The Rivers State Government has denied allegations that Governor Siminalayi Fubara forced his commissioners to resign amid a feud between the governor and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

The mass resignations occurred last week as the political tension escalated in the state.

Joe Johnson, the state’s Commissioner for Information, clarified on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that the governor did not compel or ask anyone to leave the government. According to Johnson, those who resigned did so voluntarily, based on their own reasons.

The commissioner explained that a structural assessment confirmed the Rivers State Assembly Complex was no longer habitable, leading to the governor’s decision to demolish it. Johnson noted that even Wike acknowledged the deteriorating condition of the complex. He emphasized that Governor Fubara is working towards resolving the crisis and described him as a pacifist.

Rivers State has been embroiled in political turmoil over the past three months, with the state House of Assembly at the center of the conflict. The rift between Wike and Fubara resulted in lawmakers splitting, with 27 of them defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where Wike currently serves as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The feud led to parallel sittings, an impeachment plot against the governor, the demolition of the Assembly complex, and a series of resignations by pro-Wike commissioners in Fubara’s cabinet. Despite interventions by President Bola Tinubu and elder statesmen, the political crisis in the oil-rich South-South state appears to persist with no clear resolution in sight.