Rivers 2027: one house, one boss? Fubara steps aside, Chinda gets the coalition ticket, and a fragile truce holds
Rivers State has gone from impeachment threats and emergency rule to a single Rainbow Coalition slate, with Kingsley Chinda (APC) for governor. Governor Siminalayi Fubara is not on the ballot, and his allies say the peace with Wike is not yet complete.
The ticket: on Tuesday 27 October the Rainbow Coalition unveiled its 2027 candidates at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt. Its governorship candidate is Kingsley Chinda of the APC. The PDP's candidate, Sunny Ejekwu, said his party would back the coalition's candidates, and Wike urged residents to back President Tinubu and reject the ADC.
Fubara out: the governor stepped back from the APC governorship primaries in May, saying it was to preserve peace, and was not cleared by the party's screening committee. Wike says Fubara agreed not to seek a second term in the late-2023 deal that ended the first impeachment push. Fubara has not publicly confirmed any such agreement.
The truce: on 18–19 October Wike led Speaker Martin Amaewhule, Assembly members and the chairmen of all 23 councils to Fubara's residence. The Assembly then reversed its decision to declare the seats of three pro-Fubara lawmakers vacant.
The cracks: Fubara's allies complain the state still has no full executive council. Wike says the governor is an integral and active part of the team. Several reports describe it as a fragile truce rather than a settled peace.
How we got here: the feud began in October 2023; Tinubu declared emergency rule in March 2025 and suspended Fubara for six months; he returned in September 2025. Wike says Tinubu's campaign rally comes to Port Harcourt on 7 November.
Sources
- Tribune: Full list of Rivers candidates in Wike's Rainbow Coalition
- Pulse: Why Fubara withdrew from the Rivers APC governorship primaries
- Politico NG: Wike says Fubara agreed not to seek second term
- Blueprint: Rivers Assembly reverses decision on 3 lawmakers
- Vanguard: Wike, Rainbow Coalition meet Fubara for possible reconciliation
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