A chieftain of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, has claimed that Siminalayi Fubara will resume office as Governor of Rivers State without effective powers, following President Bola Tinubu’s decision to lift the state of emergency and reinstate suspended elected officials on Wednesday.
Speaking on Channels Television, Cole — the APC governorship candidate in the 2023 election — argued that Fubara’s authority as governor has been weakened by political circumstances that placed him at odds with his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Rivers, a strategic state in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, has been the epicenter of one of the country’s most intense political rivalries in recent years. Since Fubara assumed office in May 2023, his strained relationship with Wike, his political benefactor, has triggered a series of crises in the state, including the defection of lawmakers, legal battles, and eventually the federal government’s declaration of emergency rule.
Cole expressed concern that with Fubara back in office, the crisis is far from over.
“We cannot be in a situation where we have an elected governor of a state, like Rivers, which is very critical not just for the people of Rivers but Nigeria as a whole, and what you then see is an elected governor that has zero powers. I don’t think it portends well at all,” he said.
He further noted that Nigeria’s political culture often produces bitter “godfather-godson” battles when former governors attempt to control their successors. According to him, such situations typically harm democratic governance and the wellbeing of citizens.
“Everywhere that fight has occurred, the people have tended to suffer a lot more,” he warned.
Cole advised Fubara to seek an accommodation with Wike if he hopes to exercise some measure of authority.
“What I would do if I were him would be to now sit down with the honourable minister and appeal for some leeway to allow certain decisions to be taken by me as governor, and others to be taken by him, whatever peace agreement they had,” he said.
The details of the peace deal brokered earlier this year between Tinubu, Wike, and Fubara remain unclear, leaving Rivers’ political future uncertain even as normal governance resumes.