PDP has called Rivers Governor Fubara’s defection to APC a “self-inflicted injury,” urging Nigerians to resist authoritarianism.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the defection of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to the ruling party, describing the move as a “self-inflicted injury” and a voluntary departure with no grounds for complaint.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the Governor “willingly travelled the path” that led to his defection and cannot accuse the party or any group of abandoning or failing to protect him. Ememobong added that the party, civil society organisations, and Nigerians had actively supported Fubara throughout the political crisis leading up to his decision.

The statement cautioned against what it called “Stockholm Syndrome,” warning the Governor against developing undue attachment to his new political allies. Despite the disappointment, the PDP extended well-wishes to Fubara.

The statement read, “The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has received the news of the formal defection of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara the Governor of Rivers State from our Party to the ruling party. This news, as pitiful as it is, is an exemplar of the old legal maxim Volenti non fit injuria, meaning ‘to one who is willing, no harm can be done’.

“Everyone who has followed the developments that culminated in this uneventful defection, will recall that the Governor willingly travelled the path that took him to this destination. Having done so voluntarily, he cannot turn around and accuse our party, or any other person or group of abandoning or not protecting him. Whilst a person who is at a crossroad of threats of existential proportion, will most likely suffer from temporary amnesia caused by trauma, the Governor should have nothing less than praise for our party, civil society organisations, and all Nigerians who freely stood up in his defence since this crisis started until he capitulated. It is our prayer that the Governor should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor. In all, despite these, we pity the Governor and wish him well.”

Ememobong also criticised the broader political environment, describing it as a “testament to the dysfunctional nature of our democracy,” where individuals, stronger than institutions, manipulate federal power to suppress opponents. He warned that such actions threaten democratic norms and called for unified condemnation from all well-meaning citizens.

“Furthermore, the Rivers situation is a testament to the dysfunctional nature of our democracy, where individuals are bigger and stronger than institutions and can use the apparatus of the Federal Government to obfuscate political life out of their opponents and bring them to their knees. Democracy is terribly threatened by acts of this kind, and all well-meaning people should unify in condemning this progressive decline of democratic norms.

“Finally, we reiterate to Nigerians and the global community that with the unrelenting disposition of the ruling party towards the attainment of a one-party state, and the constriction of the political space, democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria. Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble trip toward electoral authoritarianism.”

PDP Reacts To Fubara’s Defection To APC, Describes Move As ‘Self-Inflicted Injury’

PDP Reacts To Fubara’s Defection To APC, Describes Move As ‘Self-Inflicted Injury’