Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed suggestions that he intends to impose political appointees on Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is set to return to office following the end of a six-month emergency rule in Rivers State.
President Bola Tinubu declared emergency rule in March after a bitter political rift between Wike and Fubara, which crippled governance in the oil-rich state. Critics had partly blamed the crisis on Wike’s alleged imposition of political loyalists on his successor.
But speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Wike insisted he has no candidates in mind and will give Fubara a free hand to govern.
“I cannot go and impose anything on the governor. Why would I impose anything on the governor? Assuming I go to the governor and say, ‘I want this,’ will the state collapse? I have no candidate, and I will not,” Wike declared.
He further emphasized that even if Governor Fubara sought his input, he would step aside:
“Even if the governor comes to me now and says, ‘we have agreed we want to work together,’ which is natural, I will say ‘look, I give you free hand, you know how you want for the state.’ All I would want to say is this: don’t drop the progress we have made. As I speak to you, I left the state where we can compete favourably with Lagos.”
Governor Fubara, however, failed to appear at Government House on Thursday as expected. A large crowd that had gathered in anticipation of his arrival eventually dispersed after hours of waiting.
Wike defended the governor’s absence, stressing that no law compelled him to resume immediately after the emergency rule expired.
“There is no law that said he must resume work today. He is the governor. I don’t understand the way we operate. Okay, I was sworn in today as the governor for example, does that mean I must go to the office tomorrow? You don’t know what my programmes are, you don’t know what the governor has scheduled to do, you don’t know where he is,” Wike said.
The remarks come amid expectations that Fubara’s return could reset Rivers State’s fractured political climate after months of tension and governance paralysis.
