Rivers 2027: Waiting for Fubara and team
Among the daily emerging twists and turns along the course of the 2027 general polls, is one masterstroke by President Bola Tinubu which now constitutes a game changer in the permutations of who becomes what in the coming political dispensation. And that is his declaration that whoever seeks political office in the next electoral cycle, […]
Among the daily emerging twists and turns along the course of the 2027 general polls, is one masterstroke by President Bola Tinubu which now constitutes a game changer in the permutations of who becomes what in the coming political dispensation. And that is his declaration that whoever seeks political office in the next electoral cycle, should work along with his or her designated state governor. While this is a welcome and decisive position by the president, its impact goes much deeper in the country’s political terrain than may be casually appreciated. Primarily it is a tacit restoration of the powers and relevance of state governors as should be in a typical democracy, but in Nigeria, it remains a bitter pill to swallow in states where the powers of the governors have been compromised by powerful men and women of significant political weight.
Among these is of course Rivers State where for the entire length of this administration – (that is since 2023), the governor Siminalayi Fubara had never enjoyed the statutory liberty to serve out his term, nor known peace of mind, courtesy of the overbearing stance of his predecessor Nyesom Wike, who spared no opportunity to cut the former to size, goaded by the ‘I put you there’ mindset. As is easily recalled, in playing out that mindset, Wike gloatingly orchestrated the serial emasculation and humiliation of Fubara, with the climax of such tendency being a six-month long suspension of the latter from office by President Bola Tinubu, as well the latter’s literal evisceration of same victim by proxy – using the majority of members of the Rivers State of Assembly (RSHA). So strangulating was the complement of strictures built by the Wike camp around Fubara with the aim of denying him any liberty to execute the governorship mandate availed him by the Rivers State voters in the 2023 general polls, that his return to and continued stay in office was courtesy of a combination of factors including providence, people oriented style of governance which earned him organic support of the Rivers people and his subsequent endearment to President Bola Tinubu. In fact several political conversations have labelled Rivers State as one of particular concern where the outcome of the 2027 polls seemed to have been settled in advance, with the blame for such anomaly swirling around the person of President Bola Tinubu for his unveiled presidential support for Wike. A sore point in this scenario had been the cloud of lingering doubts over a second term for Fubara, which seemed to be at the exclusive behest of Wike to grant.
Seen in context, it is from the backdrop of the Rivers State situation that the Tinubu disposition of handing over to state governors, control of the recruitment process for the next community of elected political leaders, and by implication power of life and death over political careers of aspirants to public offices, accentuates poetic justice in graphic relief. So instructive has the Rivers State situation become that several scenarios are already playing out. One of such is that Fubara now reserves the right to cherry-pick his team that will help him guarantee not only a return to office come 2027, but also assist him run a successful second term. However this for him may not be the easiest of tasks to execute, given the circumstances surrounding his time in office. Among the circumstances is the trending narrative that Wike – Fubara’s erstwhile tormentor has been seeking reproachment with him, including initiating direct talks with same, ostensibly over who gets which political office in their respective camps.
Not a few observers believe that the situation presents Fubara with the choice of deciding between political suicide and survival, depending on where he places his cards. Essentially in the circumstance, the choices open to Fubara will be guided by considerations bordering on factors like history, political expediency and sheer survival instinct. For history he needs to be guided by the harsh lessons of political strangulations which he survived from traducers, in the course of asserting himself as the governor of the state. Given the cliché that whoever has been bitten by a snake has a reason to fear any rope, a new dalliance with Wike will understandably be watched by the Fubara camp with concern.
Yet for the purpose of ensuring a balanced blend of both friends as well as foes in delivering on challenges associated with leadership, along with the need to discourage the incidence of nuisance value from traducers, Fubara needs to work with the good, bad and ugly members of the Rivers State constituency. That is why the reported intention of rapprochement from Wike needs not be waved off casually, nor be accepted without significant discretion by the Fubara camp for the simple fact that such maneuvers are essentially opportunistic. And with Wike’s personal disposition towards the politics of Rivers State, the cliche which holds that discretion is the better part of valour, could not have been truer.
Meanwhile the entire Rivers State is awaiting the governor – Siminalayi Fubara, to make his move in the coming days and weeks, on the chess board of who becomes what politically, come 2027.