The long-running power tussle within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State ended dramatically on Friday as a faction loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara formally collapsed into the camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Dr. Nname Ewor, a factional Caretaker Chairman of the party in the state, publicly announced the handover of his faction during Wike’s “thank-you” tour in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, declaring an end to factionalisation in the Rivers PDP.
According to Ewor, leadership of the faction has been transferred to Aaron Chukwuemeka, with the entire party now united under Wike’s influence.
“I’m Sim’s PDP chairman. I hope you people know. Today, I’m handing over the chairmanship and leadership of that faction to Aaron Chukwemeka. PDP is no longer factionalised in Rivers State. PDP is under one chairman, and under one leadership, under the FCT leader,” he said.
The political volte-face followed Ewor’s earlier public criticism of Fubara’s defection to the All Progressive Congress and his demand that the governor disclose the full details of peace deals brokered at the national level, which he said were repeatedly ignored.
Ewor said he had initially stood solidly with Fubara, convinced that the governor was being unfairly treated and intimidated by the FCT Minister, but stressed that unfolding events forced a rethink.
“I followed Sim honestly and sincerely from my heart, believing that our minister was not fair to him, was undoing him, was intimidating him. That was the belief.
“And that is the belief of so many people, including those who are there with him, that believe that the minister is intimidating him, is undoing him.
“If the president mediated twice, and he didn’t think, that means you cannot be trusted. Can such a leader be trusted? We can’t trust him.
“That was why I said, my people died for what? Knowledge. People are dying there. I’m sure one day, one by one, they will discover the truth,” he said.
He further argued that none of the presidentially brokered peace agreements undermined the authority of the governor, insisting that the crisis that plunged the state into emergency rule was a direct result of leadership failure.
“If you look at that agreement, tell me one item in that agreement that undermines his office as governor? None. Tell me one thing in that agreement that will impede him from performing as governor.
“The State went into a state of emergency not because the state committed a crime, but because the man at the helm of affairs was unable to handle political issues, to bring people together, to talk to everybody so that we can work as a team,” he stated.
