‘My Principal And I Are Working Together,’ Fubara Says After Meeting Tinubu
Governor Siminalayi Fubara says he is now in a good relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State on Monday restated that political stability has fully returned to the state.He stated this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after visiting President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
President Tinubu received Fubara at the State House on Monday, September 22, 2025.Fubara, who was reinstated by the President five days ago after completing a six month suspension from office, said the crisis that rocked Rivers had been settled.He also said he was now in a good relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
“I don’t know what you mean by if this is a paper peace. As far as I’m concerned, we have made peace. Fubara and his principal are working together,” he said when asked whether the peace was real or not.Fubara thanked President Bola Tinubu for his role in ensuring that Rivers State enjoys peace and development.
He said he was at the Villa to appreciate the President, whom he also described as a father, and “tell him that I’m back”.“You’re aware that suspension was lifted [at] midnight [on September] 17, and I came in on the 19th. 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 the Rivers State.“It’s not much. It’s 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.
That’s all,” said Fubara.This was the governor’s first official visit to the State House since his reinstatement as the governor of Rivers, after a six-month emergency rule in the state.Months after he was inaugurated as governor in May 2023, Fubara fell out with Wike, over the political control of the state.Fubara arrived the villa alone at about 6:20 p.m. on Monday and made his way towards the office of the President.
The political brawl also spilled to the House of Assembly, dividing the lawmakers.Consequently, Fubara, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly were suspended from office on March 18, 2025, by the President, following the political unrest in the state.Tinubu also swore in retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the role administrator.
But in June, the President met with Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule, and other members of the assembly, signaling a reconciliation among the key actors. On September 17, the President announced the end of the emergency rule on September 17, 2025.In a statewide broadcast, Fubara had expressed appreciation to the President for intervening in the crisis in Rivers State, saying he remained “eternally grateful”.
