Defecting to APC Was an ‘Easy Choice,’ I Was Only on PDP’s ‘Balcony’ — Fubara

• Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has described his defection from the PDP to the APC as an “easy choice,” saying he was never fully part of the opposition party and merely watched its affairs from the “balcony.”

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has explained that his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was an “easy choice,” revealing that he was never fully integrated into the PDP while he belonged to the party.

The governor made the remarks on Thursday during an interaction with journalists at the APC national headquarters in Abuja, days after his official defection to the ruling party.

Fubara’s move follows months of intense political turmoil in Rivers State, sparked by a prolonged power struggle between him and his former political benefactor and immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike, over control of the PDP structure in the oil-rich state.

The crisis culminated in the suspension of the governor and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. Fubara was later reinstated in September before formally defecting to the APC on Tuesday, December 9, 2025—a development widely regarded as a major political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Several key members of the Rivers State House of Assembly also defected alongside the governor.

Following his defection, Fubara declared himself the number one leader of the APC in Rivers State and pledged to unite party members to advance development in the state and across Nigeria.

According to him, “When you say I am a new member of the progressive family, that is correct, but I have always been a progressive at heart. We now have a direction. Maybe before, we didn’t have a leader or a governor as the head of the party. Now that I am a member, I will ensure that I bring everybody together for more unity and progress of the party in the state.”

He further described his decision to join the APC as straightforward and symbolic.

“I think my transition was one of the easiest things I have done in my life. I call it easy because saying thank you is very simple. Showing appreciation and gratitude is easy. My joining the All Progressives Congress is to say thank you to Mr President and to join hands with other progressives to develop my state and Nigeria at large,” he said.

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Reflecting on his time in the PDP, the governor stated that he never truly belonged to the party in practice.

“If I have to be honest, was I really a member of the PDP? I wasn’t. Whatever I suffered during the political crisis, 90 per cent of it was imposed on me by the party,” Fubara said.

He added, “I was in my former party just nominally. During the crisis, you couldn’t associate me with any group. I was just—let me say—on the balcony. I wasn’t inside the house; I was outside, on the balcony.”

With Fubara now firmly in the APC, uncertainty remains over whether his former ally, Nyesom Wike, and lawmakers loyal to him will work harmoniously with the governor going forward.

The defection has also reignited debate over whether the PDP’s long-standing dominance in Rivers State is coming to an end.