Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has responded to Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State over his recent defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that the governor — not the PDP — is responsible for his own political fate.
The party said Fubara’s move further confirms Nigeria’s dangerous drift toward a one-party state, warning that the trend poses a grave threat to the country’s democracy.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP described the governor’s defection as “unfortunate and entirely self-inflicted.”
The statement read: “This news, as pitiful as it is, exemplifies the old legal maxim, volenti non fit injuria — meaning ‘to one who is willing, no harm can be done.’”
The PDP argued that Governor Fubara knowingly made political choices that led him to this point and that neither the party nor any stakeholder should be blamed for the outcome.
“Everyone who has followed developments from the beginning will recall that the governor willingly travelled the path that brought him to this destination,” the party stated.
The PDP added that despite the intense pressure surrounding the Rivers political crisis, the governor should acknowledge the unwavering support he received from the PDP, civil society groups and ordinary Nigerians who defended him until he “capitulated.”
“Whilst a person at the crossroads of existential threats may suffer 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,” the statement said.
The party further cautioned Fubara against showing sympathy toward those who, according to it, “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,” Ememobong added.
Although noting that it “pities” the governor, the PDP said it wishes him well.
The party stressed that the Rivers episode underscores a broader democratic dysfunction in Nigeria, where individuals overshadow institutions and deploy federal might to subdue political opponents.
“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 squeeze political life out of their opponents,” the PDP declared.
It accused the APC of systematically shrinking the political space and pursuing electoral dominance at the expense of democratic competition.
“Finally, we reiterate to Nigerians and the global community that with the ruling party’s unrelenting push toward a one-party state and the constriction of the political space, democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria. Everyone must rise to oppose this ignoble march toward electoral authoritarianism,” the PDP warned.
