The ongoing political crisis in Rivers State has continued to take different twists and turns as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, hosted suspended 27 Rivers State House of Assembly lawmakers in London on Monday night.
The event, framed as a dinner during the lawmakers’ “legislative capacity-building tour,” has sparked widespread speculation about Wike’s next moves in the intensifying power struggle with suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The gathering, which took place on April 7, 2025, was confirmed by Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
Accompanied by a video, Olayinka revealed that Wike departed Nigeria on Sunday night after meeting with political allies in Port Harcourt, arriving in the UK to host the lawmakers.
The suspended legislators, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, have been in London since Friday, participating in what they describe as a five-day legislative training program aimed at enhancing their skills.
“Yesterday, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, hosted Rivers State House of Assembly members who are in the United Kingdom for Legislative Capacity Building, to a dinner,” Olayinka wrote.
While the dinner was presented as a casual affair, political analysts see it as a calculated step in Wike’s ongoing battle for control of Rivers State’s political machinery.
The lawmakers believed to be loyal to Wike, were among those suspended following President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, a move that also saw Governor Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire assembly sidelined for six months.
The Rivers State political crisis erupted in 2023, rooted in a bitter fallout between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, who is widely regarded as Fubara’s political godfather.
The rift deepened when 27 lawmakers, aligned with Wike, purportedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), triggering a factional split in the state assembly.
The conflict escalated with an impeachment attempt against Fubara, the demolition of the assembly complex, and a series of legal battles over the lawmakers’ legitimacy.
In response to the escalating unrest, Tinubu intervened by declaring a state of emergency, appointing Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator of Rivers State.
