Bola Tinubu, president of Nigeria, has praised Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, for his stance on peace and maturity during the political crisis that engulfed the oil-rich state in 2023 and lasted for almost three years.
The crisis, which broke out in the early days of Fubara’s administration, pitted his supporters against those of Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It led to more than three attempts by the Martin Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly to impeach the governor.
Almost three years after the initial steps that led to the conflict, the alleged first attempt to impeach the governor and the October 2023 damage to the state House of Assembly complex, Fubara and his support group, the Simplified Movement, returned to the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition and acknowledged the FCT minister as their “father and leader”.
Tinubu, while speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in Port Harcourt on Saturday, praised Fubara for accepting peace and respecting the advice of elders during the Rivers political crisis.
He said the governor’s actions helped restore stability in the state, adding: “Gov. Sim Fubara, you will not regret what you have done.”
Tinubu said: “During the seeming Rivers political crisis created by misunderstanding in the family, I intervened on your behalf.
“Sir Siminalayi Fubara, Your Excellency, the host Governor of today, I want to thank you specifically for your maturity, understanding and respect for the wisdom of elders when we intervened.
“You respected our position; you maintained peace. You are a committed democrat. Fubara, you will not regret what you have done as long as all of us are alive,” he said.
The President’s assurance gives hope to supporters of the Rivers governor, who has expressed a desire for “a soft landing”.
Residents of the state, such as Godwin Chukwumachi, had asked: “Now that he (Fubara) is not coming back as governor, will they give him a ministerial or ambassadorial position?”
When Wike was asked during his media chat in Port Harcourt whether he would support Fubara for a future political appointment, the FCT minister did not give an explicit answer. He said the governor was young and had the future ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Wike and Fubara have promised to support Tinubu’s re-election bid. Fubara said Rivers State would deliver at least three million votes to back the President in the January 2027 presidential election.
Fubara and Wike praised Tinubu for supporting Rivers during its political crisis and for funding federal projects in the state.
“Rivers will give you three million votes. We will stand by you. We will work for you. We will deliver for you,” Fubara said.
Wike added: “Rivers State has already concluded; Rivers State has already agreed that come January 16, 2027, they will vote for you.”
Fubara said: “The entire Rivers State and this region is grateful to you for your unwavering love and commitment to Rivers State and this region, for stability and economic progress.”
Peace and reconciliation
Fubara thanked Tinubu for helping to end the political crisis in Rivers. He said the President’s intervention kept the state government standing and allowed it to continue serving the people.
“When our state was at a crossroads, you intervened as a father and as a true statesman amidst intense political uncertainty.
“You did not look away. You reached out with a fatherly call for peace and harmony, intervened directly and made personal sacrifice so our administration could remain standing,” he said.
Federal support
Fubara thanked Tinubu for supporting Rivers with federal projects and appointments. He cited the ongoing Calabar-Lagos Coastal Road and the appointment of more than 40 Rivers people to federal positions.
“Over the past three and a half years, we have demonstrated through strategic federal support and the delivery of key infrastructure projects, including the ongoing Calabar-Lagos Coastal Road,” Fubara said.
“We are grateful that you have entrusted our sons and daughters… you appointed over 40-something Rivers indigenes, including the minister, our leader, entrusting him with very sensitive responsibility, which he is also delivering,” he added.
Wike also praised Tinubu for appointing Rivers people to federal positions. He said the President had shown that he valued the state.
“Since the inception of democracy in 1999, Rivers people have never had it this way. We have never had 47 political appointments from Mr President,” Wike said.
“He identified with the people of Rivers State because he concluded the Calabar-Lagos Coastal Road… he established federal presence in Rivers,” he added.
Wike said the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium could seat 40,000 people. He said the crowd at the rally came from Rivers State, not from other states.
“Welcome to Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 40,000—not 20,000, not 16,000, not 10,000, but 40,000 seating capacity.
“This is a Rivers State rally. We did not mobilise anybody from any other state,” he said.
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