By Ibisaki Willie-Wills
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, will be remembered as a turning point in Rivers State politics. It was the day the state Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara made the most consequential decision of his political journey, dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This was not a routine defection. It was a survival move, a power recalibration, and a signal that the political ground in Rivers has fundamentally shifted.
More than a mere change of party colours, Fubara’s exit from the PDP represents a calculated response to mounting political pressure and institutional isolation.
It underscores a stark political reality: in Nigeria’s power architecture, alignment with the centre often determines political survival at the subnational level.
The decision followed a closed-door meeting with stakeholders at the Government House, Port Harcourt, and was deliberately cast as an act taken in the interest of state stability and protection, and not personal ambition.
Central to that decision was the governor’s consultation with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a day earlier. Fubara was unequivocal: the visit was not courtesy, but strategy.
“I went to see Mr. President, not for a personal visit but for a state interest consultation,” he said, words that captured the gravity of the moment”, he affirmed.
More striking was the governor’s blunt admission that the PDP failed to protect him. In a political environment as volatile as Rivers where power struggles are intense and alliances fragile, protection is not a casual word.
It connotes institutional backing, federal leverage, and the political oxygen required for a governor to function. Critics in the PDP had dismissed the defection as self-inflicted, but the truth is harsher: a governor isolated from the centre is a governor at risk.
Fubara left little room for ambiguity when he acknowledged President Tinubu’s decisive role in his continued leadership. “Without Mr. President, there wouldn’t be any His Excellency Siminalayi. It would have been a former governor,” he stated.
The candour was disarming, and instructive. It stripped away political pretence and laid bare the centrality of federal power in Nigeria’s political equation.
His reference to receiving a “positive nod” before leaving the PDP further confirms that this was neither an impulsive act nor a lone gamble, but a deliberate, coordinated realignment.
Crucially, the governor did not defect alone. By moving with key stakeholders and loyal supporters, Fubara converted a personal decision into a collective shift. This strategy minimized vulnerability and strengthened his negotiating position within the APC.
His reasoning was brutally practical: “We cannot support Mr. President in isolation. We cannot give him backyard support”, he reflected.
In Nigeria’s party-centric system, power is not exercised from the shadows. As he put it plainly, “When you dey support President Tinubu, no dey follow corner-corner.”
What Move Portends for Rivers?
First, Fubara’s defection redraws Rivers’ political map. By aligning with the ruling party at the centre, the APC has made its most significant inroad yet into a state long considered a PDP fortress.
This move weakens the PDP’s grip, collapses old alliances, and triggers a realignment of political forces ahead of 2027. Fubara has already made his intentions clear: Rivers will be mobilised for President Tinubu.
Whether through control of state structures, influence over succession, or electoral strategy, the battle lines have shifted. Rivers politics has entered a new, more competitive phase.
Second, the defection recalibrates federal-state relations. Alignment with the centre positions Rivers for smoother cooperation on security, infrastructure, and development.
For a state that is critical to Nigeria’s oil economy, improved federal synergy could translate into increased investor confidence and economic stability.
Fubara’s insistence on avoiding “mistakes” and securing “protection” reflects a clear expectation: political alignment must deliver tangible dividends.
Third, the governor’s assurance to leaders and stakeholders, “I have not let you down before, and I will not let you down now” is both a promise and a test. Rivers people will judge this defection not by its political logic, but by its outcomes.
Peace, accelerated development, and effective governance will be the real benchmarks. Fubara now carries the burden of proof, not just within the APC hierarchy, but before the people whose mandate he holds.
Rivers people may therefore expect good governance, accelerated project execution, and visible efforts to consolidate legitimacy under the new political banner.
Ultimately, Fubara’s defection is a story of power, pragmatism, and preservation. Whether it ushers in a more stable political era or merely pauses Rivers’ long tradition of turbulence will depend on how this new alignment is translated into governance.
One fact, however, is beyond dispute: Rivers politics has entered a new chapter, one defined by decisive choices and far-reaching consequences.
And if history is any guide, Fubara has not let Rivers people down before, and he will not either let them down now.
Ibisaki Wille-Wills is a journalist with Radio Nigeria and a correspondent in the Rivers State Government House.
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