Forget About Return Ticket In 2027, Wike Tells Fubara

<h4>Forget About Return Ticket In 2027<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Former Rivers State Governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory &lpar;FCT&rpar;&comma; Nyesom Wike&comma; has told governor Siminalayi Fubara to forget a return to Port Harcourt Government House in 2027&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To be clear&comma; Wike maintained that supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu openly in a rally will not guarantee a return ticket for Fubara’s 2027 governorship re-election&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Wike made the remark at the weekend during a visit to Enohia Local Government Area of Rivers State&comma; a statement widely seen as a fresh escalation in the long-running political rift between him and his successor&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Wike and Fubara have been locked in a fierce struggle for political control in the state&comma; a conflict that plunged Rivers into a prolonged crisis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thisdaylive&period;com&sol;">The standoff culminated<&sol;a> in the burning of the State House of Assembly complex and&comma; later&comma; the declaration of a state of emergency in the state by President Tinubu&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The crisis also led to the reported defection of 27 Peoples Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar; lawmakers loyal to Wike to the All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar;&comma; a development that sparked several court cases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Some caretaker committee chairmen aligned with Governor Fubara&comma; had defected to the Action People’s Party &lpar;APP&rpar; ahead of the local government elections and went on to win the polls&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the height of the crisis&comma; President Tinubu intervened&comma; leading to reports of a peace agreement between Wike and Fubara&period; According to sources&comma; one of the alleged conditions of the settlement was that Fubara would not seek re-election in 2027&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Following the end of the six-month state of emergency in September and the reinstatement of the deputy governor and state lawmakers&comma; there were expectations that calm would return to the state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier this month&comma; Governor Fubara defected from the PDP to the APC after meeting President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He later announced his defection at a meeting with government officials at the Government House in Port Harcourt&comma; pledging his support for the President&period; Fubara’s defection came days after some members of the state assembly had joined the APC&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But responding to the development during his Enohia LGA visit&comma; Wike dismissed the significance of such support&comma; saying it would not translate into electoral advantage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The issue is not whether you support Tinubu or not&period; That decision was taken long ago&period; Nobody needs to come here to tell me they are for Tinubu&period; Supporting Tinubu will not earn anyone a ticket&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Rivers State House of Assembly<&sol;a> has done its job&period; They were the first in Nigeria to declare that&comma; on your mandate&comma; they would stand &period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;So the Tinubu issue is no longer an issue&period; Do you understand me&quest; Who in Rivers State is not for Tinubu&quest; That alone cannot guarantee anyone a ticket&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The same people who recently made public declarations are the same ones who took the Assembly to court&comma; seeking to have their seats declared vacant&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;All those now chanting &OpenCurlyQuote;on your mandate we stand’ failed when it mattered most&period; They could not vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We have never wavered in our support for Bola Ahmed Tinubu&period; When we take decisions&comma; we do so out of conviction&comma; not because of what others are doing&comma;”<&sol;strong> <&sol;em>Wike said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;