The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted sharply to the defection of Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, describing his move to the ruling party as a “self-inflicted injury” and a tragic illustration of Nigeria’s weakening democratic institutions.
In a strongly worded statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong on December 9, 2025, the party said it received the news of Fubara’s exit with “pity,” stressing that the governor willingly charted the course that led to his political about-face.
According to Ememobong, “This news, as pitiful as it is, is an exemplar of the old legal maxim volenti non fit injuria — to one who is willing, no harm can be done.”
He insisted that anyone who followed the months-long political turbulence in Rivers State would recall that the governor had deliberately taken actions that steered him toward his current destination.
“Having done so voluntarily, he cannot turn around and accuse our party, or any other person or group, of abandoning or not protecting him,” the PDP spokesman stated.
Ememobong added that while political trauma often leads to “temporary amnesia,” Fubara should at least acknowledge the role of the PDP, civil society organisations and Nigerians who defended him during the peak of the crisis.
“It is our prayer that the Governor does not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor,” he said, noting however that the party still “pities the Governor and wishes him well.”
The PDP further described the situation in Rivers State as symptomatic of a failing democracy in which individuals wield more power than institutions.
“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 obfuscate political life out of their opponents,” Ememobong warned.
He said democracy in Nigeria is “terribly threatened” and urged Nigerians to unite against what he described as the ruling party’s ambition to turn the country into a one-party state.
“With the constriction of the political space, democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria. Everyone must rise together to oppose this ignoble trip toward electoral authoritarianism,” the statement added.
