Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, delivered a sharp critique of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, asserting that the party had failed the people of Rivers State. He stated that the party’s leadership had not fulfilled its expected role since the onset of the political crisis in the state.
Governor Fubara made these remarks while hosting a delegation from the Senate Committee on Privatization and Commercialization, led by Chairman Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Fubara emphasized that the state was focusing on truth and integrity over party politics, and that Rivers State would no longer be constrained by party affiliations but would instead firmly stand to defend democracy.
“In our state today, we are no longer doing party. We are doing a movement, so you don’t blame me if I don’t go to the side of the party too much,” Fubara said. “The party has failed us here, so what we are doing here is to stand with our two legs on the soil of Rivers State, so that we can defend democracy.”
In April, 60 PDP lawmakers in the House of Representatives called for the resignation of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, for failing to address the political crisis in Rivers between Fubara and his estranged mentor, Nyesom Wike. The lawmakers, led by PDP member Ikenga Ugochinyere, accused Damagum of siding with Wike and working for the All Progressives Congress (APC), which appointed Wike as the FCT Minister.
“Have Nigerians wondered why Damagum kept quiet while 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly elected on the platform of PDP left the party?” Ugochinyere questioned. “He kept quiet while they were threatening to impeach a governor in his party. Nigerians will be shocked to hear that Damagum was consulted and is fully aware of the entire details of the plots to impeach the Rivers State Governor, and he gave his approval to the plot, yet he refers to himself as a chairman of a party. The shamelessness in this entire episode is limitless.”
Meanwhile, Senator Kalu pledged to meet with President Bola Tinubu to help resolve the political crisis in Rivers State. The former Governor of Abia State also promised to engage with Nyesom Wike regarding the matter.
“I want to plead with you to abide by the rules of the land. I plead with you to abide by what the constitution says,” Kalu said. “A few of us here have very good access to President Bola Tinubu, and we are also going to plead with him seriously to see how he can address everything happening here. We will also find time to speak to former Governor Nyesom Wike. So please, Your Excellency, you look like a very peaceful man. Your face shows a very peaceful man. There is nothing like peace. Let people who are benefiting from this problem stop benefiting from it.”
