The President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Theophilus Alaye, has rejected any proposal that would limit Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s right to seek re-election in 2027 as a condition for his return to office.
Alaye said the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, is a citizen of Nigeria and by the virtue of the Nigerian Constitution, and has every right to exercise his fundamental democratic rights..
”We believe that the governor has the right to seek re-election,” the Ijaw youth president said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
Alaye emphasised that Fubara has a constitutional right to contest for another term and should not be pressured into accepting a single-term deal.
Alaye said that the Nigerian Constitution grants Governor Fubara the right to seek re-election, and any attempt to limit this right would be an infringement on his fundamental human rights.
Alaye said any information about a single-term deal for Fubara’s return remained speculation, but said that his group would back the governor for re-election.
“When we get to 2027, we shall know if that is part of the agreement. And if he has delivered the dividends of democracy for Rivers people, it is left for Rivers people to ask him to contest or not.
“As the President of the Council, if a single-term is part of the agreement he has signed or they gave to him that he should not seek re-election in 2027, some of us are not going to be part of that because that is an infringement on his fundamental human rights, and it is against the Nigerian Constitution.
“Oppression is what we would never support. We have always been a group of marginalised persons and agitation has always been part of our lifestyle.
“So, standing behind the Rivers State governor to seek re-election come 2027 is not going to be a new thing to us because for us to sit down and allow some group of persons to infringe on his constitutional rights is what we, as a people, will not accept, ” he said.
Alaye expressed the group’s support for Fubara’s potential re-election bid in 2027, stating that the people of Rivers State should be allowed to decide whether or not to re-elect him based on his performance.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu imposed a state of emergency on Rivers State in March 2025 and suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, and members of the state assembly due to the political crisis in the state.
The warring political actors, including Fubara and his predecessor Nyesom Wike, were recently spotted with President Tinubu, announcing that they had agreed to work together.
