Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has publicly named FCT Minister Nyesom Wike as the leader of the Rainbow Coalition, telling supporters to stop calling him their leader and directing their loyalty to Wike instead.
Fubara made the declaration on Tuesday at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt, where the coalition unveiled its candidates for the 2027 elections. Wike was present at the event.
“I might be your Oga, but we have a common leader now,” Fubara told the crowd, referring to Wike as his “Oga” .
The governor said some supporters who backed him during the political crisis in Rivers still maintain separate leadership identities. He asked them to end that practice immediately.
“I’m aware that there are some issues when some persons who followed me when we had the crisis, when you’re in your meeting, you say, ‘my leader, my leader,’” Fubara said. “So please, going forward, this issue of ‘my leader, my leader, my leader’—I want it resolved here.”
A Coalition Built Across Party Lines
The Rainbow Coalition brings together candidates from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under one banner.
At the unveiling, Fubara presented the APC flag to Ogundu Kingsley Chinda, a Wike ally, as the coalition’s governorship candidate for 2027.
The coalition is backing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. Wike, the former Rivers governor, is the driving force behind the arrangement, which he said is designed to unite political interests in the state around a common goal.
“We are now in one house. And because we have one house, there is no issue about who is the leader,” Fubara said.
The event marked a remarkable turn in the relationship between Fubara and Wike, who were locked in a bitter political feud that at times threatened to destabilise Rivers State.
Fubara had fought to assert his independence from Wike, his predecessor and political mentor.
Rufai Oseni: ‘Fubara Has Been Whipped Back in Line’
Arise News anchor Rufai Oseni offered a blunt assessment of the reconciliation on Wednesday. Speaking on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show,’ he said the governor had been forced back into line by powerful forces.
“Fubara has been whipped back in line, and it is all about their interest and not the people of Rivers State,” Rufai said .
He argued that the peace moves being celebrated are not for the benefit of ordinary Rivers residents who are struggling with hardship. Instead, he said, they serve the political elite’s desire to share power and resources.
“The people of Rivers State are the ultimate losers in the whole drama, as their interest is not being considered,” he added.
Fubara, however, framed the event differently. He described it as an emotional homecoming to his political family and credited Wike for his rise to the governorship.
“I wouldn’t have become governor without this family,” he said. “No matter what has happened, I am grateful that we are back together for a better course, and for the good of our dear state.”
The coalition has unveiled 49 candidates in total: 34 from the APC and 15 from the PDP. They will contest governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, and State Assembly seats.
