Rivers politics took another sharp turn on Friday as sixteen members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Speaker Martins Amaewhule, abandoned Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s camp and crossed to the All Progressives Congress. Their defection came despite recent efforts at reconciliation within the state’s troubled political structure.
The lawmakers announced their move during plenary, citing sharp divisions in the Peoples Democratic Party as the cause of their exit. Amaewhule said he had joined the APC to support the President, adding that the nation needed leaders willing to work with the presidency in the interest of stability and development.
Speaking after inspecting an interchange project linking Maitama, Gishiri, Jahi, and Gwarimpa in Abuja, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, said the defectors were within their rights to leave. He described the situation as an expected outcome of the party’s unresolved disputes.
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Wike noted that the PDP in Rivers had become split into factions, which provided a constitutional basis for lawmakers who wished to move to another party. He added that although the defectors did not inform him beforehand, they were free to make their choice.
He stressed that not all the lawmakers had left, pointing out that about ten still remained. According to him, his camp would continue to work with those who stayed loyal to the PDP in order to keep the party active in the state’s political space.
Wike reaffirmed his own commitment to the PDP and urged the party’s leadership to address its internal problems before more ground was lost.
He said the party must rebuild unity if it hoped to serve as a meaningful opposition in the state, adding that those who remained would continue to work together.
