Fubara welcomes Shettima to Port Harcourt as the Vice President visits Rivers for an official project commissioning
Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara welcomed Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Thursday, August 20, 2026, as Shettima arrived in Rivers State for an official project commissioning programme.
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Shettima travelled to Port Harcourt from Abuja as Rivers State continues an extensive programme of commissioning major public projects across the state.
The Vice President’s arrival comes amid a busy period for the Fubara administration, which began commissioning major infrastructure projects across Rivers on August 17.
The programme, announced by Secretary to the Rivers State Government Dr Dagogo Wokoma, covers roads, bridges, healthcare facilities, educational infrastructure and other public projects across several local government areas.
Among the projects on the commissioning schedule is the Omademe Internal Roads in Ikwerre Local Government Area, scheduled for August 20.
The programme also includes the new Air Force Base runway in Port Harcourt, the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Dual Carriageway, the Agba-Ndele Road and Bridge, and new healthcare facilities.
Earlier in the programme, Fubara commissioned the reconstructed 19.79-kilometre Buguma-Degema-Abonnema Road, which links communities in Asari-Toru, Degema and Akuku-Toru local government areas.
The road, executed by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, had previously been associated with long travel times and security concerns.
At its commissioning, Fubara reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to completing the Trans-Kalabari Highway, another significant link to coastal communities.
The Vice President’s visit therefore comes against the backdrop of a wider infrastructure push by the Rivers State Government, with the administration presenting the projects as part of its effort to extend development beyond Port Harcourt and into communities across the state.
Wokoma previously described the projects as evidence of the administration’s determination to ensure that government investments produce “meaningful and measurable benefits” for residents across Rivers State.
Fubara has similarly stressed that his development agenda is not simply about completing projects, but about ensuring that infrastructure produces tangible improvements in people’s lives.
At the Buguma-Degema-Abonnema Road commissioning, the governor said his desire was to undertake projects that would “touch the lives of the people positively.”
For Shettima, the Rivers visit marks one of his first major official engagements after returning from a two-week leave.
His programme in the state is expected to include the formal commissioning of a project and engagements with state officials and other stakeholders.
The visit also carries a political dimension, coming as Nigeria’s political parties and potential contenders gradually position themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Vice President is expected to make remarks during the event, although the immediate focus of the visit remains the commissioning programme.
The cordial reception by Fubara is also noteworthy against the broader political importance of Rivers State, a strategically significant state in Nigeria’s South-South region.
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For now, the meeting between the governor and Vice President provides a visible moment of cooperation between the Rivers State Government and the Federal Government, with infrastructure and public development at the centre of the engagement.
