Territory of the federal capital, FCT, minister and former governor of the state of Rivers, Nyesom Wike recovered his political influence in the state after a prolonged confrontation with his successor, Simimalayi Fubara.

The minister recovered the structure of the local government on Saturday, after the election held in the 23 areas of the local state government by the independent Electoral Commission of the State of Rivers, RSIEC.

The elections were held after the political crisis that separated the state.

Remember that in the heat of the crisis last year, the governor Fubara conducted a highly controversial election of the local government, with his men sweeping relatively all presidency positions.

Fubara supporters challenged the election held on October 4, 2024 under the application party, application, and won 22 of the 23 presidency positions in the state.

However, the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025 annulled the election, following an appeal presented to the Apex Court by the Progresso Congress, APC.

The court, in a unanimous sentence issued by Judge Jamilu Tukur, invalidated the election after a judgment of the Federal Superior Court restored, which in early 2024 restricted the RSIEC to proceed with the conduct of the council research for reasons that the registration of the state voter should be updated before the conduct of the research.

Suspension and reconciliation of Fubara with Wike

Concerned about the impact of the prolonged dispute between Wike and his then removed political son, President Bola Tinubu on March 18, he stated a state of emergency in the rivers and suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the State Assembly Chamber for six months.

The president said the decision was made to restore stability in the state.

A few months after the suspension, Tinubu met Fubara and Wike in the state’s house and brokered the peace between them.

The pair would have filed a concrete agreement witnessed by President Tinubu himself. Part of the deal, according to reports, was to allow Wike’s men to return to local government.

The deal paid the way to the new LG election held throughout the state on Saturday.

How Wike Legalists recovered control

In the period preceding the surveys on Saturday, the supporters of the loyal and former democrat of the people of Wike, PDP, defended the head of the progressive congress, led chief Tony Okocha, and chose the party’s entry to contest the elections.

The measure, according to analysts, was allowing Wike to take control of the PDP and APC before the 2027 general elections in the state.

All laws were released by RSIEC to contest the election, despite the opposition of another APC faction, which has now changed to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

The Daily Post reports that in the 23 areas of the local state government, the Wike -linked presidential candidates challenged the election on the APC platform in 20 areas of the local government, while another three ran as PDP members.

Those linked to the FCT minister in the PDP are contesting in obio-Akpor, the minister’s local government area; Port Harcourt and Ogba-Egbema-Reni.

Although Rsiec has not yet announced Saturday’s surveys winners, the coast is clear to Wike men.

Fubara and his men avoid the election

The suspended governor, who is expected to return to the government’s house on September 18, was conspicuously absent from the state during the year.

The Daily Post also concluded that the governor’s main supporters included his chief of staff, Edison Ehie, the secretary of the government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo and other notable loyals were absent from their various voting units during the election.

Similarly, the 23 former presidents of the local government fired by the Supreme Court avoided the election, paving the way for Wike men.

One of the legalists, who talked to the Daily Post, on condition of anonymity, said there was no need to participate in the exercise, stating that “we knew the winners before the election began. So why do we need to waste our precious time to go and vote?

He clarified that the governor is not in the country at the moment, saying: “We hope he will come back early next month, near when he will return to the office.

“Most of the things that happen today are part of the Wike and Fubara agreement signed the presence of the President. They obtained the power of the governor,” he added.

According to him, “Fubara believes there is nothing, including his seat, who cannot be sacrificed for a sake of peace. Have you seen where a president -elect removed another leader elected before?

“We all hear Shettima when he said the president has no power to suspend even a local government president not to talk about an acting governor, but it happened and they did it successfully. This is the country we live in today.”

Election marked by apathy

There was a very low participation of voters throughout the state on Saturday, as only a few residents could be seen in line in several voting units.

The Daily Post concluded that at 11:40 am on Saturday there was no unique voter at wing 17 054 Obio-Obor LGA of the state.

A resident of the area and an eligible voter, wisdom Kagbara claimed that the boys were seen “thumb print papers” to the APC candidate.

“Let’s wait and see what they will announce as results like all our streets for football,” he lamented a post X.

Another resident of Port Harcourt, Grace Agba told the Daily Post that there was no need to waste time to vote “when they already had the results. If you vote or not, the results they wrote is what they will announce.”

“I had been on the market for three days and everyone was saying there was no need to vote. The agreement was signed and Wike men are taking control.

“For some of us, they should not waste the money spent on the exercise, they should have just announced the non -elected winners. This is pure selection and not an election,” she lamented.