RIVERS (Sundiata Post) – The political crisis that has been raging in Rivers State since last year has entered a new phase of consolidation of strength, with stakeholders now publicly queuing behind the two political gladiators in the ring.
The crisis, which many believed had defied every intervention, including that which was mediated by President Bola Tinubu, has since seen the two parties in the fight – the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his estranged political godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike -continuously take regular covert jabs at each other and work hard to consolidate their strength in the all-out battle that analysts believed had only been postponed to the 2027 general elections.
Fubara, a first-term governor, is expected to seek a second term and would seek to use the opportunity to prove a point that he has come of age and does not need any political godfather to offer him the governorship seat.
Wike, on the other hand, is gearing up to use the next electioneering phase to teach his former protege a political lesson by ensuring, by all means, that he (Fubara) does not return as a second-term governor in the oil-rich state.
Federal might for improved war-chest
About a month ago, Wike, at a church gathering, said he did not see anyone that could challenge him in the 2027 election circle.
“I can tell you that with the forces we have, I don’t know anybody who will challenge us. It’s like tomorrow should be 2027 so all these would be put to rest. For me, it is still very far, and I can’t wait. The leaders of the two parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – are here. Where else can you find that unity? Only in Rivers,” he said.
Analysts have observed that from the onset of the crisis, Wike had kicked off the process of consolidating his hold on the political arena of the state by not only controlling the leadership of the PDP in the state but also taking over the leadership of the APC.
Two days after the dissolution of the state working committee of the APC in the state, the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, inaugurated Chief Tony Okocha, an ally of Wike, as the chairman of a seven-man caretaker committee to oversee the affairs of the state.
This had come after 24 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who had initiated the impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara, defected to the APC. The lawmakers, despite their switch of political parties, remain loyal to Wike and are said to have continued to play the opposition role by vetoing several decisions of the governor.
Speaking at an event earlier in the week, Wike alluded to the role the lawmakers are playing in the political drama and how he has refused to intervene despite entreaties.
“Instead of you (referring to Gov Fubara) to go and check the Assembly you are fighting with, you want me to talk to them that they should not be independent, but you want to be independent. Continue to be independent. Continue to save the democracy of Nigeria,” he said.
Aside from this, observers of the development in the state also noted that Wike has been ensuring that his loyalists secure federal appointments, a move believed to be crucial to his planned bid to reclaim the state in 2027.
Aside his role in the appointments of his erstwhile commissioner of works, Dr Dakorinama Alabo George as the director-general of Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), and a former PDP chairman in the state, Desmond Akawor as the federal commissioner of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), his appointments of a former chairman of the PDP in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers, Chidi Amadi, as chief of staff; erstwhile state chairman of the PDP, Felix Obuah as coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council; Michael Chinda as Senior Special Adviser on Land, Urban and Regional Planning, and Barivure Fred, another senior aide on environment and waste management, among others, have been cited as strategic for building a formidable war-chest ahead 2027.
Consolidation of strength using chieftains and foot-soldiers
But Governor Fubara has also been increasing his ranks with erstwhile loyalists of Wike, in a move analysts believe is targeted at weakening the FCT minister at the grassroots where the governorship election in the state is won and lost.
On Thursday, top chieftains of the PDP in the state, including its former national chairman, Uche Secondus, declared loyalty and support for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Fubara.
This, as many observers have noted, was a significant move in the battle for the soul of the PDP in Rivers and the survival of Governor Fubara in his battle with his predecessor.
A former Minister of Transport and the director-general of the PDP-PCC in Rivers State for the 2023 presidential election, Dr Abiye Sekibo; Secondus; former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opera; a former governor of the state, Sir Celestine Omehia; a former deputy governor of the state, Tele Ikuru; Senator Lee Maeba; and former Secretary to the Rivers