket for Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, for the 2027 governorship election.
Wike made the remark at the weekend during a visit to Enohia Local Government Area of Rivers State, a statement widely seen as a fresh escalation in the long-running political rift between him and his successor.
Wike and Fubara have been locked in a fierce struggle for political control in the state, a conflict that plunged Rivers into a prolonged crisis. The standoff culminated in the burning of the State House of Assembly complex and, later, the declaration of a state of emergency in the state by President Tinubu.
The crisis also led to the reported defection of 27 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers loyal to Wike to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a development that sparked several court cases.
Some caretaker committee chairmen aligned with Governor Fubara, had defected to the Action People’s Party (APP) ahead of the local government elections and went on to win the polls.
At the height of the crisis, President Tinubu intervened, leading to reports of a peace agreement between Wike and Fubara. According to sources, one of the alleged conditions of the settlement was that Fubara would not seek re-election in 2027.
Following the end of the six-month state of emergency in September and the reinstatement of the deputy governor and state lawmakers, there were expectations that calm would return to the state.
Earlier this month, Governor Fubara defected from the PDP to the APC after meeting President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He later announced his defection at a meeting with government officials at the Government House in Port Harcourt, pledging his support for the President. Fubara’s defection came days after some members of the state assembly had joined the APC.
But responding to the development during his Enohia LGA visit, Wike dismissed the significance of such support, saying it would not translate into electoral advantage.
“The issue is not whether you support Tinubu or not. That decision was taken long ago. Nobody needs to come here to tell me they are for Tinubu. Supporting Tinubu will not earn anyone a ticket.
“The Rivers State House of Assembly has done its job. They were the first in Nigeria to declare that, on your mandate, they would stand . So the Tinubu issue is no longer an issue. Do you understand me? Who in Rivers State is not for Tinubu? That alone cannot guarantee anyone a ticket.
“The same people who recently made public declarations are the same ones who took the Assembly to court, seeking to have their seats declared vacant.
“All those now chanting ‘on your mandate we stand’ failed when it mattered most. They could not vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We have never wavered in our support for Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When we take decisions, we do so out of conviction, not because of what others are doing,” Wike said.
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