By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said President Bola Tinubu will not have to intervene in the Rivers State political crisis.
Wike noted that the peace move brokered by Tinubu between him and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday night would be the final time the president would step in to resolve the dispute.
The FCT minister stated this on Tuesday, February 10, while speaking with journalists after inspecting ongoing infrastructure projects in the FCT.
On the president’s peace move in the Rivers’ crisis, Wike said the president acted in his capacity as a father figure and peacemaker, but stressed that such intervention should not become a recurring issue.
He said: “All I can tell you is that the president has been very kind to the people of the state. If there seems to be a problem between the legislature and the governor, as a father, he really has to intervene.
“I remember this is the second time the president has intervened. I believe, by the grace of God, this will be the last time.
“I have told the Assembly to obey the president, which I know they will not hesitate to do. I also believe that this is the final time we must be hearing this kind of discourse.”
Rivers State has been enmeshed in a political tension between Fubara and some members of the state House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, the majority of whom are loyal to the FCT minister.
The crisis, which has lingered since 2023, has seen the Assembly make attempts to impeach Fubara thrice, the latest being on January 8 over alleged gross misconduct that was against the Constitution.
There are allegations that the political crisis stemmed from the governor falling out with the FCT minister.
Following escalating tensions in the state, President Tinubu intervened and declared a state of emergency in March 2025.
The president suspended Fubara, his deputy, and the Rivers Assembly “for an initial period of six months” and said the development is required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
President Tinubu then appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) as the administrator of the state.
After six months, Fubara was reinstated as governor following a reconciliatory move brokered between him, Wike, who is his immediate predecessor, and the lawmakers.
Fubara, in December 2025, left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under whose platform he was elected in 2023, and became a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), shortly after some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly defected to the APC.
The Deputy Governor also defected to the APC on January 4.
The Sunday night peace move by the president, his second intervention in the state’s political dispute, is said to have been necessitated by Wike’s decision not to allow Fubara run for a second term in office, which he said is part of the agreement earlier reached to broker peace between him and Fubara.
