The Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the defection of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi FubaraGovernor, Siminalayi Fubara, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the move as a “self-inflicted injury” and a culmination of choices the governor “willingly embraced.”
Fubara on Tuesday defected from the PDP to the ruling APC.
He announced his decision during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. Fubara joins several of his colleagues who have also switched to the APC this year.
Recently, 17 members of the House of Assembly, loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike and led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, announced their defection from the PDP to the APC, thereby altering the balance of power in the legislature.
In a statement issued Tuesday night by National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP said Fubara’s exit merely affirmed the legal maxim volenti non fit injuria—”to one who is willing, no harm is done.”
According to the PDPPDP, the governor’s political troubles and eventual departure were products of his own decisions.
“Everyone who has followed developments that culminated in this uneventful defection will recall that the Governor willingly travelled the path that took him to this destination,” the statement read.
“Having done so voluntarily, he cannot turn around and accuse our party or any person or group of failing to protect him.”
The party insisted that at every stage of the crisis that engulfed Rivers politics over the past year, civil society groups, democratic actors and Nigerians across political divides stood in Fubara’s defence until he “capitulated.”
It added that rather than blame others, the governor should acknowledge the support he enjoyed before choosing his new path.
Expressing concern about what it described as Fubara’s political capitulation, the PDP warned against the “Stockholm Syndrome”, a condition in which a victim develops affection for their oppressor—suggesting that the governor may have succumbed to pressures from forces aligned with the Federal Government.
“In all, despite these, we pity the Governor and wish him well,” the party added.
The PDP further used the development to highlight what it called the “dysfunctional nature of Nigeria’s democracy,” lamenting a political environment where individuals wield power beyond institutions and allegedly deploy federal might to overwhelm opponents.
It warned that such tendencies threaten democratic stability and should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.
With Fubara’s defection, the opposition party renewed its accusation that the ruling APC is bent on creating a one-party state and shrinking Nigeria’s political space.
“Democracy is under severe attack,” the statement noted, urging Nigerians and the international community to resist what it called a slide toward electoral authoritarianism.
