AS Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, and Rivers State Governor, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, fight for the control of the state’s resources, 4.4 million citizens mired in multidimensional poverty sink deeper.

The Governor and the FCT Minister are locked in a war of supremacy, with the former referring himself as ‘the 001’ and latter boasting that his arch foe will not have his second term.

“Today, I am very happy. I am not just a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), I am the number one. I have collected my [membership] card and the form is 001,” Mr Fubara boasted on December 12, 2025, after collecting his party identity card.

“So, from this moment, I am there [in APC] with all my chest and heart. The message is clear: We are going to do everything to make the 2027 election for Mr president a smooth ride in Rivers state,” he added.

But Mr Wike would have none of that. He rubbished Gov Fubara’s 001 tag and said he first declared support for President Bola Tinubu before the Governor did.

Also, on Saturday, while addressing stakeholders at a meeting in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Wike said he would be buried politically if Governor Fubara should secure a second term.

READ ALSO: Wike’s threat on governors supporting Fubara highlights PDP’s weakness

“We have made a decision as far as Tinubu is concerned. The other one (Fubara’s re-election), no way. Because if we make another mistake, then we will go and bury ourselves politically. I will not allow myself to be buried. I will not allow that mistake again,” he said.

“We will not make the same mistake again at the state level in 2027, but we will talk about it later when the time comes,” Mr Wike repeated.

Mr Wike was not done. On Monday, January 5, he threatened the All Progressives Congress (APC) Secretary, Mr Ajibola Basiru, to steer clear of the state’s issues, asking him to find out what happened to others who toyed with the state’s matters.

Mr Basiru’s sin was asking APC’s National Vice Chairman, South-South, Mr Victor Giadom, to stop disrespecting Governor Fubara to please Mr Wike.

“I find it unfortunate that a member of the NWC, who is the Vice Chairman of the South-South zone of the APC, was referring to a governor in our party as a ‘so-called governor of Rivers State,” Mr Basiru said on Monday.

“No matter what his allegiances are to anybody, it is unbecoming of somebody holding such a sensitive position, and it should not be encouraged by anybody. Even if the governor is not in our party, you can’t refer to an elected governor as a ‘so-called governor’ in order to please anybody,” he noted.

“The office of the governor is an exalted position, and whoever is occupying it must be respected, irrespective of whatever political differences you have or whatever animosity exists between them,” Mr Basiru had added.

Two elephants fighting, the grass suffer

The situation between Governor Fubara and Mr Fubara can be likened to two elephants fighting and the grass suffering. While Mr Wike and Gov Fubara trade punches, 4.4 million Rivers State citizens, accounting for 62.4 percent of the state’s estimated 7.47 million inhabitants, live in multidimensional poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

Poverty and unemployment are close cousins. According to the NBS, Abia State, the FCT, and Rivers State recorded the highest unemployment rates in Nigeria for 2023.

The report stated that Abia State led the chart with an unemployment rate of 18.7 percent, followed closely by the FCT with 14.1 percent, and Rivers with 13.4 percent jobless rates.

The oil-rich Rivers State had 408,000 unemployed individuals. Rivers State records a high number of unemployment rate, which tends to fuel cultism, kidnapping and other levels of crime. Yet, Mr Wike has been governor of the oil-rich state, which is Nigeria’s second biggest economy by gross domestic product (GDP). Mr Fubara, on the other hand, is the state governor.

READ ALSO: Wike promised to deliver PDP to Tinubu in 2027 – Seyi Makinde

A researcher, Ms Deborah Ejo-Orusa, carried out a study to examine the relationship between unemployment and insecurity in Rivers State. She focused on cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping and militancy/political violence. Her findings revealed a significant relationship existing between unemployment and insecurity (cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping and militancy/political violence) in Rivers State.

“The study found that there is a significant relationship unemployment and cultism in Rivers State. The study recommends that microcredit schemes should be facilitated to empower the unemployed youths to go into self-employment enterprise. Support services in terms of entrepreneurial training should be given to them to enhance skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development.”

An economist, Mr Chukwunonso Adindu, said citizens of Rivers State would bear the brunt of the ongoing tussle between Mr Wike and Mr Fubara, stating that the fight would “certainly distract the governor from governance.”

“I do not know why there is so much noise coming from Rivers State. That state has all the oil companies domiciled there. It is obvious that 2026 won’t be for governance but for political fight and for the regular visit of Abuja. This will be unfortunate for a state with so much potential but with high poverty and joblessness.”