Why I dumped PDP for APC – Fubara
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has officially left the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress.
He made the announcement during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
The move came shortly after he met privately with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
He arrived at the Villa in the evening and was seen heading toward the President’s office after Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru had gone in for a separate meeting.
During the gathering in Port Harcourt, Fubara explained that he and his team could not continue to back the President from the sidelines.
He stated that proper support for the President required openly identifying with him, and this led to the decision to join the APC.
“We can’t support President (Tinubu) if we don’t fully identify with him, not just backyard support. Our decision this evening is that we are moving to the APC”, he said.
His defection follows a long period of unrest in Rivers politics.
His clash with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, began in late 2023 and escalated into an attempt by pro-Wike lawmakers to remove him from office.
Tension increased when part of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex was set on fire on October 29, 2023, hours before the lawmakers were expected to act against him.
By March 2025, the crisis forced President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the state.
Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected lawmakers were suspended for six months, while former Chief of Naval Staff Ibok Ekwe Ibas took over as sole administrator.
They were reinstated in September 2025.
Political observers believe the governor’s switch to the APC is connected to the weakening of his base in the PDP after the long conflict.
Fubara began his public service career in the state finance department, rose to become accountant-general in 2020, won the PDP primary in 2022 with support from Wike, and later secured victory in the 2023 governorship election with a wide margin.
