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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said he has not endorsed any individual for the 2027 governorship election in Rivers State.
Wike added that he cannot do so until a joint coalition involving members of the PDP and APC in the state meets.
Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, Wike said the coalition is a political strategy.
“I have not (endorsed anybody) and I cannot endorse somebody until the joint coalition meets,” Wike said.
“We have loyalists in PDP, we have loyalists in APC. I have never hidden the fact that everywhere you say rainbow coalition. We have put ourselves together and it is a political strategy because we have somebody we will fight.”
The former Rivers State governor also said the coalition in the state is not working with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is reportedly eyeing the APC ticket for the 2027 election.
“You know that we and Fubara are not working. So, as politicians, we must strategise. I don’t need to come and unveil our strategy to you,” Wike said.
Wike accused the governor of reneging on an agreement made before President Bola Tinubu that prevented Fubara’s impeachment.
“The president intervened in the impeachment palava and said ‘hold on, let’s have peace’. And the governor said ‘I am ready for peace, I’m no longer interested in this, I will not do this’,” Wike recalled.
“The Assembly went and withdrew the impeachment before a president of a country. Now, having withdrawn the impeachment, you are now too smart on what you agreed before the president,” he said.
There has been a prolonged political rift between Wike and Fubara, whom he supported in 2023 to succeed him as governor, over control of political structures in the oil-rich South-South state.
The crisis escalated when lawmakers loyal to Wike attempted to impeach Fubara. In March 2025, President Tinubu suspended Fubara, his deputy, and members of the House of Assembly, and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the sole administrator.
After six months, the President lifted the emergency rule following a reconciliation meeting in June between Tinubu, Fubara, Wike, and other key political actors.
