Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State says he would have lost his position as governor if not for President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.
Mr Fubara disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting on Tuesday while announcing his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
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He explained that his defection to the APC was to fully support APC’s Mr Tinubu, who he said has been instrumental to his continued stay as Rivers governor.
Mr Fubara suggested that he received no protection except from Mr Tinubu during political crises in Rivers State triggered by the feud between the governor and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
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“We have the (Tinubu’s) full support; the positive nod to leave (PDP) where we are and go to (the APC), because we didn’t get any protection (during the political crises).
“The reason why we are still standing is because of that place (APC),” he said.
Continuing, the governor said: “The truth is, without Mr President, there wouldn’t be any His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara. It would have been former (Governor Siminalayi Fubara).”
Although Mr Fubara did not mention names, political observers say the governor appeared to be referring to the PDP’s inability to protect him during the political crises in Rivers.
Background
Before now, there had been political crises in Rivers State, which were triggered by the feud between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Mr Wike.
Messrs Fubara and Wike’s face-off stemmed from their struggle for control of the political structures in Rivers.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Fubara defects to APC after meeting with Tinubu
The Fubara-Wike feud initially split the state assembly into two factions. While 27 lawmakers led by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, were loyal to Mr Wike, a four-member faction of the assembly was loyal to Governor Fubara.
The political crisis, on 18 March, resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers by President Tinubu, who suspended Mr Fubara, his deputy and all elected officials in the state for six months.
In June, President Tinubu brokered a peace deal between the suspended governor and the FCT minister, which paved the way for the termination of the emergency rule and the lifting of the suspension on the elected officials.
Mr Fubara and the state’s assembly members resumed duties after 18 September, following the president’s declaration of an end to the emergency rule in the South-southern state.
