Rivers crisis: opposition party woos Fubara ahead of 2027 gov poll
The Action Peoples Party has called on the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to seek re-election under its platform in 2027, even as it said the governor neither owns the party nor is a member of the fold.
The state APP Chairman, Sunny Wokekoro, stated this when the immediate past leadership of the party in the state led by Kenneth Atata paid him a solidarity visit at the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Saturday.
Wokekoro said the party would make a statement with the October 5 local government elections in the state, saying it’s determined to change the narrative in the state.
While noting that he is a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party, he, however, said the PDP is no longer a viable option for any politician who means well for the state or the country, pointing out that the country’s main opposition party has lost its relevance in the scheme of things.
Wokekoro said, “I was a founding member of the PDP. I started by being a G-34 coordinator in Port Harcourt. I was a foundation member of that party. (With) the recent events in the country regarding the party’s administration, that party (PDP) is not supposed to house or to still retain any person who has morals. Any person who has integrity should have left that party by now.
“There is one impression I must have to correct in this gathering; the impression that Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a member of this party or that he owns this party. This party has been in existence way back since 2017. It predates any of us who have just joined the party.”
The state chairman stressed that “no one can claim to be the owner of this party. And the truth remains that as I speak to you today, Siminalayi Fubara is not a member of our party. However, a good party administrator goes out there looking for the best materials to fill in for elective positions. We are going to do that, not just me, but all of us are going to do that,” adding that “we are going to persuade our governor to, if possible during his re-election, APP should be his platform for that re-election.”
Wokekoro added that not only Fubara is enjoined to join the APP, but other well-meaning members of the State and National Houses of Assembly.
He urged the party faithful to remain committed to propel the party to greater heights in the state and across the country.
In his remark, the APP National Chairman, Uchenna Nnadi, lauded Wokekoro for his role in bringing the party to the limelight in the state, noting, “I want to commend the new leadership of the Action Peoples Party in Rivers State led by able and amiable chairman, Sunny Wokekoro. Within a short while, you have made us proud, and within a short while, our party is being recognised nationally.”
Our correspondent reports that speculations were rife that Fubara may defect to the APP following the alleged hijack of the PDP by his predecessor and estrange political godfather, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The speculation became louder when a section of the secretariat of the APP along the GRA axis of Port Harcourt was bombed, shattering doors, windows, and other property on Monday, August 12, 2023.
However, Fubara, while hosting the PDP’s Board of Trustees, led by Adolphus Wabara, at the Government House, Port Harcourt debunked the speculated defection and pledged his membership to the PDP.
