Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Credit: Rivers State Government House
Fresh facts have emerged on how the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, lost the backing of President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in the prolonged power tussle with his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Sunday PUNCH gathered from credible leaders of the APC involved in efforts to resolve the crisis between Fubara and Wike that the governor fell out with the President and the ruling party after allegedly reneging on reconciliation terms.
A member of the National Working Committee of the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the APC leadership refused to officially welcome Fubara into the party after his defection because he did not have Wike’s blessings.
“The President handed over the political structure of Rivers State to Wike. Fubara joined the party to outsmart Wike in a desperate move to secure a second term. But the party leadership already knew the body language of the President. That was why no official reception was given to Fubara after he joined the APC,” the party official said.
He added, “The President advised him to focus on governance and leave Wike alone for party politics. The President intervened and saved him from the first impeachment plot against him (Fubara).
“On the second impeachment plot as well, the President told him to focus on governance and leave Wike alone. It was at that time that all parties agreed that he would not go for a second term. Fubara agreed to that, and that is why Wike always says, ‘Agreement is agreement.’
“But once the governor settles in Port Harcourt, some people would advise him against Wike again, telling him he is the governor and the leader of the party,” the APC NWC member added.
The source said it was impossible for the APC leadership to support Fubara’s second-term ambition, knowing it was against the settlement terms and that Tinubu was not in support.
The insider added that Fubara might have been misled by some APC chieftains who assured him of the party’s support.
“Even on this ongoing governorship matter, I am aware the party leadership told him that the Presidency and the Governors’ Forum were not on his side. Fubara had even told some party officials that he would not attend the governorship screening exercise, only for him to appear before the screening committee in Abuja.
“The body language of the President is that Wike is in charge of Rivers politics, and Fubara should have seen that. Fubara did not have input in the screening committee of the APC for Rivers House of Assembly and National Assembly aspirants. All his candidates were disqualified.
“The structure of the Rivers APC primary was given to Wike. Wike is in control of Rivers politics and, until something changes, he will continue to hold sway in the state,” he added.
Sunday PUNCH also gathered from another APC chieftain in Abuja that Fubara was not cleared by the party’s governorship screening committee headed by its National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, and National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru.
“What I know is that Fubara was not cleared by the APC screening committee to contest. That was why he left in anger. If you remember, he stormed out of the screening venue angrily. He had a very bitter look on his face. He was not cleared; he was told he could not contest under the party. That means he was disqualified from the race.
“That he withdrew from the race is face-saving. A person who has been disqualified cannot participate in the primary. That was what happened,” the party leader, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity on Friday, said.
One of the loyalists of the FCT minister also confirmed that Fubara was barred from contesting by the APC, boasting that “Wike has sealed the governor’s fate.”
According to the ally, who also spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday, the APC was “simply following the agreement that Fubara would not contest for a second term.”
“That is not power play or wickedness; it is simply honouring an agreement that Fubara himself agreed to. He would not have escaped impeachment if not for the President and Wike himself. Part of the agreement to settle the recurrent political crisis in Rivers then was that he would not contest for a second term, and he agreed.
“APC is just working towards that agreement, and that was why Fubara was not cleared to contest,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, did not take his calls or respond to messages sent to him for comments on the matter.
How APC denied Fubara reception
Fubara officially left the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC on December 9, 2025.
The governor thereafter visited the National Secretariat of the APC on December 17, where he pledged to collaborate with the party to ensure President Tinubu and the APC secured victory across all levels in 2027.
The National Chairman of the APC, Yilwatda, described Fubara’s defection as significant, noting that it completed the alignment of the South-South region with the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Despite this, the party refused to organise an official reception for Fubara after his defection.
All the PDP governors, including Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and Peter Mbah (Enugu), who joined the APC, were officially received into the party by a delegation usually led by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
But Fubara was not given such a reception, a development that had earlier signalled the governor’s low standing in the party.
Yilwatda had, in February, explained that Fubara had not been formally welcomed into the party because of “regional sensitivities.”
The APC chairman, while speaking on TVC, said, “We have Kano we’re preparing for. When you’re dealing in politics, we opted to clear the North first because Ramadan is coming and most of the people in the North are Muslims.
“We have a lot of communities in the North that are sensitive to the issue of Ramadan. So, we pleaded that we clear the northern governors who have to come to the APC first before going to the South, where we don’t have Ramadan as an issue.
“So, these are strategies and also an acknowledgement of the sensitivity of each community. That’s the reason we took that decision. It has nothing to do with Siminalayi Fubara not having authority.”
Surviving three impeachment plots
Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that Fubara survived three impeachment plots as the political crisis in the state escalated at different times.
The first impeachment plot against the governor began on October 30, 2023, barely five months after he assumed office.
About 24 lawmakers reportedly signed the impeachment notice, a move that triggered chaos at the Assembly complex in Port Harcourt, including protests, teargas and a fire incident at the Assembly chamber.
That 2023 attempt was later withdrawn in December 2023 after President Tinubu brokered a peace deal between the factions.
During the peak of the political crisis between Fubara and Wike in March 2025, the lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, also moved to impeach Fubara and his deputy, which then generated tension in the state.
Tinubu, on March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Fubara, the Deputy Governor, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the State House of Assembly for six months.
The President appointed a retired Rear Admiral, Ibok-Ete Ibas, as the state administrator.
However, Tinubu announced the end of the state of emergency on September 17, 2025.
The third impeachment plot against Fubara began on January 8, 2026, when the lawmakers formally commenced impeachment proceedings against him over alleged gross misconduct.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that although Tinubu was not in the country during the period, the President intervened again.
S’South youths, groups reject Fubara’s withdrawal
Meanwhile, several groups have expressed disappointment over Fubara’s withdrawal from the 2027 elections.
Amongst them is long standing supporter of the governor and pioneer spokesman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbe, who expressed sadness over Fubara’s action.
Sara-Igbe, an elder statesman, blamed Wike for the development.
He said, “I have never seen this happen where one man thinks he can do and undo and nobody can challenge him. Rivers people, shine your eyes. Rivers people wake up from your slumber. Rivers people, it is time for us to fight and take back our state.”
Similarly, the Chairman Emeritus of Ijaw Youths Council, Eastern Zone, Ibim Ibiwari, said Ijaw people were disappointed with the decision of the governor to step down from the political contest.
He said, “It breaks my heart because the Ijaw people from 1999 have supported various gubernatorial aspirants and they become governor.
“From our leader, our father, Sir Peter Odili to Sir Celestine Omehia, then to Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi and we gave the totality to the serving FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike you as media people are all aware that a lot of Ijaw people paid the supreme price with their lives in Abonema and other Ijaw communities to ensure that he came into power through our mother, Patience Jonathan, wife of the former President.”
Ibiwari said Fubara’s withdrawal has left many of his supporters frustrated and in a “mourning mood.”
“I could not even take my son to school when it dawned on me that the governor was no longer contesting the election,” he added.
Ibiwari raised concerns about the projects initiated by the Fubara administration including the reconstruction of the Port Harcourt Tourist Beach and the Creek Road market and appealed to the governor to complete the projects.
Also speaking, the National President of the South-South Youths Initiative, Savior Imeabe, condemned the governor’s decision to step down despite what he described as overwhelming support from the people.
He said the governor should know that he holds the office in trust for the people of the state and that such a decision was not his alone to make and urged him to reconsider his decision, which he described as disappointing.
Imeabe called on the governor not to make the mistake of handing over the state to people without the interest of Rivers at heart.
On his part, a former aide to Fubara, Chris Itamunola, described the governor’s withdrawal as unacceptable, saying his reason for maintaining peace in the state was not tenable, especially as the state had been in a political crisis for over three years.
He stated, “What peace? For the past three years, almost four years, have we had peace? What type of peace? A peace that throws us politically into the hands of the enemy?”
The lawyer expressed dismay that the people of the riverine areas of the state had not been given the opportunity to govern the state, unlike the counterparts from the upland who ruled for two tenures of eight years.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 