The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and his political associates have escalated their criticism of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, alleging that the governor terminated an employment programme designed to absorb 10,000 youths into the state civil service and is operating without a legally approved budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
Wike levelled the accusations on Wednesday during a “thank you” visit to Ahoada Main Town in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, where he described his successor as “a bad child” for allegedly abandoning what he characterised as a critical youth empowerment initiative concluded before he left office in May 2023.
“I employed Rivers State youths — 10,000. The person we handed over power to, instead of allowing the 10,000 youths to work, cancelled the job. Ten thousand youths. A bad child is a bad child,” Wike stated during the visit.
The former Rivers State governor, who served from 2015 to 2023, also accused Fubara of claiming credit for major infrastructure projects initiated under his administration without acknowledging their origins, particularly road dualisation projects in Ahoada and Emohua local government areas.
“When I decided to dualise this Ahoada road, people thought it was impossible. But by the grace of God, today, Ahoada East and Ahoada Town are coming back to be the cities they are supposed to be,” Wike said. “I finished phase one of this dualisation, then flagged off phase two, which would end in Omoku. The job was awarded the same day as the Emohua–Kalabari road.”
According to Wike, the infrastructure projects were awarded to construction giant Julius Berger under a structured funding arrangement tied to Rivers State’s Internally Generated Revenue, with the company expected to collect N4 billion monthly from state revenues.
“I gave it to Julius Berger, and we signed an agreement for the company to collect N4bn every month from our IGR. The total cost of the Ahoada–Omoku and Emohua–Kalabari roads was about N80bn,” he disclosed. “So, if they collect N4bn every month, that would give them N48bn in one year. In two years, they would have completed the projects.”
The FCT minister lamented what he described as his successor’s abandonment of continuity in governance despite substantial payments already made on key projects before the handover.
“On that Emohua road, I awarded the contract to Setraco. I paid about 70 per cent. I remember they even gave me 100 plots of land in appreciation, but I said I didn’t need land. What is continuity?” Wike queried.
He further claimed that Rivers State enjoyed national respect and admiration during his eight-year tenure, a status he suggested had since declined under the current administration.
“When I handed over, I said, ‘See where I stopped. Please continue with these programmes that will make our state one of the most respected in this country,'” Wike added. “When I was here, Nigeria respected Rivers State. I don’t know what it is today; you will tell me.”
The Chairman of the South-South Development Commission and leader of the Renewed Hope Family in Ahoada, Chibudom Nwuche, who spoke at the event, credited Wike with Governor Fubara’s emergence as Rivers State chief executive and President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory in the state during the 2023 general elections.
Nwuche, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, thanked Wike for what he described as unprecedented development projects in Ahoada and pledged continued loyalty to the FCT minister.
“No governor has shown the level of commitment to Ahoada that Wike showed. We benefitted more under his administration,” Nwuche said.
He warned political actors from outside Rivers State to avoid interfering in the internal politics of the state, emphasising the localised nature of political dynamics in the oil-rich region.
“Politics is local. Go to your states and show your strength. Leave Rivers State alone. Rivers has its peculiar politics, which we understand,” Nwuche stated. “We are a political family. When a leader chooses one of us, we expect gratitude and teamwork. Dividing the team is not gratitude.”
In a related development, a former Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, Robinson Ewor, accused Governor Fubara of allegedly spending public funds without a valid appropriation law for the 2026 fiscal year, claiming that the state was currently operating in a legal vacuum due to the breakdown in relations between the executive and legislature.
“As we speak, Rivers State has no budget for 2026. Every expenditure from January 1 going forward is illegal,” Ewor alleged during the same visit. “The executive, legislature and judiciary must work together to deliver governance. Without a budget, governance is crippled.”
Ewor, recalling his experience as a legislator, insisted that no governor could function effectively without the support of the state House of Assembly.
“I am a product of the legislature. In this state, we once passed a budget within one hour to enable governance. Any governor who thinks he can survive without the legislature is wrong,” he said.
However, an ally of Governor Fubara, who spoke on condition of anonymity, dismissed the allegations as baseless, insisting that no funds from the 2026 allocation had been expended.
The source explained that the Rivers State Executive Council’s approval of a N1.8 trillion budget proposal on January 2 was part of routine governance procedure and did not constitute spending.
“What the Executive Council approved was a budget proposal after inputs from ministries. Approval does not mean spending,” the source said. “The budget will still be presented to the House of Assembly. That is the normal process. The governor has not spent a kobo in 2026.”
The aide added that Governor Fubara remained committed to presenting the budget to the legislature once procedural hurdles were resolved, in line with constitutional requirements.
The ongoing political confrontation between Wike and Fubara has intensified since the latter assumed office in May 2023, with disagreements over governance, political control, and resource allocation spilling into repeated public exchanges.
Tensions reached a critical point in 2024 following prolonged disputes over the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly, resulting in parallel sittings and rival claims to legislative authority. The crisis escalated further in 2025 after a Supreme Court judgment reinstated the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly and ordered it to resume legislative duties.
The apex court also suspended statutory allocations to Rivers State pending compliance with due process, a development that further complicated governance in the state. Although the reinstated Assembly later issued ultimatums to the governor over the presentation of the 2026 budget, attempts to resolve the standoff through dialogue stalled, pushing the crisis into the current fiscal year.
The political feud has its roots in a power struggle that emerged months after Fubara’s inauguration, with Wike, who played a pivotal role in his election, publicly expressing dissatisfaction with the governor’s approach to governance and perceived attempts to dismantle political structures built during the previous administration.
Rivers State, one of Nigeria’s wealthiest and most politically significant states due to its oil resources, has a long history of intense political rivalries and power struggles, often centred on control of state resources and influence over local government structures. The current crisis reflects broader patterns of political conflict that have characterised the state since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
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