The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has made a startling revelation regarding the prolonged political crisis rocking Rivers State. The former Rivers State governor admitted that he was fully in support of removing the current governor, Siminalayi Fubara, from office, but it took the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save the embattled governor from being ousted.
Wike disclosed this while addressing journalists during a media briefing held in Abuja on Friday, April 18, 2025. He revealed that while he personally did not support the eventual decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers, he recognized that the president’s timely move prevented what would have been the outright removal of Fubara through political machinations and escalating unrest within the state.
“As a seasoned politician, I wasn’t happy about the state of emergency declared in Rivers State,” Wike admitted. “It’s not what I would have preferred, but to be sincere, the president’s decision ultimately saved Sim. I wanted him out. I wanted the outright removal of Governor Fubara, but the president’s timely intervention, through the state of emergency, changed the course of events and kept him in office.”
It would be recalled that on March 18, 2025, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, dissolving the state assembly, suspending both Governor Fubara and his deputy from office, and appointing retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the interim administrator to restore calm and oversee governance in the state.
Wike, who has been a key figure at the center of Rivers’ ongoing power tussle, insisted that Fubara had already lost the confidence of key political players in the state and that his position as governor was already untenable long before the president’s intervention. “The governor was gone,” Wike stressed. “Gone, yes… His government had crumbled. The center could no longer hold. So when people accuse the president of interference, I tell them they should be praising him instead.”
He further emphasized that Rivers politicians and stakeholders should express gratitude to the president for preventing what could have been an unprecedented crisis in the state. “Every morning, they should go to the president and ask, ‘Can we wash your feet for saving us from the chaos that was looming?’” he added pointedly.
Despite the deep-seated political tensions, Wike indicated a willingness to participate in reconciliation and peace talks aimed at resolving the protracted conflict. However, he accused Governor Fubara’s advisers of fueling the division and discouraging Fubara from seeking peace. “I’m ready for peace,” Wike declared. “But those surrounding Sim are the ones pushing him in the wrong direction, preventing him from embracing reconciliation and peace talks that would benefit the state.”
The former Rivers State governor maintained that his interest has always been in ensuring good governance and stability in Rivers, and he expressed hope that stakeholders would soon come together to restore peace and unity in the state.