Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Monday said “proper peace” has returned to the state following months of political turmoil, affirming that he is now working in harmony with his political principal.
Speaking with journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Fubara stressed that governance in the state had resumed under a more cooperative atmosphere.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have made peace. Fubara and his principal are working together,” the governor said.
Though he did not mention names, his remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, with whom he has been locked in a prolonged feud that plunged Rivers into political crisis.
Fubara explained that his visit to President Tinubu was a courtesy call and an opportunity to seek guidance as he settles back fully into office.
“Ideally, it’s proper for me to see Mr President and to tell him that I’m back, and I’ve also resumed my responsibility as the governor of Rivers State.
It’s not much. It’s a father-son discussion, telling him thank you, and the areas where, if at all, there should be any issue for him to guide me properly so we don’t be in any situation of crisis,” he said.
Tinubu had on September 17 lifted the six-month emergency rule in Rivers State, which restored the offices of governor, deputy governor, and the House of Assembly after a political impasse between Fubara and Wike loyalists crippled governance.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that “there was no government in Rivers State,” citing the breakdown of relations in the state’s legislature that effectively paralyzed the administration.
