Local government elections in Rivers State yesterday highlighted the widening gulf between suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his political benefactor, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Nyesom Wike, as both men charted contrasting paths in the state’s tense power struggle.
While Wike turned out to vote and praised the exercise as peaceful, Fubara boycotted the polls altogether, reinforcing perceptions that he is increasingly sidelined from the state’s political machinery.
At his polling unit in Ward-5, Opobo/Nkoro LGA, electoral officials and materials arrived on schedule, but the governor never appeared. By the close of voting at 3:30 p.m., Fubara and his key loyalists — including Chief of Staff Edison Ehie, SSG Tammy Danagogo, the sacked council chairmen, and members of his Simplified Movement — were all absent from polling centres across the state. Sources said the governor had travelled to London.
In stark contrast, Wike voted in Port-Harcourt, the state capital, hailing the conduct of the polls. “As far as we are concerned, this election is peaceful, people are trooping out, and at the end of the day the election has been conducted successfully”, he told reporters.
He further announced that the emergency rule imposed in Rivers earlier this year will lapse on September 18, paving the way for the return of the state assembly and full reinstatement of grassroots governance.
The elections, conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) under its Sole Administrator, Ibas, were held under tight security, with movement restricted from midnight to 6 a.m. across the state. Security cordons were mounted at RSIEC headquarters in Port-Harcourt, where sensitive materials were distributed under heavy guard.
Political sources said the outcome of the elections effectively restored Wike’s grip on Rivers politics, with 20 councils reportedly allocated to the APC under Chief Tony Okocha, while three PDP strongholds — Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni — were retained under his influence.
