Former Governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said he warned his embattled successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, that he “has the yam and the knife” and must decide the kind of peace he wants.
Wike made this statement during an interview with BBC Pidgin published on Saturday, where he also described Governor Fubara as “his boy.”
“That one is not a battle,” Wike said. “He (Fubara) is my boy, he is my son. Why would I fight with him?”
Wike denied being in direct conflict with the suspended governor, alleging instead that external influences were steering Fubara’s decisions. According to him, he had made it clear during a previous meeting that peace was still an option—depending on Fubara’s approach.
“I told him that you have the yam and the knife. You are the one who knows how you want peace. If you want sincere peace, take it. If you want dubious peace, take it too,” Wike said.
The minister also refuted claims that he was engaging in “dirty politics,” asserting that those levelling such accusations were simply driven by dislike for him.
Wike’s remarks come against the backdrop of continued political unrest in Rivers State, where he is widely viewed as a central figure in the deepening crisis involving his successor.
Earlier, prominent Niger Delta figure and former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo—popularly known as Tompolo—had appealed to Wike to “forgive” Fubara for the sake of peace.
Speaking on the matter, Tompolo said, “Just like I will not accept rebellion from my son, I will also not cause more problems. Wike is angry, but he has to bring his temper down for the good of all. We will have a dialogue and resolve all lingering issues, and again, Fubara will return to his seat.”
However, Wike, through his aide Lere Olayinka, rejected Tompolo’s peace overture, arguing that no offence had been committed that warranted forgiveness.
“There is no offence. It is when someone has offended you personally that you talk about forgiveness,” Olayinka said. “As Christians, let’s now assume that Fubara has offended the minister—do you forgive someone who has not come to you to seek forgiveness?”
The crisis reached a turning point following President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Governor Fubara and the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-Étè Ibas (retd.) as Sole Administrator of Rivers State—a controversial move that has drawn widespread debate on the constitutional limits of executive powers and the independence of state governance.
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