By Luminous Jannamike
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic equilibrium, saying the move accelerates the country’s drift toward a ‘one-party state.’
The party argued that the political upheaval in Rivers State reflects a deeper erosion of democratic norms and the growing influence of powerful actors over state institutions.
In a statement on Tuesday night signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP described the governor’s exit as both unfortunate and entirely self-inflicted.
“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’,” Ememobong said.
The party maintained that Governor Fubara knowingly pursued the political choices that culminated in his defection, insisting that neither the PDP nor any stakeholder should be blamed for the consequences.
It noted that observers familiar with the saga from the beginning would recall that the governor’s own decisions, not the party’s, steered him to this moment.
“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,” the party stated.
The PDP added that despite the intense pressure surrounding the Rivers crisis, the governor should not overlook the support he received from the party, civil society groups and ordinary Nigerians who defended him until he eventually backed down.
“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,” Ememobong said.
The party also cautioned the governor against becoming sympathetic toward those who, it said, coerced him onto his current path.
“It is our prayer that the Governor should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor,” the PDP spokesman prayed.
Although noting that it ‘pities’ the Governor, the PDP said it wishes him well regardless.
The party further stressed that the Rivers episode highlights a broader democratic dysfunction in Nigeria, one in which individuals overshadow institutions and leverage federal power to subdue political opponents.
According to the statement, this trend threatens the strength and survival of multiparty democracy.
“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,” the party declared.
Reiterating long-standing concerns, the PDP accused the ruling APC of working systematically to shrink the political space and secure electoral dominance at the expense of democratic competition.
“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,” the PDP declared.
The party urged citizens, democratic institutions and the international community to remain vigilant as Nigeria navigates what it described as a dangerous turning point in its political development.
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