Nyesom Wike said on Wednesday in Abuja that he has not endorsed any candidate for the 2027 governorship election in Rivers State, insisting he cannot make a choice until the joint coalition meets. The former Rivers governor also said he and Governor Siminalayi Fubara are not working together.
Wike’s remarks came as speculation swirled over reports that Okey Chinda had obtained forms to seek the PDP ticket in Rivers and after separate talk that Dax George-Kelly had picked up APC nomination forms. But Wike did not confirm or deny those reports. Instead, he said the decision in Rivers would be made collectively when the coalition is ready.
“I have not endorsed anybody and I cannot endorse somebody until the joint coalition meets,” Wike said, adding that the coalition includes loyalists in both the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress. “We have loyalists in PDP, we have loyalists in APC. I have never hidden the fact that everywhere you say rainbow coalition. We have put ourselves together and it is a political strategy because we have somebody we will fight,” he said.
That rivalry has defined Rivers politics for months. Wike backed Fubara to succeed him in 2023, but the relationship later collapsed over control of the state’s political structure. Before March 2025, lawmakers loyal to Wike and led by Martin Amaewhule moved to impeach Fubara, pushing the crisis to the edge.
President Bola Tinubu then stepped in during the impeachment dispute. Wike said the president asked for peace, and that Fubara accepted. “The president intervened in the impeachment palava and said ‘hold on, let’s have peace’. And the governor said ‘I am ready for peace, I’m no longer interested in this, I will not do this’,” Wike said. He added that the Assembly withdrew the impeachment before the president.
The crisis did not stop there. In March 2025, Tinubu suspended Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, then appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator. After six months, the president lifted the emergency rule and allowed Fubara, his deputy and the lawmakers back into office. In June, Tinubu, Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule and other lawmakers met and reconciled.
Even with that public reset, Wike made clear the truce has not restored cooperation with Fubara. “You know that we and Fubara are not working. So, as politicians, we must strategize, I don’t need to come and unveil our strategy to you,” he said. That is why the 2027 race now looks less like a settled succession battle and more like a contest still waiting for the bloc behind Wike to choose its side.
Wike also said the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party will participate in the coming election, and described Dax George-Kelly as a member of the Rainbow Coalition in the state. The coalition, he said, will decide which candidate to support when the time comes. For now, the message from Abuja was plain: no endorsement yet, no peace with Fubara, and no final answer on who the Wike-aligned camp will back in 2027.
