Fubara’s Defection Pitiful, Self-Inflicted Injury – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the defection of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as “pitiful” and a “self-inflicted injury,” insisting that the governor cannot blame the party for a crisis he personally engineered.

Governor Fubara on Tuesday announced his departure from the PDP at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House in Port Harcourt, claiming that the party failed to protect him amid his political rift with key power blocs in the state.

However, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP leadership under Kabiru Turaki dismissed the governor’s claims, arguing that he “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 failing to protect him,” the statement read.
The party asserted that all who followed the political crisis in Rivers State can attest that Fubara received significant public support before “capitulating.”

According to the PDP, even though individuals facing intense political pressure may experience “temporary amnesia,” the governor should have acknowledged the role played by the party, civil society groups, and Nigerians who defended him throughout the crisis.

“It is our prayer that the Governor does not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with their captor. In all, despite these, we pity the Governor and wish him well,” the PDP stated.

The party further described the development as evidence of the dysfunction within Nigeria’s democratic system, where institutions remain weak and “individuals are bigger and stronger than the system.”

It accused the ruling APC of weaponising federal influence to subdue opponents and pushing the country toward a one-party state.

“Democracy is severely threatened by acts of this kind, and all well-meaning people should unite in condemning the progressive decline of democratic norms,” the statement added.

Reiterating its warning to Nigerians and the international community, the PDP said the APC’s “unrelenting disposition towards attaining a one-party state” represents a grave threat to political plurality.

“Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble path toward electoral authoritarianism,” it warned.