A former Rivers State commissioner, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, has alleged that the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, played a pivotal role in the political crisis that contributed to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s loss of a second term in office.
Speaking on News Day on Arise News on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, Nwibubasa who served as Commissioner for Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment in Rivers State, revisited the political tensions that engulfed Rivers during the Jonathan administration. He claimed that Wike, then a junior minister in the education portfolio, helped stoke divisions between former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and then First Lady Patience Jonathan.
According to Nwibubasa, the fallout from that internal rift destabilised the Jonathan government and weakened the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2015 general election. “We are aware of the role he played between Rotimi and Patience, and [how it] caused GEJ his second tenure,” he said, asserting that the crisis ultimately worked to Wike’s political advantage.
Nwibubasa argued that the events of 2014–2015 followed a familiar pattern in Rivers politics, where internal conflicts are exploited for personal political gain. He maintained that Wike emerged as a beneficiary of the turmoil, later winning the Rivers governorship after Jonathan’s defeat.
The former commissioner’s remarks come amid renewed controversy surrounding Wike’s influence in Rivers State politics and President Bola Tinubu’s recent intervention in the ongoing rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor.
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