The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said he is in control of the Rivers State, amid the lingering dispute between him and his estranged political godson and governor of the state, Sinminalayi Fubara.
Wike stated this at the Wariwike Ethnic Nationality’s civic reception, organised to honour him on Saturday at Ogu, Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of the state.
The minister, after thanking his political allies and supporters, assured them that the political crisis in the state was nothing to worry about.
He said, “When God promotes you in life, you’ll go back and say, ‘God, I thank you.’ I can tell you, go home and sleep very well with your two eyes closed. We’re in charge.”
Wike and Fubara have been locked in a supremacy battle since 2023, following the governor’s face-off with members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Wike.
The crisis culminated in the six-month suspension of the governor and the imposition of emergency rule on the state by President Bola Tinubu in March 2025.
However, after the emergency rule was lifted, the lingering feud reignited, with pro-Wike lawmakers threatening to impeach the governor over alleged unconstitutional conduct.
Amid the impeachment threats, the governor recently defected to the All Progressives Congress, a move widely seen as a strategic bid to forestall his removal.
In response, Wike subsequently floated the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, a platform mobilising political leaders across party lines in support of Tinubu’s re-election.
Speaking at the inauguration of the group’s state coordinators in Rivers State, the FCT Minister accused the state government of refusing to approve the use of the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in the state capital for the event.
Fubara, however, explained that the stadium was undergoing construction.
At the event on Saturday, Wike stated, “Let me say and I stand to be corrected that those who worked with us from the inception from 2014 when we mounted the idea of the governorship of the state, none of them have disappointed us.”
“Those of them that we cannot tell their story are those who were later day converts. They were not the original part of the planning of me becoming the governor of Rivers State,” he added.
Wike also commended Tinubu for his role in revitalising the Niger Delta Commission, saying, “The NDC we have today is different from the NDC we used to have. Why? You have the president who believes you must renew the hope of the hopeless.”
Punch
