Wike explains why Fubara can't seek second term

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, said the political crisis in Rivers State stopped Governor Siminalayi Fubara from seeking a second term. He blamed bad advice from political allies and outside interests.

Wike spoke during his monthly media chat in August, aired live on Channels TV on Tuesday. He reflected on his relationship with Fubara, who used to be his political ally.

The former Rivers governor said he often told Fubara not to turn his back on the political structure that helped him get into office. "I said, look, don’t derail. I came as governor, I had crisis. When I came as governor, there was nothing. They didn’t even relocate the Government House," Wike said.

He recalled taking over an administration that was struggling financially. He mentioned borrowing ceremonial vehicles from a former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko. "When I came, I had to borrow vehicles from the former governor of Ondo, Mimiko, these parade vehicles. Nobody kept any vehicle; I didn’t have one vehicle.

"But before I left as governor, I packed out from Government House one and a half years before. I renovated Government House. I bought vehicles for the governor, the deputy governor and the governor’s wife. I did that," he stated.

Wike said he expected Fubara to build on what he had created instead of leaving it behind. "Somebody had laid a foundation. Look, this is where I stopped. If you continue this way, our dream is to be able to compete with Lagos. What is wrong with that?" he asked.

The FCT minister claimed that people who did not support Fubara’s rise to the governorship later became his close friends. They encouraged him to confront those who helped him politically. "Somebody comes, and that’s why you have to be careful. Those who didn’t want you to be governor now became your friends. Obviously, they will destroy you, thinking that coming closer to you is to fight us.

"At the end of the fight, I have not lost anything. What have I lost? Nothing. But you have lost. Your intention was to go for a second term, is it not correct? And you are not going," Wike said.

When an interviewer asked if he still cared for Fubara, Wike replied, "If I don’t love him, why would we support him? That’s the point I’m making."

He said there were attempts to make peace between both sides, but political issues got in the way. "There was a time we all thought, we all agreed, and said, ‘Look, can we allow bygones to be bygones?’ But something fundamental came up in politics.

"They said, ‘Look, if you allow this now, there are those who are here who want to see that we are no longer politically relevant,'" he explained.

Wike also claimed that outside interests wanted to take over Rivers State for money. "There are external forces who want to hijack Rivers State. You don’t allow them to hijack Rivers State. There are those who see Rivers State as a cash cow.

"I can tell you so many things happened. There are people, even some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who you would never believe can play that kind of role, who were virtually living with us in government," he said.

He added that some of these people gave Fubara bad advice to resist his political group. "When this thing happened, they were so bitter that they started giving the governor wrong advice: ‘Don’t worry, the law says this, the law didn’t say this.’

"They were sending them aircraft, then they would relax in the jet. To them, they were king. So, for him to continue to be there, they would exert that kind of influence.

"We said no, this cash cow must end now. You won’t have it again. Take as much as you can, but you have to stop," Wike said.

The fight between Wike and Fubara began soon after Fubara took office in 2023. Wike accused him of quickly breaking down the political structure that got him elected and forming a new base.

The struggle got intense, leading to threats of impeachment against the governor by lawmakers loyal to Wike. President Bola Tinubu declared a six-month state of emergency in March 2025 that temporarily removed Fubara and the legislature from power.

After he was reinstated, Fubara left the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress. He said he did this to thank Tinubu for his help in the crisis. He took nomination forms to run for a second term in the APC primaries but withdrew in May 2026. Wike and others said this was part of an earlier agreement where Fubara promised not to seek re-election in exchange for stopping impeachment moves.

In July 2026, Fubara announced he had returned to the political family that helped him win. He joined the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition and backed their preferred candidate for governor.