Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, is back in the saddle of political influence in Rivers state, after a protracted battle with his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Wike regained the local government structure on Saturday following the election in the 23 Local Government Areas of the state by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.
Recall that in the heat of the crisis last year, Governor Fubara conducted a controversial local government election, with his supposed boys sweeping all the chairmanship positions.
Fubara’s loyalists had contested the election conducted on October 4, 2024 under the Action Peoples Party, APP, and won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship positions in the state.
But, the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025, nullified the election, following an appeal brought before it by the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In the run up to the Saturday polls, Wike’s loyalists and former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwarts defected to the Chief Tony Okocha-led All Progressive Congress, APC, and picked the party’s ticket to contest the elections.
Analysts, said the move was to allow Wike to take control of both the PDP and the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections in the state.
All the loyalists were cleared by the RSIEC to contest the election despite opposition from another faction of the APC, which has now shifted to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Those connected to Wike in PDP are contesting in Obio-Akpor, the minister’s Local Government Area; Port Harcourt and Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni.
Although RSIEC has not yet announced winners of the Saturday polls, the coast seems clear for Wike’s men.
