‘We Won’t Miss Fubara’: Lagos PDP Chieftain Downplays Rivers Governor’s Defection to APC

A senior Lagos chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed concerns over Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s dramatic defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting the Rivers leader “won’t be missed” by the party.

Hakeem Olalemi, Vice Chairman (Central) of the Lagos PDP, said Governor Fubara’s move was motivated by a desire for “political protection,” not by any national crisis within the party.

“Everybody has the right to belong to where he or she wants,” Olalemi told journalists in Lagos. “He is looking for protection, and he believes it is President Bola Tinubu that can give him the protection he seeks.”

He rejected suggestions that Fubara’s exit stemmed from PDP’s internal rifts, arguing that the political turmoil in Rivers State long predated the party’s national troubles.

Olalemi acknowledged that the PDP has faced turbulent moments but blamed the situation on individuals who “refuse to follow due process and the party’s constitution.” He expressed confidence that the party will recover and “return to the path of progress.”

Asked whether the governor’s departure would hurt the PDP, Olalemi was unequivocal: Fubara had not been actively involved in party activities, making his absence inconsequential. “We wish him well,” he added.

Governor Fubara formally announced his defection at a stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt, declaring his intention to stand with President Tinubu. According to him, he would have been “a former governor” if not for Tinubu’s intervention in the Rivers political crisis.