Suspended Rivers Gov Fubara gets fresh condition to avoid impeachment

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara

Suspended Rivers Gov Fubara gets fresh condition to avoid impeachment

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has made clear that it will not tolerate political “sinners” seeking refuge under its banner, even as suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara reportedly eyes defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Sir Tony Okocha, chairman of the APC’s Rivers State Caretaker Committee, spoke on Tuesday in Abuja about the implications of Fubara’s recent Sallah visit to President Bola Tinubu.

Addressing questions on whether Fubara’s homage at the Presidential Villa signaled an impending switch of allegiance, Okocha insisted that the governor’s suspension—and the state of emergency declared in Rivers—stemmed solely from his alleged misconduct. “If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with the state of emergency in Rivers State. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party,” Okocha said. “You will jump into APC today and your sins are forgiven? That cannot be true. It won’t work that way. Then, it would have made APC a dumping ground for people who commit misdemeanour and believe that by and large we will come for reconciliation. No. It is not true.”

Okocha emphasized that any defection must follow established rules. “He will enter the party through the door not the window. Not only him, there are procedures for defection to another party and if he claims to be a politician, he would know that all politics is local—he would try and defect in his ward. From there it will come to us and my ward chairmen. I have asked; nobody brought any information about him entering APC.”

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When pressed about Fubara’s meeting with President Tinubu during the Sallah festivities, Okocha downplayed any concern. “How can I be worried that somebody visited my president? Don’t forget it was also the season of Sallah. Yesterday, I read somewhere that the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Osoba, paid Sallah homage and I don’t know whether you also saw the President in the company of Chief EN Wike. So, we cannot be worried; we cannot gag the President to say you will see Mr A, you will not see Mr B. Perhaps, if I had made an application to see Mr President, I would have been there with my team.”

Okocha also dismissed speculation about reconciliation efforts between Fubara and the APC. “I am not a prophet of doom. I can only say to you, with the benefit of knowledge, that I am not aware of any reconciliatory move. No reconciliation is going on; is it going to talk to Mr President? But Mr President has said go and make peace. No attempt at that. I am not aware of any reconciliatory moves by Fubara and his team.”