The attempt by President Bola Tinubu to broker peace between Rivers State Governor Simi Fubara and his rival, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, has collapsed, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said.

Tony Okocha, the caretaker chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, who made this known on Thursday, said, “Whatever that was, it has broken down, and it has been broken irreconcilably.”

Tinubu’s intervention, which involved a meeting with both Fubara and Wike at the presidential villa in Abuja, had initially offered a glimmer of hope for an end to the bitter feud in the state.

However, the past four days have witnessed an escalation of tensions, with the demolition of the state House of Assembly complex and the defection of 27 assembly members, who are loyal to Wike, to the APC.

Okocha, addressing a press conference at the APC national secretariat, dismissed the recent budget passed by the Ehie-led faction of the assembly as “illegal” and said it would not stand. Furthermore, he confirmed ongoing efforts to woo Wike to the APC, emphasising that the former governor would automatically become the party’s leader in the state upon joining.