The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara have reached a truce following a closed-door meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Sources familiar with the meeting said President Tinubu brokered the peace deal between the two political leaders from Rivers State, who have been locked in a prolonged political crisis since late 2023. …CONTINUE READING
“The crisis has ended in Rivers, Fubara has done the needful and he’s ready to return with this latest developments because everyone was happy at the end and the President has told them not further hold any factional meeting with anyone politically. He urges both team to end the crisis go back to their various offices in peace,’ the source said.
Governor Fubara also held a separate meeting in Abuja with the suspended Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule.
The meeting is believed to be part of efforts to resolve the lingering impasse between the executive and legislative arms in the state.
Wike, a former Rivers governor and political benefactor of Fubara, has been at loggerheads with his successor, leading to a major split in the state’s political structure.
The crisis escalated in late 2023 when 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), prompting Fubara to declare their seats vacant.
Subsequently, the political turmoil saw parallel sessions of the state assembly, the demolition of the assembly complex, and legal battles over the legitimacy of legislative leadership.
President Tinubu had previously intervened in December 2023, leading to the signing of an 8-point peace resolution by all parties. However, that truce quickly fell apart.
The latest development signals a possible return to dialogue between the key actors, amid growing concerns over governance and stability in Rivers.
It remains unclear if the truce includes a reversal of political decisions made during the peak of the crisis.
