Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, claims he was pressured into signing a peace agreement with allies of Nyesom Wike.

Fubara made this statement on Wednesday at a non-denominational thanksgiving service in Port Harcourt, held in remembrance of the failed impeachment attempt against him on October 30, 2023, by lawmakers aligned with Wike.

The governor and Wike, who is the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), have clashed over control of Rivers state’s political structure. This ongoing conflict has triggered a political crisis, conflicting court orders, and divisions within the Rivers house of assembly.

In December 2023, Fubara and Wike signed an eight-point resolution to address their dispute. The agreement, brokered at the presidential villa in Abuja after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, included commitments to end all impeachment actions against the governor and to withdraw pending court cases.

However, despite the peace agreement, tensions in the state remain unresolved.

• ‘They Think They’re Smart’

Speaking during the thanksgiving service, the Rivers governor said Wike’s camp failed to abide by the conditions stipulated in the peace agreement initiated by the president.

Fubara said he signed the deal because of his desire to return peace to the state.

He added that after he withdrew the cases in court, Wike’s camp failed to withdraw theirs.

The Rivers governor explained that he was “ambushed” with the peace deal by Wike’s camp and not by the president who initiated the deal.

“Because we are people of peace, if there is any advantage that was taken over us, it is because of our genuine interest for peace,” Fubara said.

“The preacher said something about peace. I want to tell you that we went to Abuja and Mr President, knowing the importance of peace in Rivers state, brought out some conditions.

“We came back here to this state. First, we did everything that had to be done with those conditions.

“We went to court immediately, withdrew our matters, but they did not. And you call yourself honourable, when you cannot even obey simple instruction, and you blame it on Fubara.

“How is Fubara the problem? Fubara is not the problem! It was because we withdrew our matter, even the matter you filed, and we said we don’t want to continue: you took advantage of it, and went and got a judgment. Is it not fraud?

“I discovered that I was being ambushed, not by the person who initiated the peace, but by people who believed that they are smarter.

“But you know such smartness, no matter what you call yourself, it is still foolishness before God.

“That is why, as they said, those other things that they are looking for, to make them feel they are coming back to life, we will not do it. So, let me see how they will come to life when we don’t do it.”

He added that those who boasted that his administration would not last have failed.

“I can tell you, they said we are not going to last for one week, we are here, we have done one year plus,” he said.

“We are also doing one anniversary of their attack. They said those buccaneers will not leave as local government chairmen, today, we have the 23 local government chairmen sitting here with us.

“They said their commissioners should resign so that we will be crippled. Today, we have more than 23 commissioners.”

The Osun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, citing “alleged anti-party activities.”

In a resolution submitted to the APC National Secretariat and addressed to National Chairman Dr. Umar Ganduje, the Osun APC accused Aregbesola of “creating divisions within the party by establishing a splinter faction.”

The state party chapter claimed that this move has “undermined cohesion and unity,” particularly during a critical period in Osun politics.

The party stated that Aregbesola’s actions have “fueled internal divisions.”

Aregbesola’s camp is yet to respond to the development.

More to come…

There’s a new development in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that suggests top leaders may be turning their backs on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in favor of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.

This move comes just a week after PDP governors brokered peace among party factions. Despite calls to maintain the status quo, Nyesom Wike’s loyalists on the PDP National Working Committee are now backing Makinde for the 2027 presidential election.

It appears that Wike and other party chieftains are still unhappy with Atiku’s candidacy, citing concerns about his ability to win and his handling of party dynamics.

The logic, according to multiple sources, is to truncate the ambition of Atiku and stop the party from conceding the ticket to the former VP, who they complained has become a ‘serial contestant.’

According to The Punch, some party chieftains who spoke under anonymity admitted that they were yet to forgive the former PDP presidential candidate for bungling their biggest chance to return to power in 2023.

Wike and Makinde, alongside Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu, former governors of Benue, Enugu and Abia states respectively, had worked against Atiku’s election in 2023.

A few members of the NWC, who did not want to be identified, also felt Atiku was always seeking to experiment with the PDP and had not shown enough zeal to win it.

They also feared that he may no longer be a sellable candidate in 2027 because of his age, hence the need for a younger and more vibrant candidate like Makinde.

Makinde has openly declared that he is qualified to contest and would push for the 2027 presidential election agenda when the time is right.

The governor stated that “he is old enough to speak for himself on any issue without fear or intimidation,” adding that he would do so publicly if he had anything to say about his political future.

The governor also cautioned Nigerians against allowing the country to slide into a one-party state.

Efforts to get the reaction of the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba and the deputy spokesman, Abdullahi Ibrahim, were unsuccessful.

When contacted, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, declined to comment on the intrigue.

But the former VP’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said that they were not under any form of pressure over the choice of Makinde as was being speculated.