With just days left before the exit of suspended Rivers State Governor Ibas, uncertainty continues to cloud the state’s political future.
Sources close to the embattled governor said Ibas, who has remained incommunicado for weeks, is expected to return to Port Harcourt this weekend. “As I speak with you the governor is not back. All those pictures you see on social media are old. But he may come in today (Saturday) or tomorrow (Sunday),” an aide said.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for a transition of power to Governor Siminalayi Fubara. According to the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ibibia Worika, an inter-denominational thanksgiving service will hold at the Ecumenical Centre, Abonnima Wharf Road, as part of the transition activities.
‘Rivers Has Been Captured’
Some elders in the state say the suspension has weakened Fubara and shifted political momentum in favour of his predecessor and political godfather, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
High Chief Sunny Chukumele, convener of the Coalition of Rivers State Leaders of Thought, argued that the state is now “captured.”
“The governor has been cowed for the so-called peace to reign. But that peace is in the graveyard,” he said. “Rivers people look helpless, desolate and abandoned to their fate.”
Chukumele also accused President Bola Tinubu of sacrificing Rivers State for his 2027 political ambitions.
Similarly, another elder, Asukewe Iko-Awaji, noted that the six-month suspension had damaged both Fubara’s political capital and the state’s economy. “Some of the companies working in the state have pulled out, and it will take another six months to bring them back,” he said.
Wike’s Allies Defend Him
But Olaka Wogu, a former Rivers senator and close ally of Wike, dismissed claims that the minister engineered the crisis for personal gain. He insisted that Wike had acted out of “pure honesty” in defending the political structure that produced Fubara.
“Sometimes people over-speculate on Wike. He puts things in plain sight, but people don’t listen. He will tell you, ‘I wasn’t for a state of emergency, I was going to impeach him. We have resolved, we are moving on,’” Wogu said.
The ex-lawmaker stressed that the crisis was more about power than money, adding that both Wike and Fubara remain bound by the same political structure.
As Rivers State braces for Ibas’ handover, observers say the coming weeks will test whether Fubara can reassert his authority or remain under the shadow of his political benefactor.