2027: Wike, Rivers Assembly members, council chairpersons meet Fubara

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and the 23 local government chairpersons in Rivers State met with Governor Siminalayi Fubara at his private residence in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

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The meeting comes about a fortnight after Mr Wike led members of the Rainbow Coalition in Rivers, including Kingsley Chinda, the 2027 Rivers APC governorship candidate, to meet with the governor.

Although details of Sunday’s meeting were not made public, Punch newspaper reported that it was part of efforts to accommodate Mr Fubara’s camp in the emerging political structure in the state ahead of the 2027 elections.

The meeting is significant because Mr Wike and the state lawmakers had been at loggerheads with Mr Fubara amid a prolonged political crisis that disrupted governance in the oil-rich state.

Reconciliation ahead of 2027

Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers, has intensified political engagements across the state ahead of the 2027 elections. He has held rallies and visited traditional rulers to consolidate support for President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

The minister has repeatedly vowed to deliver victories for Mr Tinubu in Rivers and the FCT.

The renewed reconciliation efforts come as political alignments ahead of the 2027 elections gather momentum, with former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi emerging as the African Democratic Congress’s vice-presidential candidate.

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Although some of Mr Fubara’s supporters appear reluctant to embrace the reconciliation efforts, Sunday’s meeting could signal a further attempt to bring the governor’s camp into the emerging political arrangement.

However, it remains unclear how much influence Mr Fubara and his loyalists would have in the proposed arrangement.

Background to Rivers political crisis

The meeting comes against the backdrop of a protracted power struggle between Mr Fubara and Mr Wike, which extended to the state legislature and local government administration.

The crisis escalated in March 2025 when President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, suspended Mr Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, as well as the state House of Assembly, and appointed a retired naval chief, Ibok-Ete Ibas, as sole administrator.

During the emergency rule, Mr Ibas dissolved boards and parastatals constituted under Mr Fubara’s administration and appointed new officials, many of whom were described as loyal to Mr Wike.

His administration also conducted local government elections in which Mr Wike-aligned candidates emerged as chairpersons in the state’s 23 local government areas.

The emergency rule was lifted in September 2025, paving the way for Mr Fubara and other suspended elected officials to return to office.

Despite the governor’s return, tensions over political control and the state government’s composition have continued to shape relations between the two camps.

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Uncertainty over power-sharing

Sunday’s meeting was also significant because of the strained relationship between Mr Fubara and lawmakers who had rejected some of his commissioner nominees during screening.

Mr Fubara’s cabinet remains incomplete, and he has yet to submit additional nominees to the state assembly for screening, leaving key ministries such as information without a commissioner.

The reported reconciliation effort is expected to test whether the governor’s loyalists can secure a place in the state’s evolving political structure ahead of the next general elections.

However, neither the details of the discussions nor the terms of any proposed political arrangement were disclosed.

For now, it remains unclear whether the meeting will bring a lasting resolution to the rivalry or mark another phase in negotiations over political control in Rivers State.