Wike, Fubara speak on fresh truce brokered by Tinubu

President Tinubu, on 18 March, declared an emergency rule in Rivers and suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, and all the Rivers assembly members after his failed previous efforts to broker peace between Messrs Fubara and Wike.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, have confirmed that the rift between them had been resolved following a fresh truce brokered by President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Tinubu, on Thursday night, held another reconciliation meeting between Messrs Wike and Fubara in Abuja.

The Speaker of the suspended Rivers House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, and other assembly members attended the closed-door meeting to end the protracted political crisis in the oil-rich state.

PREMIUM TIMES, Friday, obtained a video clip showing Messrs Wike and Fubara alongside some assembly members addressing reporters after the closed-door meeting.

‘No more acrimony’

Messrs Wike and Fubara separately addressed reporters after emerging from the closed-door meeting with the president.

Both politicians were flanked by Mr Amaewhule and other assembly members.

Mr Wike said both camps had agreed to end the rift and work in unity.

“We have all agreed to work together with the governor, and the governor also agreed to work together with all of us. We are members of the same political family,” he began.

The FCT minister stressed that although the crisis had lingered for some months, it has now been settled.

“Yes, just like humans, you have a disagreement, and then you also have a time to settle your disagreement.

“And that has been finally concluded today, and we have come to report to Mr. President, that is what we have agreed. So for me, everything is over,” he said.

“And I enjoin everybody who believes to work with us, to also work together with everybody, that there’s no more acrimony.”

‘Peace has returned in Rivers’

On his part, Mr Fubara hailed the truce brokered by Mr Tinubu, explaining peace was needed for Rivers State to move forward.

“For me, it’s a day we have to thank Almighty God. For me, it’s very important that this day has come to be,” the suspended governor said.

Continuing, he said: “What we need for the progress of Rivers State is peace, and by the Special Grace of God, this night, with the help of Mr. President and the agreement of the leaders of the state, peace has returned in Rivers State.”

A previous peace deal between the parties brokered by Mr Tinubu in 2023, which later collapsed, made the parties resume hostilities in Rivers State.

But Mr Fubara vowed that the latest truce would be sustained in the oil-rich South-south state.

“We’ll do everything within our power to make sure that we sustain it (the truce) this time around,” he assured of the fresh peace deal.

Meanwhile, details of the agreements reached by the parties remain unclear as of press time.

It is also unclear if Mr Fubara and the assembly members would be reinstated before the expiration of the six-month suspension issued by Mr Tinubu.

Background

The feud between Messrs Fubara and Wike began less than six months after Mr Fubara assumed office as governor.

The feud later split the state’s legislature into two factions, with 27 lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike and three to Mr Fubara.

The governor had recognised the three-member faction because he believed the others “lost” their seats in the assembly since they had “defected” from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

However, the 28 February Supreme Court judgement tipped the balance of power in favour of Mr Wike and his allies.

The court reinstated the pro-Wike faction as the legitimate Rivers assembly, stopped federal allocations to the state, and nullified the local elections earlier conducted by Mr Fubara’s administration.

On 14 March, the Rivers House of Assembly served a notice of alleged misconduct against Mr Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, as a preliminary step for their impeachment.

In a notice addressed to the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, the 26 lawmakers, among other things, accused Mr Fubara of spending Rivers’ funds without approval from the state assembly and appointing people to run the government without the required screening and confirmation.

The lawmakers also accused Mr Fubara of hindering or obstructing the assembly from its constitutional functions and seizing salaries, allowances, and funds belonging to lawmakers, the clerk, and the assembly.

They accused the Deputy Governor, Mrs Odu, of “conniving and supporting the illegal appointment of persons to occupy offices/positions in the Rivers State Government without allowing for the requirement of screening and confirmation”.

The impeachment plot began about the time Mr Fubara removed the elected chairpersons of the local councils in obedience to the Supreme Court rulings. The governor said he would implement all the Supreme Court’s decisions.

In response to the political crises as well as the destruction of oil facilities by hoodlums in Rivers State, Mr Tinubu, on 18 March, declared a state of emergency in the state.

The president also suspended Governor Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all the House of Assembly members for an initial six months.

He subsequently appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas as the sole administrator of the oil-rich South-south state.

Nigerians have expressed outrage over the emergency rule in Rivers and the removal of Mr Fubara and other elected officials.

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