THE Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, expressed his disappointment with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating that the party had failed him and his followers in the state.
Fubara, who assumed office as governor under the PDP a year ago, voiced these sentiments during a meeting yesterday with the Senate Committee on Privatization, headed by Senator Orji Kalu, at the government house in Port Harcourt.
In attendance was Senator Abba Moro, a former Minister of Interior and a prominent figure within the PDP, as acknowledged by Governor Fubara.
In a somewhat lighthearted manner, the governor informed the politician from Benue that he would not strictly adhere to party guidelines, highlighting the party’s letdown of the state.
He disclosed that he and his supporters in Rivers State were now functioning as a movement to uphold democracy, rather than merely as members of a political party.
Additionally, he addressed the ongoing political turmoil in the state.
The governor’s position comes in the wake of an explosive incident carried out by an unidentified individual in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Reports reveal how the individual intended to detonate an explosive device at the Presidential Hotel, a renowned hospitality facility in the state. The perpetrator was subsequently apprehended by law enforcement.
Speaking on the incident yesterday, Fubara revealed that the failed attacker had aimed to target the facility accommodating distinguished personalities, including members of the Senate committee, to justify the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.
He said, “The idea was that as you heard the state of emergency, it will be so that by the time they finish when you return to have your sitting tomorrow (Thursday), the debate will be from somebody from this state who called you people to tell you not to come. He will now raise the issue of a state of emergency, and say, after all, distinguished colleagues saw it happen while you were in Rivers State, that you saw what happened.
“But you see, when you are with God, even your own child who is planning evil, will go and tell somebody that God is with this man because he is clean, this is what my father is planning. That is what is keeping us in this State”.
Fubara questioned the apparent silence or inaction of the law against wrongdoers, because certain individuals seemed to operate above the law in their pursuits. He emphasized that nowhere in the country had there been a debate concerning the extension of former local government chairpersons’ tenures.
The governor clarified that his actions were not driven by animosity but rather by a commitment to safeguard the state against threats and to shield the interests of Rivers State people from those who believe they can dictate the lives of others.