The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it would not serve as a dumping ground for the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.

Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, Sir Tony Okocha, made this known during a press conference at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday. He stated emphatically that the APC would not accommodate the “misdemeanours” of the embattled governor.

Okocha, a close ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, spoke in response to speculation that Fubara, who recently held a closed-door meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is preparing to defect from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

He dismissed concerns over the governor’s visit to the president, noting that many prominent figures have similarly paid Sallah homage to Tinubu.

“To the best of my knowledge, as Rivers State APC chairman with ears to the ground across local and ward levels, there’s no indication that Fubara is joining the APC,” he said.

Okocha added that if Fubara were to consider joining the party, “his sins cannot be forgiven,” insisting that the embattled governor would not be allowed to enter the party “through the back door.”

“There are procedures for joining the APC,” he noted.

He further stated that the Supreme Court judgment and the impeachment proceedings initiated by the Rivers State House of Assembly over alleged impeachable offences still loom over Fubara like a sword of Damocles.

Ruling out the possibility of President Tinubu lifting Fubara’s six-month suspension on June 12—Democracy Day—Okocha claimed the governor has made no efforts to reconcile with state assembly members loyal to Minister Wike.

“Fubara is yet to make any reconciliatory moves. Instead, he’s been boasting and assuring the suspended local government chairmen that they will all be reinstated once he returns,” he alleged.

He criticised the governor’s approach, saying, “How does it work that way? That on May 29, they sat in a room somewhere, and he assured them that when he returns, they should be calm because they’ll all go back to their positions. That is why they continue their grandstanding—they believe they can’t be touched.”

Okocha maintained that despite President Tinubu’s timely intervention, which saved Fubara from impeachment and a possible state of emergency declaration, the governor has not learned any lessons.