Wike says Fubara's political future is not over, calls him active in Rainbow Coalition
- FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says Governor Siminalayi Fubara is still young and his political career is far from finished.
- Wike says Fubara is an active member of the Rainbow Coalition and unveiled its Rivers candidates.
- Wike also dismissed claims that Fubara has been sidelined in the coalition's political arrangements.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said it is wrong to conclude that Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has lost his political future after the long face-off between the two men.
Wike spoke on Thursday at his monthly media chat with selected journalists. Reports differed on the venue: Daily Post and Naija News said he spoke in Abuja, while Tribune said the chat held in Port Harcourt and was monitored in Abuja.
His message was the same. "Governor Fubara is a young man. It will be incorrect to say that his political future is gone," Wike said, according to Daily Post and Naija News.
He argued that age leaves the governor with options. "As far as you are alive, you have hope," Tribune quoted him as saying.
Fubara and the Rainbow Coalition
Wike said Fubara is an active member of the Rainbow Coalition, a multi-party group backing President Bola Tinubu's re-election. According to him, the governor personally unveiled the coalition's candidates in Rivers State.
"For somebody to come out and publicly unveil the governorship candidate, yet you are saying he is not involved?" Tribune quoted Wike as asking.
Legit.ng reported that Wike also suggested that not holding a particular office today does not close the door on future appointments. "Don't call him minister today. Doesn't mean he will not be minister tomorrow," he was quoted as saying.
Daily Post reported that Fubara reconciled with Wike in May this year, a move that forced the governor to drop his re-election bid. The two men had been locked in a protracted political fight before that.
For ordinary Rivers residents, the quarrel has often meant uncertainty over who controls the state's political machinery ahead of the 2027 elections. Wike's comments suggest the governor still has a place in the coalition's plans, though the sources do not say what role he would play.
Wike and Oyinlola
At the same chat, Wike hit back at former Osun State governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Naija News reported that Oyinlola, on Channels Television's Politics Today, said Wike is not his leader and described him as "my boy."
Wike responded by calling Oyinlola a failed governor who could not win a second term, and said Oyinlola lobbied him to become PDP deputy chairman but he refused. These are Wike's claims; Oyinlola has not been reported responding to them.
Wike also said his political activities would not slow work in the FCT. He listed the Inner Southern Expressway, Southern Parkway, the CCECC road from Tungan Madaki to Zuba, the Nile University road and the Kubwa–Bwari road as almost completed.
What happens next: The sources do not say what office, if any, Fubara is being considered for. Attention now turns to how the Rainbow Coalition shapes its Rivers lineup ahead of 2027.