(DDM) – Former Rivers governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, has declared that President Bola Tinubu’s intervention was the only reason the bitter crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, did not escalate beyond control.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that Cole, who contested under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, described the episode as one that nearly plunged Rivers into a “very, very unfortunate state of emergency.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, Cole said no one else could have managed the deep political rift.
He insisted that without Tinubu’s direct involvement, the Rivers crisis would have defied every possible solution.
“I recall always saying the only person who can resolve the Rivers crisis when the governor, Sim Fubara, and the Honourable Minister Nyesom Wike had a very public falling out is Mr President,” Cole stated.
He stressed that the situation would have remained unresolved if Tinubu had failed to weigh in.
Cole explained that the president’s intervention eventually brought about a reconciliation between Governor Fubara and Wike, though the process left the governor politically weakened.
“And in the midst of all of that, there was a reconciliation between the governor and his godfather, the Honourable Minister,” Cole remarked.
“It was not a palatable situation but that’s where we are.”
According to Cole, the current political reality in Rivers is that Governor Fubara has once again returned to a constrained position, similar to when he first assumed office.
He said the governor now finds himself politically surrounded, unable to act independently, and weighed down by forces loyal to his predecessor.
“Tomorrow we have the governor coming back and the scenario is like when he started, which is that he found out that he was totally surrounded and could not take decisions by himself,” Cole said.
The APC chieftain warned that this renewed status quo is exactly what triggered Fubara’s initial clash with Wike.
“I believe that we are finding ourselves back to the very, very beginning,” he declared.
“Status quo revealed that he’s returned to the situation that caused him to begin his fight.”
Cole argued that Fubara now faces a stark political choice, either to accept the same arrangement he once opposed or prepare for another confrontation with entrenched forces.
“So we are going to see if this time around he’s going to choose to live with the status quo that he fought against or go back to another fight,” he added.
“Only the governor can tell us.”
Political analysts say Cole’s remarks highlight the fragile nature of Rivers politics, where personal rivalries often dictate governance and stability.
Observers also note that Tinubu’s intervention may have restored temporary calm, but the underlying power struggle between Fubara and Wike continues to cast a long shadow over the state’s future.