The People’s Democratic Party has unleashed a withering broadside at Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, branding his shock defection to the All Progressives Congress as a “pitiful” act of self-sabotage that exposes the rotting core of Nigeria’s democracy.
In a statement dripping with sarcasm and sorrow issued Tuesday in Abuja, PDP National Publicity Secretary Comrade Ini Ememobong confirmed Fubara’s formal jump ship after months of political bloodletting in the oil-rich state.
“This news, as pitiful as it is, exemplifies the old legal maxim *Volenti non fit injuria* — to one who is willing, no harm can be done,” the party jabbed, accusing the governor of charting his own path to political exile.
Fubara dropped the bombshell at a tense stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt on Tuesday evening, December 9, 2025, crediting President Bola Tinubu for his survival during the state’s chaotic emergency rule earlier this year.
Without Mr. President, there wouldn’t be any His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara,” he admitted, flanked by allies as he declared: “Our decision this evening is that we are moving to the APC.
But the PDP isn’t buying the narrative of betrayal from his old camp. “Anyone who followed the chain of events knows he willingly chose this path,” Ememobong shot back. “He cannot now turn around and accuse our party — or anyone — of abandoning him.”
The party poured cold water on Fubara’s gripes about lacking “protection,” insisting he owes a debt of gratitude to the PDP, civil society, and everyday Nigerians who rallied to his defense amid the brutal power struggle with his godfather-turned-nemesis, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
“Trauma may cloud memory, but the governor should have nothing less than praise for those who stood with him until he capitulated,” the statement read, laced with a warning: “We pray he doesn’t succumb to Stockholm Syndrome — falling in love with his captor.”
Beyond the personal sting, the PDP elevated the drama to a national crisis, painting Rivers as a stark warning of democracy’s fragility. “This is a testament to our dysfunctional system, where individuals tower over institutions and weaponize federal might to suffocate opponents,” Ememobong thundered.
With 16 pro-Wike lawmakers already defecting to the APC last Friday — citing the PDP’s “intractable crisis” — Fubara’s move leaves the South-South PDP a ghost of its former self, the last holdout in a region once painted red.
Analysts say it hands Wike a crushing victory, reshaping alliances ahead of 2027 and fueling fears of a one-party stranglehold.
“Democracy faces severe attack from the ruling party’s unrelenting push for dominance and the shrinking political space,” the PDP warned, rallying “all well-meaning Nigerians” to unite against this “ignoble slide toward electoral authoritarianism.
On X, reactions poured in like monsoon rain. “Fubara’s defection proves Wike owns Rivers,” one user scoffed, while another lamented: “Spineless move — insulted everyone who backed him.
Pundits like Reuben Abati piled on: “He defected for a second term, not the people.
For Fubara, it’s a high-stakes gamble on Tinubu’s grace. For the PDP, it’s battle cry time: “We pity the governor and wish him well” — but Nigeria’s democracy? That’s the real casualty in this Rivers reckoning.
