The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress has distanced the ruling party from the political crisis between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, saying the matter falls outside the party’s purview.
Nentawe Yilwatda made this position clear on Tuesday, February 3, whilst speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
The APC chairman argued that since Wike officially belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party and only Fubara is an APC member, the leadership cannot intervene in their personal dispute.
“When it comes to the issue between Wike and Fubara, it’s not within my purview as the national chairman of APC. Wike is in PDP, Fubara is in APC,” he said.
Yilwatda clarified that the only aspect of the Rivers crisis the APC can address concerns the impeachment proceedings being pursued by APC members in the state house of assembly, describing this as an internal party matter.
“The issue of impeachment is not about Wike now; it concerns APC house of assembly members. That is something I can discuss. It’s an internal matter, and we have mechanisms within APC to resolve such issues,” he added.
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The party chairman emphasised that the APC prefers to handle internal conflicts privately rather than through public debate.
“We don’t put these discussions in the public. Issues can be resolved through in-house activities that require maturity to address,” he added.
When pressed on whether Wike poses a problem for the ruling party despite serving as a minister in the APC government, Yilwatda firmly denied this, responding “never, never”.
The political crisis in Rivers State escalated in December 2025 when Wike publicly opposed Fubara’s re-election bid, claiming the governor had violated an agreement they signed before President Bola Tinubu ended the state of emergency in Rivers.
Pro-Wike lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly have accused Fubara of unauthorised spending of state resources.
These accusations prompted the legislators to launch impeachment proceedings against both Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, citing allegations of “gross misconduct”.
However, on January 23, a Rivers high court postponed the case indefinitely, determining that the court of appeal must first resolve pending appeals from the speaker and other lawmakers.