Fubara to APC: PDP says its ‘Self-Inflicted Injury’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s rumoured move to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a “self-inflicted injury,” warning that such a defection would accelerate Nigeria’s slide into a one-party state and endanger its democratic balance.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, asserted that the political turmoil in Rivers State is symptomatic of a broader erosion of democratic principles and the unchecked power of certain individuals over state institutions.

The PDP characterized the governor’s potential departure as both regrettable and entirely of his own making. “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 stated.

The party argued that Governor Fubara consciously made the political decisions that led to his current predicament, insisting that neither the PDP nor other stakeholders bear responsibility for the outcome. “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 statement read.

The PDP also reminded the governor of the significant support he received from the party, civil society organizations, and the Nigerian public, who rallied to his defense during the crisis before he ultimately “capitulated.”

“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,” Ememobong added.

In a pointed warning, the party expressed hope that the governor would not develop an affinity for those it claims forced him into his current political corner. “It is our prayer that the Governor should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor,” the spokesman said.

While expressing “pity” for the governor’s situation, the PDP said it wished him well in his future endeavours.

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The party framed the Rivers crisis as a clear example of a dysfunctional democracy where powerful figures can manipulate federal authority to crush political rivals. “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 PDP declared.

Reaffirming its long-held position, the PDP accused the ruling APC of a deliberate campaign to diminish political competition and establish a one-party system. It called on all Nigerians and the international community to resist this trend.

“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… democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria,” the statement concluded. “Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble trip toward electoral authoritarianism.”