I wanted Fubara removed, Tinubu saved him with state of emergency – Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revealed that he pushed for the outright removal of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, but it was President Bola Tinubu’s intervention that ultimately spared the embattled governor.

Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Friday, Wike said that although he was displeased with the state of emergency declared in Rivers, it was a decision that effectively saved Fubara from being ousted.

Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, 2025, suspending Fubara, his deputy and the legislature and appointing an administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd).

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“As a politician, I am not happy about the state of emergency in Rivers State,” Wike said. “I wanted the outright removal of Governor Fubara. The president, by declaring a state of emergency, saved Fubara.”

Wike, who has been a central figure in the political crisis rocking the state, insisted that the governor’s position was already untenable before the president stepped in.

“The governor was gone. He was gone, yes… so when people say the president did this, I say they should be praising him,” he said.

“Every morning, they should go to the president and ask, ‘Can we wash your feet for saving us?’”

The minister said he is ready for peace talks, claiming however that Fubara’s advisers keep telling him (the suspended governor) not to embrace peace.