“Wike is our leader”: Fubara tells loyalists to stop calling him leader
Three years after their bitter feud began, Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara told supporters at the Rainbow Coalition's candidates' unveiling in Port Harcourt: “I might be your oga, but we have a common leader now”, meaning FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
What he said: at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt, on Tuesday 27 October, Fubara told loyalists who still hail him as their leader: “I might be your oga, but we have a common leader now.” He added: “This issue of ‘my leader, my leader, my leader’… I want it resolved here and now,” and “We are now in one house.”
Tinubu: Fubara pledged to work for President Tinubu's re-election, saying the president “stood by me in my most difficult time”, and presented flags to the coalition's candidates.
Wike's lines: the FCT Minister asked the crowd, “In Rivers State, is there any other party existing?” and said Tinubu will flag off his presidential rally in Port Harcourt on 7 November.
The coalition: the Rainbow Coalition is Wike's cross-party platform backing Tinubu, with figures from the APC, PDP, LP, APGA, AA, APM and others. Its governorship candidate, Kingsley Chinda (APC), says: “We are no longer divided in Rivers State.”
How we got here: the two fell out in October 2023; a Tinubu-brokered peace deal in December 2023 failed; on 18 March 2025 Tinubu declared emergency rule in Rivers and suspended Fubara for six months; he returned in September 2025.
Sources
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