Join Rainbow Coalition or leave, Fubara warns supporters

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has warned his supporters who are unwilling to align with the Rainbow Coalition to leave, insisting that his decision to return to his political camp is final. Fubara gave the warning on Thursday during the inauguration of the Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Rainbow Coalition, in Port Harcourt.

Addressing party members and supporters, the governor urged those whose names were not included in the campaign council list not to feel aggrieved, explaining that there were still sub-committees to be constituted and that the list could be updated. He, however, warned against double-dealing, insisting that those claiming to support him must demonstrate genuine commitment to the coalition.

“We still have sub-committees. The list can also be updated so you don’t have any problems to worry about. The most important thing is to work with your heart sincerely. “Don’t openly say you’re with me and behold you’re doing a different thing. I’m here, and I say it boldly anywhere, any day. And anybody who says he is not with me, gently go your way,” he said.

Acknowledging that some of his supporters might find it difficult to accept the new political direction, Fubara urged them to put the past behind them and embrace the future. “Don’t go behind and say this is Fubara, no, no, no. I have said it. It might be difficult but we have gone past that. We are looking at the future and what God holds for us,” he added.

The governor charged members of the campaign council to work together to achieve their political objectives, expressing confidence that the coalition would record more votes in the forthcoming elections than it secured in 2023. “Nothing is impossible. Provided it’s something that has to do with life, it is possible if we take it as a serious responsibility, a serious task that must be achieved, we will come out with a stronger vote than what we did in 2023.

“It is only for us to say yes, we want to do it. And I am very sure that with the strategy of these forthcoming elections we are going to come out with good results better than what we had before,” he said. Fubara also thanked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and other political leaders for their efforts in establishing the campaign council.

Earlier, Wike, who inaugurated the council, announced plans to establish similar campaign structures across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State. He said the coalition would abandon conventional campaign rallies in favour of direct engagement with residents through community gatherings, family meetings and age-grade associations. “We are going away from that ceremonial campaign style.

When we are going to Gokana today, we just stay in one field and begin to talk to those we already know. “It is going to be different. This time around we are going round to communities, to family meetings, to age-grade meetings and other informal sects to talk to them, not necessarily those we meet with every day. “You and I meet every day; then tomorrow again we gather in one place, we say we are holding a rally.

We must depart from that,” Wike said. The minister commended Fubara for attending the inauguration and other engagements of the council despite his busy schedule. Wike, who is also the National Leader of the PDP/Rainbow Coalition, said members of the campaign council were selected based on their capacity to participate in its activities and deliver results.

He urged them to mobilise support for APC and Rainbow Coalition candidates in the 2027 presidential, governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections. He further disclosed that local government campaign councils would soon be inaugurated to strengthen the coalition’s grassroots mobilisation. Background The development is the latest chapter in the prolonged political crisis between Fubara and Wike, who governed Rivers State from 2015 to 2023 and supported Fubara’s emergence as his successor.

Their disagreement, which became public in October 2023, centred on control of the state’s political structures and influence over the Rivers State House of Assembly. The crisis split lawmakers into opposing camps and triggered repeated impeachment moves against Fubara. The dispute escalated in March 2025 when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, resulting in the suspension of the governor, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly for six months.

The elected officials returned to office in September 2025 following the expiration of the emergency rule. Reconciliation efforts gathered momentum in 2026 after Wike announced an end to the feud and a reconciliation committee was constituted to engage Fubara and his supporters. The Rainbow Coalition, led by Wike, comprises political actors from different parties, including the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), working towards Tinubu’s re-election bid in 20