The feud between Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara took a dramatic turn on Friday, with the minister accusing former Governor Peter Odili of orchestrating Fubara’s defiance of President Bola Tinubu.
Wike, while speaking at a reception organized for Rivers State stakeholders on Friday, blamed Odili for the collapse of a peace agreement brokered between his camp and Fubara’s.
“The peace agreement failed because of Odili’s meddling,” Wike alleged, referencing the eight-point deal brokered by President Tinubu and other key stakeholders, including Odili, at a 2023 meeting in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Wike and Fubara, once political allies, have become bitter adversaries, locked in a power struggle over the political control of Rivers State. The rivalry intensified after Fubara claimed he was ambushed into signing the peace agreement, which he later rejected as unfair.
Odili, a two-term governor of the State, sided with Fubara in the conflict. During an event in Port Harcourt on December 28, Odili accused Wike of attempting to dominate the State’s politics for personal gain.
“With fortitude, Governor Fubara confronted the challenge, prevented one man’s quest to turn Rivers State into a private estate, and restored happiness among civil servants and the people,” Odili said, praising Fubara’s leadership.
A visibly incensed Wike dismissed Odili’s claims as baseless. He defended his legacy, insisting that his administration transformed Rivers State into a medical and infrastructural hub for the South-South region.
“How did I turn Rivers State into a personal estate?” Wike asked during Friday’s event. “I am the best governor Rivers State has ever produced. People need to answer simple questions instead of making baseless accusations.”
Wike’s latest response is coming after a group of elders in the State had chastised him for his remarks against Odili, asking him to publicly apologize to Odili.
The ongoing feud has exposed deep cracks within the political elite of Rivers State, raising questions about the balance of power and the state’s future direction. With Odili publicly backing Fubara and Wike doubling down on his influence, the rift signals a broader struggle for control ahead of key elections and governance decisions.
For now, the battle lines are clear: a governor seeking to consolidate his authority and a former governor-turned-minister unwilling to relinquish his hold on the state’s political machinery. Whether reconciliation is possible remains to be seen, but the stakes couldn’t be higher for the future of Rivers State.
