JUST IN: Tinubu in Closed-Door Meeting With Fubara at Aso Rock

President Bola Tinubu received Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara at the State House in Abuja on Monday, where both men went into a closed-door meeting amid heightened political tension in Rivers.

Fubara was seen heading toward the President’s office at about 5:01 p.m., dressed in a deep-blue long-sleeve shirt, black trousers, and a black flat cap. Moments earlier, Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru had arrived for a separate engagement at the Villa.

The agenda of both meetings has not been disclosed.

Fubara’s visit comes at a time of growing speculation about his possible move from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress following renewed turmoil in the Rivers political landscape.

Seventeen lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently defected from the PDP to the APC, dramatically altering the balance of the House of Assembly. The only three lawmakers aligned with Fubara have yet to resume sitting since the lifting of the six-month emergency rule on September 18, adding to uncertainty over the governor’s next steps.

Fubara was reinstated earlier in the year after the emergency rule imposed on March 18 came to an end.

Nwifuru, an APC governor and former Speaker of the Ebonyi House of Assembly, has also been in talks with the Presidency in recent months on issues relating to infrastructure and security in the South-East.