The PDP says Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara willingly caused his political crisis and cannot accuse the party of abandoning him after defecting to the APC, warning that democracy is under threat
PDP Mocks Fubara After Defection to APC, Says Governor ‘Walked Himself Into Trouble’
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday reacted to the defection of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it feels “nothing but pity” for the governor who, according to the party, “willingly walked the path that led him to his present destination.”
In a strongly worded statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP said it wished the governor well but insisted that he could not accuse the party—or anyone else—of abandoning him.
According to the statement, “The National Working Committee of our great party received the news of the formal defection of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, from our party to the ruling party. This news, as pitiful as it is, is an exemplar of the old legal maxim volenti non fit injuria, meaning ‘to one who is willing, no harm can be done.’”
The party argued that the governor’s moves throughout the crisis showed he voluntarily embraced the choices that eventually led him out of the PDP.
“Everyone who has followed the developments that culminated in this uneventful defection will recall that the governor 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 not protecting him,” the PDP said.
The statement further suggested that the governor may be suffering the effects of political trauma.
“Whilst a person who is at a crossroad of threats of existential proportion will most likely suffer from temporary amnesia caused by trauma, the governor should have nothing less than praise for our party, civil society organisations, and all Nigerians who freely stood up in his defence since this crisis started until he capitulated,” it added.
Taking a swipe at Fubara’s newfound alliance with the APC, the party warned:
“It is our prayer that the governor should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor.”
Beyond Fubara’s defection, the PDP expressed deep concern about what it described as the shrinking of Nigeria’s democratic space, noting that frequent defections to the ruling party were becoming a dangerous pattern.
“The Rivers situation is a testament to the dysfunctional nature of our democracy, where individuals are bigger and stronger than institutions and can use the apparatus of the Federal Government to obfuscate political life out of their opponents and bring them to their knees,” the statement read.
The PDP warned that the country was heading toward authoritarianism.
“Democracy is terribly threatened by acts of this kind. With the ruling party’s unrelenting drive toward a one-party state and the constriction of the political space, democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria. Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble trip toward electoral authoritarianism.” Read More
