Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, welcomed Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to his Port Harcourt residence on Sunday. It was their first public meeting since Fubara announced he would not run for a second term.
The gathering carried clear political weight. Wike was joined by APC governorship candidate Kingsley Chinda and Magnus Abe, who chairs the Rainbow Coalition reconciliation committee. Fubara came with Sam Jaja, former APC deputy national chairman.
The meeting signals progress in efforts to close the chapter on the bitter rift between Wike and Fubara that began shortly after Fubara took office in 2023. That crisis escalated to impeachment moves against the governor and eventually prompted President Bola Tinubu to declare a six-month state of emergency in Rivers.
Since then, both sides have moved toward a truce. Fubara has defected to the APC and aligned with the Rainbow Coalition backed by Wike. He has also publicly backed Chinda as his preferred successor for the 2027 governorship race, and declared support for Tinubu’s re-election bid, urging his supporters to do the same.
Fubara was initially screened alongside Chinda for the APC primary but later stepped down, saying the decision was to protect peace and unity in the state. With Fubara out, Chinda emerged as the party’s sole candidate.
Abe’s reconciliation committee was set up after Wike declared the feud over, and Sunday’s meeting is the first face-to-face since that announcement.
