Rivers: Emergency Rule Saved Fubara From Outright Removal – Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Friday, April 18, 2025, said that but for the State of Emergency declared in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he had wanted an outright removal of Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office.

Wike, who stated this during a sponsored media parley in Abuja, said President Tinubu did the right thing by declaring a state of emergency in Rivers and also suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Wike said that as a politician, he was not happy about the state of emergency in Rivers state as he wanted the outright removal of Governor Fubara from office.

He specifically said that President Tinubu’s intervention saved the state from plunging into further crisis.

In the words of Wike; “The president, by declaring a state of emergency, saved Fubara. The governor was gone, yes… So, when people say the president did this, I say they should be praising him.

“Every morning, they should go to the president and ask, ‘can we wash your feet for saving us?” he said.

The former governor of Rivers State, said that Fubara has not reached out to him since his suspension just as he said that nobody has taken it upon himself to say that; ‘this is where we are?’.

Wike further said; “If I am the cause of the problem… has he ever called me as an elder to say what is the problem? Let us sit down and talk.”

The FCT Minister also said that the appointed Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), is working to put democratic structures in place in line with the Supreme Court judgement, saying that before the declaration of a State of Emergency in the State, governance was almost dead as nothing could have been done without an approved budget, and elected Local Government structures in place.

He also said that the release of statutory allocations to the Sole Administrator was in line with the declaration of the State of emergency.

Wike also condemned the resolution of Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDPGF) in Ibadan with regards to the position of National Secretary, stressing that the Forum is not an organ of the Party, but a pressure group.

Speaking against the backdrop of the fact that when he served as Governor of Rivers State, similar decisions were taken and accepted by the Party, Wike said “that something was done in the past does not make it right as at today”.

Wike said that the PDP is not ready and fit for the 2027 election, adding that President Tinubu will remain in office till 2031.