Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has doubted whether he was really a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a party he recently dumped for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Fubara said this while addressing journalists after a meeting with the Professor Nentawe Yilwatda-led APC National Working Committee (NWC) at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday evening.
The governor indicated that he never felt fully integrated in the PDP and bore the brunt of its internal crisis.
“If I have to be honest, was I really a member of the PDP? I wasn’t. Whatever I suffered during the political crisis, 90 per cent of it was imposed on me by the party. I was just there… at the balcony, I wasn’t inside the house; I was outside,” Fubara said.
He said his entry into the APC would now provide leadership and direction for the party in Rivers State, setting the stage for unity and political consolidation ahead of future elections.
Fubara pledged Rivers State’s full political support for President Bola Tinubu and described his move to the ruling party as both natural and long overdue.
On his mission to the APC headquarters, the governor said: “I can’t belong to a house without first coming into the house and understanding how it is arranged.
“I felt it would be for me to visit the National Secretariat today to familiarise myself with the members and the operations. This way, when I come here next time, it won’t feel as if I am a new person.
“I am here this evening to assure you that I have come in, and we will work together to ensure that this party becomes greater than it is.
“The greatness we all desire from this party is the success of Mr. President. We cannot grow or expand if Mr. President is not succeeding.”
Fubara added that his administration was already delivering results in Rivers State, which, according to him, had translated into growing grassroots support.
“I can assure you that we are already showing evidence of success in my state through what we are delivering and the number of people affirming their support. We are now standing with Mr. President.
“On behalf of the good people of Rivers State, my supportive members of the National Assembly, and members of the State Assembly who are with us, I can assure you that your new home is Rivers state.
“I am now in my father’s house, but it will also be proper for the father to come to his son’s house, so that the people of Rivers State will know that this is truly a complete process,” he said, pledging the “total support of my government and the people of Rivers state,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the APC leadership, the national secretary, Ajibola Basiru said Fubara’s defection iwa a major boost to the APC’s dominance in the South-South.
“As a party, we are very happy that you have decided to join because, with your orientation, you are progressive and true, and you complete the circle for us in the South-South region..The geopolitical zone is the first that is completely APC.
“If the strength of our party was at Power 50 before, it is now much better it has become Power 100.Elections are not won on Twitter or in the pages of newspapers. Elections and politics are very serious business,” he said, adding that Tinubu’s leadership had positioned the party for victory in 2027.
“Our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is not just a good administrator; he is a corporate leader and a politician. Coming fully to join him in the renewal agenda, as the day goes by, APC 2027 victory is assured,” he said.
