A fresh row is brewing within the camps of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Sources who spoke to Punch disclosed that the rift stems from unresolved aspects of the peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu several months ago.
The disagreement reportedly centres on the composition of a new cabinet.
Tinubu had brokered a peace deal between Fubara and Wike following a prolonged political crisis that escalated into a six-month state of emergency in Rivers State.
However, several months after the truce, findings showed that the political rift between the two camps has shown little sign of abating, as the underlying issues fuelling the crisis remain unresolved.
Following his reinstatement in September, Fubara retained eight commissioners who were unaffected by the Supreme Court judgment recognising Martins Amaewhule as the authentic Speaker of the Assembly.
He had earlier dissolved his cabinet after the expiration of the emergency rule, paving the way for a fresh executive council.
Findings showed that despite several meetings between the governor and lawmakers, no consensus has been reached on the list of commissioner nominees.
According to insiders, the lawmakers plan to reject any commissioner nominee who does not align with the Wike camp, in a bid to retain influence over the state’s political structure.
A top Peoples Democratic Party official told the aforementioned publication that the FCT minister was seeking to exert control over a significant portion of the cabinet.
He alleged that the minister was demanding up to 12 commissioners.
“If you want 12 commissioners, what will the governor have left?
“Asking for three, four or even five commissioners is understandable, but 12 is excessive, particularly after taking over all 23 Local Government Areas. Commissioners are people a governor works closely with, and he must be comfortable with those appointments,” the source said.
However, another PDP stakeholder and strong ally of the FCT minister, Chimelem Wodi, dismissed the claim, describing it as the handiwork of political jobbers spreading false information to remain relevant.
Wodi, who is the legal adviser to the Federal Commissioner to the President on Christian Pilgrimage, South-South zone, said Wike was “bigger than that.”
He said the former Rivers State governor had achieved almost everything in politics, as a former local government chairman, former National Chairman of ALGON, former governor and now minister, to be seeking commissioner slots.
The PDP stakeholder said the governor had refused to accept the reality of having a political godfather, insisting that the Rivers political issue had been settled by the President.
According to him, those pushing the narrative were political jobbers who resurfaced after months of irrelevance following the state of emergency.
He maintained that if such demands existed, they would have been made known to stakeholders, adding that Wike was not known for hiding agreements.
Wodi said the rumours were capable of heating up the polity, stressing that the FCT minister had remained silent because the matter had already been resolved.
“This is not what the FCT minister is known for,” he added.