The long-running political dispute between Senator Magnus Abe and former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike may finally be ended after the latter said he had “made peace” with the former.

Abe, the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for governor of Rivers State in the general elections of 2023, claimed to have patched things up with Wike, who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, in a Facebook post that our correspondent saw on Thursday.

Abe first lost favor with his mentor and previous state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, prior to the 2023 elections. Amaechi chose Tonye Cole, a businessman based in Lagos and co-owner of Sahara Energy, as the All Progressives Congress’ candidate for governor of the state.

However, Wike was content with Siminalayi Fubara, his political godson who at the time was the state’s accountant general, to take over.

Wike apparently made some harsh comments after Amaechi’s selection for Cole, which some commentators took to suggest that Amaechi had used and dumped Abe, who had been the secretary of the Rivers State Government during his first term.

The two former friends kept their distance from each other ahead of the elections, despite the fact that there was never an open verbal altercation between Wike and Abe, who represented the Rivers South-East in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.

Abe’s distance from Wike grew when he eventually obtained the SDP ticket and declared his intention to contest the governorship.

Wike and Abe were not spotted together even after the polls, until Bola Tinubu, the then-president-elect, paid them a visit after his election victory.

At Wike’s invitation, Tinubu traveled to Rivers to officially launch a few projects that his administration had finished.

The last time Wike and Abe were spotted together in public was when they shook hands at the Port International Airport in Omagwa, where Tinubu was present.

Despite being members of the PDP and SDP, respectively, Wike and Abe backed Tinubu for president.

Surprisingly, though, Abe and Wike traveled in the same car to Chief Tony Okocha’s special thanksgiving. Chief Okocha is the chairman of the APC’s state caretaker committee and represents Rivers State on the Niger Delta Development Commission’s management board.

The celebration took place at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Rumuapara, which is located in the state’s Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

In a statement released on Thursday, Abe acknowledged that he had made peace with the FCT Minister and acknowledged riding in the same car as Wike.

In the statement, Abe said that Wike is a true and honest politician and noted that the APC is home.

He said, “I have made peace with the honourable Minister of the FCT, and former Governor of Rivers State. I accompanied him to Chief Tony Okocha’s thanksgiving to show that my commitment to end the rift in our party is total.

“I want to publicly thank the minister; he could have behaved like other politicians –make peace with me, and still encourage me, Tony and others to continue fighting (you bring Magnus in the morning through one door, then bring Tony in the evening through the other door).

“It may take a little while but the end result is that all those with us, who sincerely wish us well will go with us and toe the path of unity because we all know that it is the right way to go”