The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has confirmed a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Siminalayi Fubara to resolve the crisis rocking Rivers State. Wike confirmed the meeting on Tuesday while addressing journalists.
The minister noted the president’s role as a unifying figure whose leadership was essential in addressing the friction between the state’s executive and legislative arms.
He said: “The president is the father of the nation, and when a father speaks, his children must listen and do the needful to ensure peace and progress.
“The most important thing is for Rivers State to move forward, and we are grateful to Mr President for his tireless commitment to ensuring that we reach this understanding.”
Wike said: “If there seems to be a problem between the legislator and the governor, and as a father, he did not have to intervene. I remember this is the second time the president is intervening.
“I believe, by the grace of God, this will be the last time. I believe that, the assembly I have told them to obey mr president, which I know they will not hesitate.
“And I also believe that the governor will carry out his own part to make sure that this is the final time Rivers people will have to hear this kind of discord.”
The latest peace is said to be one of the outcomes of a fresh peace agreement brokered by President Tinubu between Fubara and his estranged political mentor and Nyesom Wike.
According to sources familiar with the development who spoke with The Nation, President Tinubu on Sunday night convened a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. In attendance were Governor Fubara, Minister Wike, the Speaker of the Rivers Assembly, and some prominent elders from the state.
The high-level talks were aimed at resolving the lingering power tussle that has paralysed governance in Rivers State and threatened Fubara’s tenure.
“The President minced no words in telling the governor the truth. He wasn’t happy with the way Fubara had carried on,” a source at the meeting disclosed.
During the meeting, it was learnt that President Tinubu laid out three clear options for Governor Fubara to ensure political survival and avoid an imminent impeachment by the House of Assembly.
Top among the conditions was the full implementation of the original peace accord, earlier brokered by the President in late 2023, following threats of emergency rule.
Sources said part of the new understanding requires Fubara to reinstate commissioners loyal to Wike or submit a new list agreeable to both parties for Assembly confirmation.
Following the meeting at Aso Rock, Governor Fubara reportedly visited Wike’s residence in the Guzape area of Abuja, where he is said to have tendered a private apology in a move seen as part of the reconciliation effort.