2027 Looms As Ex-Commissioner Warns Rivers Remains Wike’s Playground

Former Rivers State Commissioner for Employment and Empowerment, Leloonu Nwibubasa, has criticized the recent peace meeting in Abuja convened by President Bola Tinubu, where suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, and suspended members of the State Assembly reportedly agreed to reconcile.

In an interview with Arise Television monitored by Naija News, Nwibubasa faulted Governor Fubara for attending the high-level talks without a balanced team, arguing that the meeting was lopsided as all other stakeholders present were aligned with Wike.

He insisted that Fubara appeared in Abuja as an individual rather than as a true representative of Rivers State’s collective interests, suggesting that a more representative delegation was necessary to reflect fairness.

“You don’t talk about peace without equity and fairness. If Fubara truly embodied the aspirations of Rivers people, we would have seen a more balanced delegation. What happened was surrender, not reconciliation,” he said.

Nwibubasa maintained that lasting peace would remain elusive until issues of political control and management of state resources were addressed. He warned that returning to a political arrangement where Wike maintains de facto control would mean Rivers State is simply back to the old order.

“If this reconciliation only means bowing before the same individual, then we have merely returned to the status quo. That cannot bring genuine peace,” he noted.

He stressed that Rivers State needs a leader with the courage to challenge entrenched interests, not one who preserves existing power structures.

According to him, the only immediate relief might be lifting the unofficial state of emergency, lamenting that Fubara’s earlier efforts to safeguard the state’s assets appear to have failed.

“This crisis has always had a 2027 undertone. The same gladiators will return to continue using Rivers as a cow to milk for personal gains. If he couldn’t resist now, it simply means he has failed,” Nwibubasa concluded.