Fubara May Return as Governor After Tinubu-Led Peace Meeting

Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended Governor of Rivers State, and his predecessor, the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, have agreed to set aside their political dispute and work together after a late-night meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

“We have all agreed to work together. Everything is over. We are members of the same political family. As humans, we have disagreements. We also have time to settle those disagreements. There is no more acrimony. Everything is over. It’s a day we have to thank the Almighty,” Wike said in an interview with Sunday Moses, President Tinubu’s official videographer.

In response, Fubara thanked President Tinubu for his mediation, saying, “It’s important that this day has come.”

“What we need in Rivers is peace. We shall do everything in our power to sustain peace in Rivers State.”

Several months of political disagreement between Fubara and Wike, former Governor of the state, culminated in the President declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspending the Governor, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state’s House of Assembly.

The suspension on March 18, which drew condemnation from the opposition, was meant to last for six months.

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However, three months into the declaration, the recent development suggests that Fubara might soon be reinstated as Governor and the state of emergency lifted. Although repeated calls to Bayo Onanuga did not connect as his line was ‘busy’, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Tinubu said in a post on X that Wike, Fubara, and House Speaker Martins Chike Amaewhule all took part in the peace talks.

“President Tinubu has demonstrated once again that he wants peace for Rivers State,” Bayo Onanuga said.

“Just like he brought together the political gladiators to sign a peace deal in December 2023, he repeated the same on Thursday night, three months after he imposed the March 18 state of emergency. FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and House Speaker Martins Chike Amaewhule all took part in the peace talks at the Villa,” he concluded.