{"id":9815,"date":"2025-12-08T10:22:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=9815"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:43:54","slug":"tension-in-rivers-as-wike-backed-lawmakers-resume-face-off-with-fubara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2025\/12\/08\/tension-in-rivers-as-wike-backed-lawmakers-resume-face-off-with-fubara\/","title":{"rendered":"Tension In Rivers As Wike-backed Lawmakers Resume Face-Off With Fubara"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Barely three months after peace was brokered between the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and his political son, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the political actors in Rivers State are gearing up for another crisis.<\/p>\n

The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, who are loyal to the FCT Minister are set for another face-off with the governor.<\/p>\n

Recall that a political conflict birthed by an intense battle between Fubara and Wike over the control of the state\u2019s political structure had erupted in late 2023, a few months after the governor assumed office.<\/p>\n

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The face-off between the two leaders subsequently worsened in 2024 after the Martins Amaewhule-led members of the state Assembly joined the fight.<\/p>\n

Recalls that about 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister on December 11, 2023, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the All Progressives Congress, APC.<\/p>\n

But the defection did not go down well as Fubara-backed members of the house, on July 6, 2024, declared their seats vacant, escalating the political tension in the state.<\/p>\n

The crisis lingered until May 18, 2025, when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, suspending Fubara, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly for a period of six months.<\/p>\n

However, on July 27, 2025, Tinubu met with Fubara, Wike and Amaewhule at the State House, where he brokered peace between the warriors.<\/p>\n

Barely three months after that, a fresh shot of the crisis started brewing on December 1st, 2025, when Amaewhule vehemently criticised Governor Fubara\u2019s administration, accusing the government of neglecting public primary and secondary schools in the state.<\/p>\n

In a viral video, Amaewhule could be heard saying that the decay under the government\u2019s watch is unacceptable and embarrassing.<\/p>\n

Amaewhule said it was \u201ca sad commentary\u201d that public schools in the oil-rich state have deteriorated to the point where vandals have taken over school premises, pupils learn without teachers, and one teacher is forced to teach two classes simultaneously.<\/p>\n

16 lawmakers dump Fubara\u2019s PDP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amaewhule and 15 other members of the assembly on Friday, December 5, dumped Fubara\u2019s PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress, signalling another phase of crisis in the state.<\/p>\n

The fifteen lawmakers include the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol (Gokana); Major Jack (Akuku-Toru); Linda Stewart (Okrika); Franklin Nwabochi (Ogba\/Egbema\/Ndoni); Azeru Opara (Port Harcourt 3); Smart Adoki (Port Harcourt 2); Enemi George (Asari-Toru 2); and Solomon Wami (Port Harcourt 1).<\/p>\n

Others are Aforji (Eleme); Tekena Wellington (Asari-Toru 1); Looloo Opuende (Akuku-Toru 2); Peter Abbey (Degema); Arnold Dennis (Ogu\/Bolo); Chimezie Nwankwo (Etche); and Ofiks Kabang (Andoni).<\/p>\n

Assembly questions Fubara\u2019s delay in presenting commissioners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another sign of a fresh crisis emerged on Friday when the assembly tackled the governor for delaying the submission of a list of commissioner-nominees for screening.<\/p>\n

Recalls that during the House\u2019s first sitting following the suspension of the emergency rule in September 2025, the Assembly urged the governor to forward a list of commissioner-nominees to ensure effective governance in the state.<\/p>\n

Fubara had earlier dismissed all commissioners appointed during the height of the political crisis, as they were not screened by the constitutionally recognised Assembly, as declared by the Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n

However, the governor has been unable to forward a fresh list of commissioner-nominees to the House, triggering another face-off.<\/p>\n

This is not what Rivers people need now \u2013 ADC Chairman<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Rivers State chapter, Leader Sampson, said the state does not need another wave of crisis at the moment.<\/p>\n

Sampson in an interview, warned the assembly members and other parties involved in the brewing crisis not to jeopardise the lives of Rivers people over selfish interests.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThis is obviously not what the state needs right now. After resolving the issues they had earlier, and the state of emergency was lifted, we expected that the legislative arm of the government would collaborate with the executive for the development of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, what we see is what we earlier foresaw. We knew that the peace they achieved that time was for selfish interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t even call that one a peace deal. Terms were agreed for the interest of certain persons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment Amaewhule criticised the governor, we knew that something was already cooking. When they were talking about schools, they were just looking for what they would use to pin the governor. They already planned what they wanted to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is free to play politics, but not to the detriment of the Rivers people\u201d.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve left Fubara behind \u2013 Austin Okai<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also reacting, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Austin Okai, wondered why the governor was left behind in the PDP despite the reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Okai, who accused Fubara of going \u201cback to his vomit\u201d claimed that some of the governor\u2019s supporters have also abandoned him.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cDespite reconciliation, Wike\u2019s train moved to the APC without carrying him along.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is now lonely; those who stood with him also abandoned him since he went back to his own vomit\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Barely three months after peace was brokered between the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and his political son, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the political actors in Rivers State are gearing up for another...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9816,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9815\/revisions\/9816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}