Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike departed the Presidential Villa in the same vehicle on Sunday night after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, presidency officials familiar with the meeting confirmed to our correspondent.
According to the officials, although the two political rivals arrived separately, Fubara rode away with Wike after the President’s intervention.
They described it as a symbolic gesture signalling a possible end to their long-running political feud.
“Two of them did not come together. Fubara came first, then Wike came later. But at the end of the day, both of them left the Villa together in the same vehicle. Doesn’t that mean they both settled?” a source said.
Another source confirmed the meeting, saying, “Yes, he met them yesterday night. It is true.
The two of them settled. He talked to two of them. But I can’t tell you what he said.”
The Nation had first reported the meeting early on Monday, noting that Fubara accompanied Wike to his Guzape residence in Abuja afterwards.
The meeting marks a potential turning point in the Rivers’ political crisis, which has paralysed governance in the oil-rich state for over nearly two years.
The fallout between Wike and his political godson, Fubara, began shortly after the latter assumed office in May 2023.
Tensions flared in October when members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Wike initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara.
The governor responded by demolishing the Assembly complex following a suspicious fire and relocated legislative sessions to temporary quarters.
In the months that followed, the power tussle plunged the state into a governance crisis.
In December 2023, President Tinubu intervened, facilitating a fragile truce that led to a peace deal in which Fubara conceded several political appointments to Wike’s loyalists.
However, the arrangement broke down, and the conflict resurfaced, culminating in President Tinubuficials declaring a state of emergency on March 18, 2025.
Tinubu’s declaration suspended the governor’s executive powers for an initial period of six months, citing rising insecurity and administrative paralysis.
He then installed a sole administrator, former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.).
The President again intervened and doused the tension, leading to the end of the emergency rule in September 2025.
Months later, both Fubara and the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly have been at loggerheads, with the Assembly issuing an impeachment notice against the governor.
(Source: Punch except the headline)
