By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Fubara announced his defection during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Tuesday, December 9.
He said the decision was to ‘fully identify’ with President Bola Tinubu and as a “gesture of reciprocity” for the consistent support, cooperation, and encouragement his administration has received from President Tinubu since the political crisis that shook the state in late 2023.
The governor said: “We can’t support the president if we don’t fully identify with him; not backyard support.
“So, we have taken that decision today since we have gotten a pass. Everyone here, who followed and suffered with me, our decision today [is that] we are moving to APC.”
Fubara’s defection comes less than a week after 15 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Martin Awaewhule, defected to the APC.
The 32-member Rivers Assembly had passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu two days before the defection, urging him to seek re-election.
Fubara is the sixth governor to have left the PDP in 2025, a growing list that includes Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, Peter Mbah of Enugu State, Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, and Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.
With the defection, the PDP now has six governors, with Agbu Kefas of Taraba State and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State reportedly planning to leave the party.
As Fubara defected to the APC, all the six South-South states are now under the control of the ruling party at the centre.
