Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has held a closed-door meeting with Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and other political stakeholders as consultations continue ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
The meeting took place on Sunday at Fubara’s private residence in Port Harcourt, with Wike leading a delegation that included members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the 23 local government council chairmen and Kingsley Chinda, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state.
Lere Olayinka, Wike’s senior special assistant on public communications and social media, said the discussions focused on strategic political alignments ahead of the 2027 elections. He described the engagement as part of efforts to build consensus among political leaders in the state.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the meeting also reflected efforts by the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid and other candidates associated with the alliance.
The latest engagement follows an earlier meeting on Oct. 7 involving Wike, Rainbow Coalition leaders, Fubara and members of the governor’s political support base. Those discussions were reported as part of a broader reconciliation effort after years of political disagreements between the governor and his predecessor.
The dispute between Wike and Fubara contributed to prolonged tension between the state executive and the Rivers State House of Assembly, deepening divisions among political actors and their supporters. The crisis escalated in 2025, when Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended the governor, his deputy and members of the assembly for an initial six-month period. Elected officials subsequently returned to office.
Details of Sunday’s discussions were not immediately made public, and no official communiqué outlining specific agreements was available at the time of reporting.
The latest meeting brings together influential political figures whose cooperation could shape party arrangements, candidate selection and campaign mobilisation in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 polls. However, the extent to which the renewed engagements will translate into a lasting political settlement, including the accommodation of Fubara’s loyalists, remains unclear.
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