A report has disclosed fresh details on the reason the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, lost the backing of President Bola Tinubu.
Sources who spoke to Punch disclosed that Fubara fell out with the President after reneging on reconciliation terms between him and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the APC leadership refused to officially welcome Fubara into the party after his defection because he did not have Wike’s blessings.
“The President handed over the political structure of Rivers State to Wike. Fubara joined the party to outsmart Wike in a desperate move to secure a second term. But the party leadership already knew the body language of the President. That was why no official reception was given to Fubara after he joined the APC,” the party official said.
He added, “The President advised him to focus on governance and leave Wike alone for party politics. The President intervened and saved him from the first impeachment plot against him (Fubara).
“On the second impeachment plot as well, the President told him to focus on governance and leave Wike alone. It was at that time that all parties agreed that he would not go for a second term. Fubara agreed to that, and that is why Wike always says, ‘Agreement is agreement.’
“But once the governor settles in Port Harcourt, some people would advise him against Wike again, telling him he is the governor and the leader of the party,” the APC NWC member added.
The source said the APC leadership couldn’t support Fubara’s second-term ambition, knowing it was against the settlement terms and that Tinubu was not in support.
The insider added that Fubara might have been misled by some APC chieftains who assured him of the party’s support.
“Even on this ongoing governorship matter, I am aware the party leadership told him that the Presidency and the Governors’ Forum were not on his side. Fubara had even told some party officials that he would not attend the governorship screening exercise, only for him to appear before the screening committee in Abuja.
“The body language of the President is that Wike is in charge of Rivers politics, and Fubara should have seen that. Fubara did not have input in the screening committee of the APC for Rivers House of Assembly and National Assembly aspirants. All his candidates were disqualified.
“The structure of the Rivers APC primary was given to Wike. Wike is in control of Rivers politics and, until something changes, he will continue to hold sway in the state,” he added.
The publication also gathered from another APC chieftain in Abuja that Fubara was not cleared by the party’s governorship screening committee headed by its National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, and National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru.
“What I know is that Fubara was not cleared by the APC screening committee to contest. That was why he left in anger. If you remember, he stormed out of the screening venue angrily. He had a very bitter look on his face. He was not cleared; he was told he could not contest under the party. That means he was disqualified from the race.
“That he withdrew from the race is face-saving. A person who has been disqualified cannot participate in the primary. That was what happened,” the party leader said.
One of the loyalists of the FCT minister also confirmed that Fubara was barred from contesting by the APC, boasting that “Wike has sealed the governor’s fate.”
According to the ally, the APC was “simply following the agreement that Fubara would not contest for a second term.”
“That is not power play or wickedness; it is simply honouring an agreement that Fubara himself agreed to. He would not have escaped impeachment if not for the President and Wike himself. Part of the agreement to settle the recurrent political crisis in Rivers then was that he would not contest for a second term, and he agreed.
“APC is just working towards that agreement, and that was why Fubara was not cleared to contest,” he added.
