Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara has declared that peace has returned to the oil-rich state following months of political turmoil that culminated in emergency rule earlier this year.
Speaking after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Monday, Fubara said his long-running feud with his predecessor and political patron, Nyesom Wike, had been settled. “As far as I’m concerned, we have made peace. Fubara and his principal are working together,” he told reporters, adding that his visit to the president was a courtesy call to seek “guidance” after resuming office.
Tinubu lifted the six-month emergency rule on 17 September, reinstating the governor, deputy governor and state assembly after the Supreme Court warned that governance had collapsed in Rivers amid the power struggle between Fubara and Wike, now minister of the Federal Capital Territory. The crisis had paralysed the assembly and coincided with attacks on oil pipelines.
While stressing that political stability had returned, Fubara lamented what he described as the chronic underuse of Rivers’ two seaports—Port Harcourt and Onne—which he said were critical to Nigeria’s industrial growth but hobbled by poor infrastructure and federal neglect.
“Imagine if Onne Port was working at full capacity—the level of activities would transform the entire state’s economy. It will drive employment, create opportunities in manufacturing, and expand clearing and forwarding operations,” he said during a separate meeting with the board of the Nigerian Ports Authority in Port Harcourt.
The governor linked insecurity in the state to unemployment, arguing that boosting port activity would reduce restiveness among young people. He promised to establish a new police station within the port precincts and warned against encroachment on port land, which he said undermined investment.
Fubara also pledged to work with the NPA on drainage and road repairs to ease congestion, even though most access routes fall under federal responsibility. “When government is part of your programmes, it means you have already succeeded, because the government represents the people,” he said.
The NPA board chair, Adeyeye Adedayo Clement, praised the state’s commitment and vowed to push for the revival of both seaports, calling them potential engines of national economic growth.
