Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has confirmed that Sim Fubara, the suspended Governor of Rivers State, reached out to him for reconciliation.
Gatekeepers News reports that Wike shared that Fubara visited him, accompanied by two governors from the All Progressives Congress (APC), to discuss the situation.
This was made known during a press briefing held in Abuja on Monday.
The relationship between Wike and Fubara has been strained since Fubara took office as governor in 2023.
The ongoing conflict culminated in President Bola Tinubu imposing a six-month suspension on Fubara after declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State and appointing a Sole Administrator. Wike emphasised that in order for true peace to be restored, Fubara must undertake certain essential actions.
“The President has called for peace severally and I cannot sit down when the President has called for peace and I say, ‘I don’t want peace’,” Wike said during a media parley with select journalists in Abuja.
“Yes, he came with two governors and one elder person. Unfortunately, the two governors are APC governors. So, I will not pursue him. He said he wants peace. That’s fine. I also want peace.”
“I told him, ‘Look, I don’t think you have the capacity to really make this peace.’ That’s why when I read what I read yesterday, I felt so bad. Why? If you are making peace, your people are demonstrating every day; if you are making peace, your people are busy on television insulting people. How do you feel in that case?”
“You must take steps. Have you met the assembly people? There are leaders you should meet. It is not to say, ‘I want peace.’ You must show it by conduct and action,” the former governor said.
Wike claimed that Fubara was deceived by some governors before the crisis snowballed.
“Governors came pushing him, where are they now? I think the governors are enjoying their own,” the former governor said.
“Fubara is a young man, I warned him saying, look, go this way, go this way, and you will not have problems.”
