The crisis affecting the Rivers State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party has intensified after the factional chairman, Dr Robinson Ewor, openly declared his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for re-election in 2027.
Ewor explained that he decided to work in alignment with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr Nyesom Wike, to help secure victory for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 election.
He expressed concern that the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, misled members of the PDP in the state by giving the impression that he was capable of taking full political control of the state from Wike, only to later abandon the party midway and defect to the APC.
The former lawmaker recalled that, late last year, in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt, he disclosed that he learnt through information available to him that the governor was considering resigning from the PDP and moving to the APC, adding that “wherever the governor goes to I will not follow him”.
He stated: “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 agreements he entered into in a peace deal brokered by the president before the Emergency Rule was lifted. There was a disagreement between the governor 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 the bombing of the Assembly led to a peace pact brokered by the President.
“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 picture of things, we were fed with propaganda and lies, making us believe that the governor would wrest political control from Wike.
“During the period of the Emergency Rule, another round of peace pact was brokered by the President. Unlike the previous peace pact, where an eight-point agenda was signed, the current peace pact was not documented, and Rivers people were not in 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 is not proper.
“Rather than follow the path of peace 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, but the President will also force Wike to work for his (Fubara’s) reelection.”
Ewor further stated that Governor Fubara was fully aware of the PDP Ibadan 2025 convention. He explained that all preparations leading up to the convention took place under the governor’s supervision and direction.
He added that the Rivers State delegation to the convention was led by him, and they participated fully in the exercise. However, for reasons unknown to him, the governor chose not to attend. He noted that it was at the Ibadan convention that the Rivers State Executive Committee of the party was dissolved.
He said that, in his view, asking members to attend the Ibadan convention despite already deciding not to be present amounted to double standards, which he described as unbecoming of an honourable leader.
He questioned whether, after boasting that he would take control of the PDP structure in the state, the governor eventually realised that the party had become unsuitable for his plans and therefore quickly defected to the APC, insisting that explanations were needed.
He added that the Minister of the FCT also appealed for continued support while speaking across several Local Government Areas, and that, during those engagements, the minister consistently made remarks about the governor relating to “keeping to agreements etc.”
According to him, the minister stated that, before the lifting of the Emergency Rule in Rivers State, the governor agreed not to seek a second term, to reinstate Ohna Sergeant Awuse as Chairman of the Rivers State Traditional Rulers, to remove Tammy Danagogo as Secretary to the State Government, and to remove Edison Ehie as Chief of Staff, among other matters. However, he said the governor failed to honour these agreed terms.
