Wike: Fubara visited me with two APC governors to seek reconciliation

Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers state, visited him to seek reconciliation.

Fubara and Wike have been locked in a bitter political standoff since late 2023.

The crisis led President Bola Tinubu to suspend Fubara for six months after declaring emergency rule in Rivers and appointing a sole administrator.

In April, Fubara was said to have visited Wike in Abuja to seek reconciliation, days after the suspended governor reportedly met Tinubu in London over the protracted political crisis in Rivers.

Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Monday, Wike said Fubara came with two governors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), despite being a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Yes, he (Fubara) came with two governors and another person, but unfortunately, the two of them are APC governors. I wouldn’t pursue him. He said he wants peace, and I said I want peace too,” Wike said.

“There are steps. You people think this is about just saying, ‘I want peace,’ and then you go. What that means is that there’s an open window for you—take the necessary steps to show you want peace.

“Indeed, this is a self-inflicted injury. He doesn’t need it. When this crisis started, I called him. Seyi Makinde, Ortom, Ikpeazu, and Umahi were there. We sat him down and said, ‘This is not good for you. God has given it to you; don’t allow people to push you. You’re a governor—we know’.

“Don’t forget people laboured day and night. What I have said is: don’t forget people who toiled day and night.”

The FCT minister accused some unnamed governors of influencing Fubara’s political decisions.

Wike also doubted Fubara’s capacity to lead true reconciliation, citing persistent attacks by his supporters and emphasising action over declarations to resolve the crisis.

“I told him, ‘Go this way, and you will not have a problem.’ People came and said, ‘Don’t mind him; assert yourself as governor’. Now trouble has come,” Wike said.

“They declare a state of emergency. He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches him. Who suffers? Assuming you don’t settle this problem and the state of emergency is called off, has the problem ended?

“I told him, ‘I don’t think you have the capacity to make peace. Your people are demonstrating every day, going on television to insult people.’

“Have you met the assembly people? There are leaders you should meet. It’s not just to say, ‘I want peace.’ You must show, by conduct and action, that you want it.”

But on Sunday, the suspended governor of Rivers said he is not desperate to return to office, nearly two months after emergency rule was declared in the state.

The governor, who said ‘his spirit has left there,’ also expressed concerns that actions taken by some of his backers had, in fact, worsened the crisis.