The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday for the defection of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, accusing the ruling party of manipulating the political crises that drove Fubara out of the PDP.
Reactions came from both the state and national levels of the opposition party, with leaders stressing that Fubara’s departure did not undermine or change the PDP’s structure in Rivers.
Fubara publicly announced his decision to move from the PDP to the APC on Tuesday.
Fubara followed Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, and his Bayelsa colleague, Duoye Diri, in defecting from the opposition PDP.
Following Fubara’s official proclamation, the APC now governs all six South-South states: Edo, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, and Cross River.
Fubara, speaking at an emergency stakeholders meeting at Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, said he left his former party for two reasons: first, because the main opposition party could not protect him, and second, because President Bola Tinubu still refers to him as “His Excellency, the Governor,” rather than “former governor.”
At the meeting held 24 hours after visiting the Presidential villa in Abuja, Fubara said his defection was in the interest of the state.
He stated that he received the president’s assurances of his support following their meeting in Abuja on Monday evening.
While acknowledging that he was grateful for the President’s love, he added that the state has the people, support, and numbers to rally around Tinubu.
Fubara also stated that he would not make the mistake of treading on any landmines laid for him, which led to his visit to Mr. President on Monday, where he informed him of the state’s current situation.
He stated, “Our dear leaders, I know you have been expecting to hear from me, especially about this meeting that I had to arrange so urgently. But the meeting is going to end with very sweet information.
“You are aware that I went to see Mr. President yesterday, and the reason why I went to that meeting is not just a personal visit, but it is a state interest consultation. I don’t want to make any mistakes this time around.
“I also wish not to step on any landmine that anyone is laying for us. So I was with Mr. President yesterday to brief him on the situation of things in our state, which I believe he had taken note of, and he is going to act swiftly on it.
“But the most interesting part of the meeting is what you all have been waiting for. What you have been asking me for, the signal, has finally arrived. We have the full support.
“We have the positive nod to leave where we are, because we didn’t get any protection. The reason why we are still standing is because of that place.
“And the truth is that without Mr. President, there won’t be any His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara. It would have been a former governor.
“Our only ‘thank you’ to Mr. President is to support him. And we cannot support Mr. President in isolation. We can’t support Mr. President if we don’t fully identify with him, not backyard support. So we have taken that decision today since we’ve gotten the pass.”
Fubara continued, “Everyone here who has followed me and suffered with me, our decision today, this evening, is that we are moving to APC.”
When the governor made the declaration, the audience chorused, ‘On your mandate we shall stand,’ and the governor sang along before ordering the removal of the PDP flag from the Government House.
Fubara added, “Please remove this PDP flag. We don’t need it here again. Now that our position has been made clear, every other formal process will commence. Let me thank you all for your support.
“I’ve not let you down before; I’m not going to let you down. The message is very simple. We are the ones who will give that support, and we will give that support with a loud ovation because we know that the people of Rivers State are with us. Thank you.”
The conference was attended by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Benibo Anabraba; his predecessor, Dr. Tammy Danagogo; former Ambassador to the Netherlands, Oji Ngofa; and all past LG chairmen who served under Fubara.
The PDP portrayed the Rivers situation as an example of Nigeria’s dysfunctional democracy, in which individuals are bigger and stronger than institutions and may utilize the federal government’s apparatus to conceal political life from their opponents and bring them to their knees.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tanimu Turaki’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, warned that Nigeria’s democracy was in jeopardy, emphasizing that the ruling party’s movement toward a one-party system and limiting of political space presented a significant threat.
“Democracy is terribly threatened by acts of this kind, and all well-meaning people should unify in condemning this progressive decline of democratic norms.
“We reiterate to Nigerians and the global community that with the unrelenting disposition of the ruling party towards the attainment of a one-party state and the constriction of the political space, democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria.
“Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble trip toward electoral authoritarianism,” he said.
The party, on the other hand, expressed sympathy for Fubara’s decision to desert to the APC, claiming that his political problems were self-inflicted because he chose the path that led to his current situation.
Ememobong claimed that the Rivers crisis revealed a flawed democracy in which powerful individuals dominated institutions and used government apparatus to punish their opponents.
He prayed Fubara didn’t develop Stockholm Syndrome, in which a victim becomes attached to his abuser.
“The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has received the news of the formal defection of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State, from our party to the ruling party.
“This news, as pitiful as it is, is an exemplar of the old legal maxim, Volenti non fit injuria, meaning to one who is willing, no harm can be done.
“Everyone who has followed the developments that culminated in this uneventful defection will recall that the governor willingly travelled the path that took him to this destination. Having done so voluntarily, he cannot turn around and accuse our party, or any other person or group, of abandoning or not protecting him.
“Whilst a person who is at a crossroad of threats of existential proportion will most likely suffer from temporary amnesia caused by trauma, the governor should have nothing less than praise for our party, civil society organizations, and all Nigerians who freely stood up in his defense from when this crisis started until he capitulated.
“It is our prayer that the governor should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor. In all, despite these, we pity the governor and wish him well.”
In response to Fubara’s defection, the factional chairman of the PDP in the state, Robinson Ewor, stated the party remained united, and Fubara’s departure was nothing new.
Ewor stated that, while Fubara had recently announced his defection, he had quit the PDP long before the end of the emergency government.
He claimed that the APC-led administration fought the governor to a stalemate and successfully conquered the state while the emergency rule was in effect, holding local government elections and installing candidates, as well as dissolving all existing boards and agencies.
He also stated that the emergency rule was declared in the state essentially with the intent for the ruling APC to take over, insisting that there was no crisis anywhere in the state at the time.
“The governor’s defection to the APC is nothing new as far as I’m concerned. You know that the APC declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, not because there was a crisis in Rivers State, but because they wanted to take over Rivers State. During the state of emergency, they conducted a local government election and took over the 20 LGAs completely.
“Within the same period under review, they appointed all the boards, parastatals, and agencies in Rivers State. So Fubara came back with nothing in his hands. If Fubara remains in PDP, he is like a non-existent figure.
“As far as I’m concerned, he has gone long ago, and the APC captured the state long ago. Not because he wanted to go but because they fought him and they conquered him.”
However, the factional chairman loyal to the National Working Committee led by Tanimu Turaki stated that the party remained intact.
“PDP is intact. I remain in PDP. There are other PDP members. So, PDP is one of the registered political parties in the country, in the state.
“There are other states too where the governor defected, and the PDP is still there. States like Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, etc. PDP is still in those states, and in Rivers too, the PDP is still here.”
