APC woos Fubara as Rivers emergency rule expires

Mr Nwauju wooed Mr Fubara to join the APC, stating that the members would gladly receive the governor into the party

A faction of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the suspended Governor of Rivers, Siminalayi Fubara to join the APC as the emergency rules in the state comes to an end.

The factional APC spokesperson in Rivers, Darlington Nwauju, made the call on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

President Tinubu had suspended Mr Fubara, including the Rivers legislature, for six months in March and appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired air vice marsha, as the sole administrator of the oil-rich state.

The emergency rule was a fall out of the protracted political crisis in the state caused by the fight between Mr Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, the minister of the FCT.

Mr Wike had announced during the last month local elections in Rivers that the emergency rule would end by 18 September.

‘We would gladly receive the governor into our party’

Mr Nwauju said in the Channels TV’s programme that the APC members would gladly receive Mr Fubara into the party.

He said if he were Mr Fubara he would immediately announce his defection to the APC on his return on Thursday.

When asked if Mr Fubara would lead the APC in Rivers if he defected, Mr Nwauju responded that it would be “automatic”.

“By the convention of our party, if he joins the All Progressives Congress, he becomes the leader of the party,” he added.

On how Ibas ran the state

Mr Nwauju also spoke about the administration of Mr Ibas, who ran the affairs of the state for the past six months.

He said the APC has not officially demanded that Mr Ibas give an account of his stewardship for the past six months.

“The budget approval he got was from the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There is a committee from the House of Representatives overseeing the period of emergency.

“I do expect that the committee should be able to do due diligence, come up with that report, and tell Nigerians what they found out. It is one of their core mandates in the business of legislations and lawmaking,” he stated.

Rivers APC crisis

The APC in Rivers has been battling an intense leadership crisis.

Two factions are laying claim to the leadership of the party in the state.

Tony Okocha leads one faction, while Emeka Beke leads the other where Mr Nwauju belongs.

While Mr Okocha’s faction has the backing of the APC national leadership and Mr Wike, Mr Beke’s faction enjoys the support of a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, who is now in the African Democratic Congress, where a coalition of opposition politicians are working against President Tinubu’s re-election.

Mr Okocha was elected chairperson of the APC in Rivers at the party’s congress in November 2024.

But a high court in the state, in December 2024, nullified his election as the APC chairperson.

The judge, Godwin Obomanu, ruled that the congress was held in utter disrespect of a court order issued on 21 November 2024, which ordered that the congress be halted.