The suspended Commissioner for Youth Development in Rivers State, Chisom Gbali, on Monday accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike and his cohorts of plans to extend the state of emergency in the state.

Gbali said Wike and his cohorts are planning to create problems that would lead to President Bola Tinubu extending the state of emergency in the state.

The president had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Sim Fubara following intelligence report of militants planning to attack oil installations.

Tinubu also suspended Fubara for six months while appointing a sole administrator to preside over the state.

His pronouncement was due to the face-off between Wike and Fubara that affected the state House of Assembly but the Supreme Court had intervened recently.

However, appearing on Arise TV’s Morning Show, Gbali said the body language of the Sole The Administrator suggest a calculated effort to extend the situation beyond six months.

According to Gbali: “We are in the same wave length, that’s actually the calculated attempt I was talking about. There is a plan to extend it and even incite problem before the end of these six months, they want to incite problem that would make the president make another pronouncement.

” And of course you know that if there is any extension whatsoever, it calls for the end of the administration, so if you see the school of thoughts in politics that they call body language, if you see the body language you will know that this is a calculated attempt.

“They are setting aside all the subsisting projects, suspending boards and parastatals but for someone that was sent to restore peace, till now all we are seeing is different.

“They even planned to install a sole administrator at the local government level. these are there calculated attempts.

“The current minister of the FCT and his cohorts, the assembly members, former chairmen whose tenure elapsed, that’s the people i’m talking about, we know them. The issue of Rivers State is between the former governor and the current governor.

“All these things are geared towards 2027 and we are dazzled that his excellency will be meddling in this kind of matter when there are so many areas that have more pressing needs, people are dying everyday and there is no state of emergency but in Rivers where we never had hurt they did.”

Two leading figures of the Labour Party, the 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State governor, Alex Otti, have summoned a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party.

The NEC meeting is scheduled to hold in Abuja on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

A notice issued by Obi and Otti said the NEC meeting will be followed concurrently by an interactive town hall engagement with major stakeholders and other organs of the party at Transcorp Hilton.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi are reportedly in discussions about joining the Social Democratic Party (SDP), according to Adewole Adebayo, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.

Adebayo disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he revealed that associates of both Atiku and Obi are exploring the possibility of their principals joining the SDP.

“You mentioned El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi; many of them are in talks, and we are open to receiving them,” Adebayo said.

He confirmed that the party had recently admitted a former governor of Kaduna State and a senior member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), signaling a growing realignment in Nigeria’s political space.

“People are joining the party, and we are welcoming them,” he stated. “The only challenge is the need for a shift in political culture, particularly around adherence to internal rules and procedures.”

When asked directly whether Obi was set to join the party, Adebayo responded, “Until someone officially joins, we can’t be certain. But I’ve received information from party officials, including the Financial Secretary, that discussions are ongoing.”

He emphasized that the SDP would only accept politicians who align with its values and respect its internal democratic process.

“If they can align with our values and participate in a transparent, credible internal democratic process as we did in 2022, then together we can offer Nigerians a viable alternative,” he said.