Wike APC Defection: Ex-Gov Loses Tinubu Favour, Plans Rivers Assembly Switch Friday
By: Abudu Olalekan
The whisper went around Abuja’s Wuse II beer parlors late Wednesday. Not loud. Not for strangers’ ears. Just: Wike is slipping. Bad.
Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister, the man who once moved Rivers politics like he owned every ward, ain’t got the President’s ear no more. Not like he did. Tinubu’s inner circle? They been side-eyeing him for weeks. Months, even. All the scandals—land racketeering claims, that Florida mansion tied to his family, the Dubai summit where he brought his sons along on what looked like public dime—they ain’t fading. They’re sticking.
The vote of confidence was supposed to fix it. Wike told his loyal lawmakers in Port Harcourt to pass one for Tinubu last Wednesday. They did. Gushed about the East-West Road and Bonny-Bodo upgrades. Praised the Renewed Hope agenda. Said Tinubu don’t discriminate against PDP folks even though he heads the ruling APC. Speaker Amaewhule even called him a “compassionate” leader who’s gotten more funds flowing to states and LGAs.
It didn’t stick.
Sources close to the Villa told Reportersroom the gesture landed flat. Real flat. Tinubu’s people say the President is getting heat from everywhere: US officials, Christian and Muslim leaders, even some APC heavyweights who can’t stand Wike’s messes. The vote didn’t change none of that.
Wike knows he’s on thin ice. So he’s playing his last big card. Or what he thinks is a big card.
Reportersroom gathered from two separate Villa insiders: Wike has cut a deal with his loyal Rivers Assembly members. They’re supposed to defect to APC en masse this Friday. Surprise move. To show Tinubu he still has clout in his home state. To remind everyone he ain’t finished yet.
But here’s the thing. The ground shifted months ago.
Remember that state of emergency Tinubu declared in Rivers last March? The one that sidelined Governor Fubara and the state assembly for six months? When it lifted in September, Fubara didn’t come back quiet. He came back with the grassroots behind him. Every rally, every town hall—folks turn out for him. Not Wike.
Tinubu noticed. Sources say the President figured out quick: the Rivers people are with Fubara now. Not the ex-governor who left Port Harcourt to run Abuja. Wike’s overtures to get Fubara to jump to APC? They went nowhere. Fubara didn’t budge. Not even a little.
The INEC chair mess didn’t help neither. Wike pushed hard for Justice Liman. Got him cleared by every major security agency. Thought Tinubu would sign off. He didn’t. Tinubu picked Amupitan instead. Wike boycotted the Council of State meeting over it. Sent his minister of state in his place. Said it was prior commitments. Nobody bought it.
Now, this Friday defection plan. It feels like a Hail Mary. Like a man shouting to be heard when everyone already stopped listening.
Will it work? The insiders ain’t sure. Some say Tinubu won’t even acknowledge it. Others say it’ll just make Wike look more desperate. What’s certain: the Rivers Assembly switch, if it happens, won’t fix what’s broken between Wike and the President.
Rivers politics just got messier. Again.
