ABUJA, Nigeria — President Bola Tinubu convened a late-night reconciliation meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, bringing together key actors in the protracted political crisis in Rivers State.
Those present at the closed-door meeting included Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended Governor of Rivers State; members of the state House of Assembly; and Martin Amaewhule, the suspended Speaker.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed the meeting in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating: “President Bola Tinubu hosted a reconciliation meeting on Thursday night at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, bringing together all the figures in the Rivers State political crisis.”
Rivers’ peace talks in pictures
President Tinubu has demonstrated once again that he wants peace for Rivers State. Just like he brought together the political gladiators to sign a peace deal in December 2023, he repeated the same on Thursday night, three months after he imposed… pic.twitter.com/L6yZms84mQ
— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) June 27, 2025
Wike and Fubara talk about peace in Rivers
Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, spoke Thursday night about sustaining peace in Rivers State, in an interview with Sunday Moses, President Tinubu’s official videographer.
Wike: We have all agreed to work… pic.twitter.com/4hWvqKBwkQ
— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) June 27, 2025
Tinubu brokers Rivers peace talks
President Bola Tinubu hosted a reconciliation meeting on Thursday night at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, bringing together all the figures in the Rivers State political crisis.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Federal Capital Territory Minister… pic.twitter.com/a4m5rGQ6Y8
— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) June 27, 2025
The engagement marks the latest in a series of presidential interventions aimed at defusing tensions between Wike and Fubara, whose power struggle since 2023 has led to deep divisions within the state’s political institutions.
The feud escalated into open confrontation, culminating in the polarisation of the state legislature and the destruction of the state House of Assembly complex.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, citing the escalating instability and targeted threats to oil infrastructure.
The emergency declaration included the suspension of Governor Fubara, the entire Rivers State House of Assembly, and the installation of a sole administrator to manage state affairs for an initial six-month period.
Since then, Tinubu has remained personally engaged in resolving the crisis.
In April, he held a meeting with Fubara in London, followed by a courtesy visit from the suspended governor in Lagos on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Although details of the discussions were not made public, the meeting is being viewed as a significant step toward restoring constitutional order and political stability in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important states.
