Rivers: Wike regains control of political structure as Fubara, loyalists boycott LG polls
Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister and former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has regained his political influence in the state after a prolonged face-off with his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The Minister recaptured the local government structure on Saturday following the election conducted in the 23 Local Government Areas of the state by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.
The elections were conducted after the political crisis that tore the state apart.
Recall that in the heat of the crisis last year, Governor Fubara conducted a highly controversial local government election, with his men sweeping relatively all the chairmanship positions.
Fubara’s loyalists had contested the election conducted on October 4, 2024 under the Action Peoples Party, APP, and won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship positions in the state.
However, the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025, nullified the election, following an appeal brought before the apex court by the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Jamilu Tukur, invalidated the election after it restored a judgment of the Federal High Court, which earlier in 2024 restrained RSIEC from proceeding with the conduct of the council polls on the grounds that the state’s voter’s register must be updated before the conduct of the poll.
Fubara’s suspension and reconciliation with Wike
Worried by the impact of the prolonged feud between Wike and his then estranged political son, President Bola Tinubu on March 18, declared a state of emergency in Rivers and suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly for six months.
The president said the decision was taken to restore stability in the state.
A few months after the suspension, Tinubu met with Fubara and Wike at the state House and brokered peace between them.
The duo reportedly entered a concrete agreement witnessed by President Tinubu himself. Part of the agreement, according to reports, was to allow Wike’s men to return to the local government.
The deal paved the way for the fresh LG election conducted across the state on Saturday.
How Wike’s loyalists regained control
In the run up to the Saturday polls, Wike’s loyalists and former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwarts defected to the Chief Tony Okocha-led All Progressive Congress, APC, and picked the party’s ticket to contest the elections.
The move, according to analysts, was to allow Wike to take control of both the PDP and the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections in the state.
All the loyalists were cleared by the RSIEC to contest the election despite opposition from another faction of the APC, which has now shifted to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
In the 23 local government areas in the state, chairmanship candidates linked to Wike contested the election on APC platform in 20 local government areas, while three others ran as PDP members.
Those linked to the FCT Minister in PDP are contesting in Obio-Akpor, the minister’s Local Government Area; Port Harcourt and Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni.
Although RSIEC is yet to announce winners of the Saturday polls, the coast is clear for Wike’s men.
Fubara and his men shun election
The suspended Governor, who is expected to return to the government house on September 18, was conspicuously absent from the state during the exercise.
The governor’s key supporters included his Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, the Secretary to the Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo and other notable loyalists were absent from their various polling units during the election.
Similarly, the 23 former local government chairmen sacked by the Supreme Court shunned the election, paving the way for Wike’s men.
One of the loyalists, who spoke with DAILY POST on condition of anonymity said there was no need to participate in the exercise, stating that “we knew the winners before the election started. So why do we need to waste our precious time to go and vote? Vote for who?”
He clarified that the governor is not in the country at the moment, saying “we are expecting him to be back early next month close to when he will be returning to the office.
“Most of the things happening today are parts of the agreement Wike and Fubara signed in the presence of Mr President. They have taken the power from the governor,” he added.
According to him, “Fubara believes that there is nothing, including his seat, that cannot be sacrificed for the sake of peace. Have you seen where an elected president removes another elected leader before? It has never happened.
“We all listened to Shettima when he said the president has no power to suspend even a local government chairman not to talk of a sitting governor but it has happened and they did it successfully. That’s the country we live in today”.
Election marred by apathy
There was a very low turnout of voters across the state on Saturday as only a few residents could be seen queuing up at various polling units.
As of 11.40am on Saturday, there was no single voter at the Ward 17 Unit 054 Obio-Akpor LGA of the state.
A resident of the area and an eligible voter, Wisdom Kagbara alleged that boys were seen “thumb printing ballot papers” for the APC candidate.
“Lets wait and see what they will announce as results as all our streets are for soccer”, he lamented in an X post.
Another resident of Port Harcourt, Grace Agba told DAILY POST that there was no need to waste time to vote “when they have already written the results. Whether you vote or not, the results they wrote is what they will announce”.
“I was in the market three days ago and everybody was saying that there was no need to vote. The agreement has been signed and Wike’s men are taking over.
“Left for some of us, they shouldn’t have wasted the money spent for the exercise, they should have just announced the unelected winners. This is pure selection and not an election”, she lamented.
