PDP Bleeds as Fubara Joins APC

PDP Bleeds as Fubara Joins APC

In a major political realignment, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), dealing a significant blow to Nigeria’s main opposition party.

Governor Fubara announced his move on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

He described the switch as a “gesture of reciprocity” for the consistent support his administration has received from President Bola Tinubu since the political crisis that engulfed the state in late 2023.

“We can’t support Mr President if we don’t fully identify with him – not backyard support,” Fubara stated.

“So, we have taken that decision today. Everyone here who followed and suffered with me, our decision today is that we are moving to the APC.”

His defection follows last week’s move by 15 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, to the APC.

Just two days earlier, the 32-member Assembly had passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu and urged him to seek re-election.

With Fubara’s exit, the PDP now holds only six governorships. It is widely reported that Governors Agbu Kefas of Taraba and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau are also considering joining the APC.

PDP Reacts: “A Self-Inflicted Injury”

The PDP responded sharply to the defection, calling it a “self-inflicted injury” and the result of choices Governor Fubara “willingly embraced.”

In a statement by National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong, the party invoked the legal principle volenti non fit injuria (“to one who is willing, no harm is done”).

It asserted that Fubara’s political troubles were the product of his own decisions and that he had been widely supported until he “capitulated.”

The statement expressed concern over what it termed the governor’s “political capitulation” and warned against a “Stockholm Syndrome” dynamic – suggesting Fubara may have developed allegiance to political forces aligned with the federal government.

“In all, despite these, we pity the Governor and wish him well,” the party added.

The PDP further framed the defection as symptomatic of a “dysfunctional” democracy, where individuals allegedly wield power above institutions and use federal might to suppress opponents.

It accused the APC of deliberately shrinking the political space to create a one-party state and called on Nigerians and the international community to resist what it described as a slide toward “electoral authoritarianism.”

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