Fubara’s Backers Rally, Thank Tinubu for Ending Rivers Crisis

 In Port Harcourt on April 21, 2025, thousands of Rivers State residents rallied under the Rivers Unity Forum, demanding Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s recall and praising President Bola Tinubu for resolving the state’s political crisis.

The turmoil, sparked by a 2023 PDP factional split between Fubara and ex-Governor Nyesom Wike, escalated when 27 pro-Wike lawmakers defected to APC, blocking Fubara’s ₦800 billion budget and threatening impeachment. 

Tinubu’s December 2024 eight-point peace accord, mediated in Abuja, restored Fubara’s fiscal control and halted defections, per The Guardian. Supporters lauded Tinubu’s neutrality, contrasting Wike’s alleged power grab via loyalists like Speaker Martin Amaewhule. 

The rally, with 5,000 attendees, called for Fubara’s 2027 re-election to sustain projects like the ₦150 billion Ring Road. Critics, including Wike’s camp, argue Tinubu’s intervention undermines Rivers’ autonomy, citing the accord’s reinstatement of defected lawmakers. The crisis, costing Rivers ₦200 billion in stalled projects, tests Nigeria’s federalism.