Wike accuses Fubara of promoting APP in Rivers.

Former Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has accused his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, of financing the Action Peoples Party (APP) in the state’s just concluded local government elections.

Governor Fubara recently swore in local government chairpersons in Rivers State. APP won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship positions in the election. The ceremony was also attended by Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, head of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Governors’ Forum.

In the run-up to the election, Fubara, a PDP member, claimed he was the “greatest loser” because his party was not on the ballot.

However, Wike, who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), believes Fubara sponsored the APP in the election.

“Now people say, ‘Discipline Wike; he did anti-party’. On Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, he stated that his support for President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election is based on equity, fairness, and justice, rather than anti-party rhetoric.

“What happened today?” The governor [Fubara] is the one who has funded the APP. The chairman of the [PDP] governors’ forum attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Wike served as governor of Rivers State under the PDP from 2015 to 2023. He ran in the party’s presidential primaries, but lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

He accused the party of injustice, urging that the PDP zone its presidential ticket to the southern half of the country rather than leaving it open for contestants such as Atiku.

Attempts to reconcile Atiku and Wike were fruitless. This prompted the FCT minister to ally himself with Tinubu of the APC, resulting in the PDP’s defeat in the Rivers State presidential election. The president then named him as a minister.

Despite calls for Wike’s suspension from the PDP, the minister has stated that he did not breach the party’s rules and does not regret supporting the APC.

“I have no regrets at all,” Wike remarked when asked about his support for Tinubu in the 2023 presidential race.