‘We were deceived’ — Rivers PDP chair blasts Fubara over defection to APC

A Factional Caretaker Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in Rivers State, Dr. Nname Ewor, has lamented that the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, deceived them into believing that he was capable of wresting political control from the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, only to dump the PDP in the middle of a political sea.

Ewor also said rather than follow the path of peace after the end of the emergency rule, so as to ensure smooth running of government, the Governor was boasting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not only force the State House of Assembly members to pass the budget, but he will also force Wike to work for his (Fubara) reelection.

The PDP Chairman, who addressed journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, also demanded that the Rivers people should be aware of the full content of the agreement reached before the emergency rule was lifted by the President.

“The mandate he (Fubara) is holding was given to him by Rivers people, and all his actions and inactions affect all those whose mandate he is holding. Therefore, it is incumbent on him at this material time to fully disclose to Rivers people all the agreement he entered into in a peace deal brokered by the president of the Federation before the Emergency Rule was lifted,” Ewor said.

He said; “First, you will agree with me that the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, was elected by Rivers People for a period of four years. Within his first one year in office, there was a disagreement between him and the members of the State House of Assembly. This disagreement led to the bombing of the hallowed Chambers of the Assembly. The events of this disagreement and bombing of the Assembly led to a peace pact brokered by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. This agreement broke down, plunging the state into a protracted political crises, cumulating into a declaration of a State of Emergency in March 2025.

“While this disagreement was on, a lot of us were deceived into believing so many things that were not true. In other words, the governor deceived us. Rather than give us the true pictures of things, we were led with propaganda and lies, making us to believe that the governor will wrestle political control from Wike.

“During the period of the Emergency Rule, another round of peace pact was brokered by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Unlike the previous peace pact, where an eight-point agenda was signed, the current peace pact was not documented and Rivers people were not on the know. Again the peace agreement between the Governor, the FCT Minister and the State House of Assembly collapsed. This led to the defection of the Governor from the PDP to the APC in December 2025. As a political party, we challenged the Declaration of the State of Emergency in the Supreme Court to protect our mandate. Today, the Governor has taken our mandate to the All Progressive Congress, which with all intent and purpose is not proper.

“Rather than follow the path of peace so as to ensure smooth running of government, the Governor has been boasting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not only force the State House of Assembly members to pass the budget, the President will also force Wike to work for his (Fubara) reelection.

“The second issue I want to educate the public is the Peoples Democratic Party PDP elective Convention 2025 Ibadan. Our Constitution provides for a National Convention every four years. First to elect new executives to pilot the affairs of the Party over the next four years. Second, to formulate policies to guide the operations of the party. As at the time of the Convention in November 2025, our Governor, was still a member of our dear Party and one of our Governor. All the activities leading to the Convention happened under his watch and direction. Rivers State Delegation to the Convention was led by my humble self and we fully participated in the Convention. But for personal reasons not known to me, The Governor did not attend the convention. It was at the Ibadan Convention that the Rivers State Executive Committee of our dear Party was dissolved.

“To me, asking us to go to Ibadan when he knew he won’t be attending the convention amounts to double standard, which is not an attribute of a honourable man. Most importantly, after the Governor had boasted that he would take over the PDP structure in the State, could it be that it was when he saw that PDP had become a no-go-area, that he quickly defected to APC? We need explanations.

“The third issue is the Constitution of the State Caretaker Committee. Following the dissolution of the State Executive Committee of our dear Party, at the Ibadan Convention, the National Working Committee (NWC) of our dear Party in December 2025 constituted the current Caretaker Committee of our dear party led by my humble self. Members into the Caretaker Committee were duly nominated by the leadership of our great Party in the State including, Prince Uche Secondus, a former National Chairman of our great Party PDP, Rt. Hon Austen Opara, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abiye Sekibo, a former Minister, Celestine Omeha, a former Governor of our dear state and Senator Lee Maeba, a former Senator of the Federal Republic, including my humble self, Alalibo Graham Braide and Dr. Field Nkor, who came from the Governor’s team. Today the Caretaker Committee is subsisting. Although the outcome of the Ibadan Convention is subject of litigation as we speak. But all the actions remain valid until the Court says otherwise.

“The fourth and final issue is the Local Government thank you visit by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Over the past one week, the FCT Minister has embarked in a thank you visit to the 23 Local Government Areas of the State. His intention, according to him is to thank the people of the State for their Support during the 2023 General Elections for the Peoples Democratic Party, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic. He also used the occasion to solicit for their continued support. During his speeches in the different Local Government Areas, the FCT Minister made some remarks about our Governor and he has being very consistent about it i.e. Keeping to Agreements etc. the FCT Minister said, before the Emergency rule in Rivers State was lifted, that the Governor Agreed not to run for a second term, to reinstate Ohna Sergeant Awuse as Chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers, drop Tammy Danagogo as Secretary to the State Government, and Edison Ehie as Chief of Staff etc. That the Governor has refused to keep all the terms of the agreement.

“These issues should not have bothered us because the Governor is no longer a member of our political party, as to the question of a second term, first it is exclusive to the Governor, Second, and that of a political party. But as citizens of the State, and Stakeholders, who are directly impacted by every activity in the State, we therefore demand that, the Governor Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, address Rivers people, Nigerians and indeed the world at large on all the agreements reached with the FCT Minister, the State House of Assembly, in a peace deal brokered by the President.

“While we agree that the issue of a second term is exclusive to the Governor and his Party All Progressive Congress, Rivers people require to know the full content of the agreement reached before Mr President to enable them make informed decision. The Governor is the Governor of the State. The mandate he is holding was given to him by Rivers people, and all his actions and inactions affects all those whose mandate he is holding. Therefore it is incumbent on him at this material time to fully disclose to Rivers people all the agreement he entered into in a peace deal brokered by the president of the Federation before the Emergency Rule was lifted.

“This issues bothers on our corporate interest, welfare and peaceful governance of the State. Therefore, as a political Party and citizens of Rivers State we demand that the Governor fully and completely disclose all the agreements reached before the president. This is the only way he can be accountable and responsible to the people of Rivers State who in the first instance gave him the mandate for a period of four years and are likely to renew the mandate or otherwise in the 2027 General Elections.”

The Factional Caretaker Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in Rivers State, Dr. Nname Ewor who then aligned himself to the course of the Honorable Minister of the FCT, also declared his support to the reelection bid of the president in 2027.

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