Former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and incumbent FCT Minister, has said that openly declaring loyalty to President Bola Tinubu will not automatically secure politicians their party tickets to contest elections, stressing that support for the President was no longer a bargaining chip in Rivers State.
Wike made the remarks during a visit to Emohua local government area of the State, where he delivered what many observers described as a cryptic message directed at Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
"The issue is not whether you are supporting Tinubu. That one, we have taken it up long, long. So, Tinubu issue is not an issue at all. nobody should be coming here to tell me that 'we are for Tinubu', 'I am for Tinubu, on your mandate...'. Who is not for Tinubu in Rivers State? That one cannot give you any ticket," Wike said.
He noted that the Rivers State House of Assembly had already taken a clear position in support of President Tinubu long ago.
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"The Assembly has done their work. They were the first in Nigeria to say we will support Tinubu," he stated.
Wike also criticised some politicians whom, he said, now make public declarations of support for Tinubu despite previously challenging the very political actors they now claimed to back.
"The same people who recently declared were the same people who took them to court to declare their seats vacant. And they are now coming," he continued.
Further taking aim at his critics, Wike referenced infrastructural projects in the state.
"'I have an agreement with Julius Berger. I commissioned a road. It is difficult to come out from their mouth," he added.
Wike's comments come against the backdrop of Governor Fubara's recent public declaration of commitment to Tinubu's reelection bid.
The Rivers State governor officially pledged the full political support of the state for President Tinubu during a visit to the APC national secretariat in Abuja on December 18, 2025, after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Fubara has since pledged to support President Tinubu's 2027 re-election bid, asserting that substantial grassroots mobilisation across Rivers State has been secured for the President.
