Rivers guber airspace: More fingers point to O.K. Chinda, Wike’s loyalist-kinsman, as next governor

More fingers have started pointing in the direction the next governor of Rivers State may come from. These point to one of Nyesom Wike’s loyalists and his kinsman from same Obio/Akpor LGA in Rivers State, though from the Elelenwo axis whereas Wike is from Rumuprikon axis.

This follows the commencement of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The party now rules from the LGAs to state to national in Rivers State.

Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, is still officially in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but he calls the shots in both the PDP and APC at the national level and seems to control all parties in his state one way or another.

Wike, the FCT Minister may be in the PDP but he seemed busiest in the two days of the APC national convention in Abuja (27 to 28, March). He was said to have played host to the Rivers State delegation that arrived his Abuja abode on March 26, 2026. There, strategies to adopt at the convention were perfected.

What seemed to be on the minds of every Rivers delegate and even back home was who would be anointed as next governor if Gov Sim Fubara was not to be reconfirmed for 2026.

Other sources said Gov Fubara, too, was plotting his own strategies in his very usual quiet way, but most persons knew that quiet or loud, the state waited for Wike’s choice and move. Even the group in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have avoided any guber move, waiting for Wike’s move first.

BD Sunday check 10 days ago showed that no aspirant wanted to show his or her hand prematurely; those close to Fubara do not want to show face outside their idol, while none in the Wike camp dare not anoint himself.

Now, latest fingers seem to know where to point: Chinda, Minority Leader of the Federal House of Representatives. Some have paired him with Fubara’s strongest backer, Edison Ehie, who was his chief of staff until Fubara was forced to drop him few weeks back.

Video clips allegedly emerging out of Abuja indicate that Wike has made some jokes and remarks that show that Fubara may not come back (as was rumoured to be part of a peace deal in Aso Rock to stop the impeachment).

A source that watched the video clip said: “From Wike’s statement tonight, reading between the lines, like I have said before, O.K. Chinda will be given the PDP governorship ticket. He (wike) has asked the Ijaws, Ogonis, and other tribes with him not to bother about the ethnicity of the person, as he intends to correct the ‘mistake’ he made in 2023, but to see the candidate as someone who shares the vision of their camp. He said whether Chief Ferdinand Anabraba likes it or not, he has a way to make him agree with whatever he (Wike) wants.”

This position was confirmed by one Ugwulashi Innocent on facebook who said: “After watching the video, I told my friend that Wike has made up his mind to give it to an Ikwerre man.” Many thought Martin Amaewhule, the fiery but embattled Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, would be the anointed one as he is from Ikwerre.

The situation seems to become so glaring that Allwell Ene, a radio journalist and man-about-town who is usually the first to know things, has expressed surprise at the new trend: “I no longer understand our political equation in Rivers State. Is it by Upland-Riverine or by senatorial district or by anyhow we see am, we take am?” This is because many had thought that by rotation, same senatorial district would never produce governor and deputy same time.

Now, some persons have found the voice to take stands. Kalada Daminabo Ogolo, who sees himself as a radical political analyst, has come out to state why he did not support Fubara in 2023 but Tonye Cole. Cole now appears stranded because his main backer, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has moved to the ADC drawing fire as he moved. Many seem scared to follow him openly to avoid the harms that trail Amaechi followers in Rivers State.

Ogolo explained that thought he was a fellow Opobo man, he chose Cole; “Because I always put the interest of Rivers State against my personal interest. I didn’t support Cole just because we were in the same party. I supported him because I saw something special in him. I saw the architect in him, his vision, and his proven achievements not just in Rivers State, but on a global level.”

He said many Rivers people did not see what he saw but wanted those that would share the money. “Today, Gov Fubara has clearly not lived up to expectations. His failure is not because he lacks the ability, but because the system and the people who brought him into power manipulated everything from the beginning. If Wike brought Sim into governance and Sim has failed to deliver, then Wike has also failed Rivers people.”

He went on: “I still stand by my words today: Tonye Cole, Dakuku Peterside, and even Dumo Lulu-Briggs would have been far better choices for Rivers State.

“But unfortunately, Rivers people are now stuck with a situation where one man has refused to allow the state to grow freely.

“Now 2027 is approaching, and instead of Rivers people coming together to protest and project a candidate that will truly serve the interest of the entire state, many are already waiting to hear “who Wike will bring?”

Ogolo termed it ‘white smoke’ way of thinking, saying it is backward and frustrating in this modern age. “People should be able to assess candidates based on competence, vision, and character, not wait for one man to decide for them. Rivers State deserves better.”

At the APC convention, some of those who should be powerfully selling themselves such as Cole, Magnus Abe, Fubara, Peterside, Lulu-Briggs, etc, are either walking lonely in some strange parties or are standing alone at the APC convention.

What appears clear is that the ticket is firmly in the breast pocket of one man until he hands it out to Chinda or someone still a dark horse.