Former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has described his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, as “my boy,” amid their ongoing rift.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Pidgin, Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, dismissed the notion of a feud with Fubara.
“That boy is my boy, my son. How can I fight a battle with him?” Wike said.
He added that he supported President Bola Tinubu’s call for peace: “The President called me to make peace; I said, ‘Boss, how will you tell me to make peace and I won’t?’”
The crisis between both men, once political allies, escalated to the point that President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers.
This led to the suspension of Governor Fubara, his deputy, and the State House of Assembly. A retired naval chief, Ibok-Ete Ibas, was appointed as sole administrator for a six-month interim period.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his suspension, Fubara suggested he may not be interested in returning to office. “Do you even know if I want to go back there? My spirit has already left there,” he said at a service of songs for the late elder statesman Edwin Clark in Port Harcourt.
He also cautioned that some well-meaning actions by his supporters have only worsened the political tension in the state.
