AfriPulse
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — As Governor Siminalayi Fubara prepares to return to office following a six-month suspension under emergency rule, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on him to remain loyal to the party, reject overtures from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and investigate the management of Rivers State during his absence.
In separate interviews with Vanguard, PDP Deputy National Legal Adviser Okechukwu Osuoha and Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor urged the governor to focus on accountability, reconciliation, and development as he resumes duty.
Osuoha said Fubara’s suspension stemmed from the emergency declaration imposed by President Bola Tinubu in March to avert a breakdown of law and order.
With the period set to expire on Thursday, September 18, 2025, he insisted the governor must return to office without delay.
“So that means he has to come back to office because the suspension was for six months, and there has been no extension. Therefore, he must return and assume his role as the Executive Governor of Rivers State,” Osuoha stated.
While acknowledging controversy over the legality of suspending an elected governor, Osuoha said Fubara’s return should be a moment for healing.
“There must be peace and unity in the state so that development can take place because Rivers has suffered a lot,” he said, urging Fubara to strengthen ties with both the state assembly and the PDP.
“He is still a member of the PDP and should participate more fully in party affairs. Party is supreme.”
Osadolor, however, took a harder line, warning Fubara not to yield to APC advances.
“The only thing I ask of the Governor is that he should not fall for voices calling for political correctness in the name of peace. There is no peace without justice,” he said.
He pressed the governor to scrutinise the administration of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), who served as sole administrator during the emergency period.
“The onus lies on him to thoroughly interrogate these six months that Admiral Ibas spent in office, appropriating and misappropriating the resources of the Rivers people… Whenever wrongdoing is found, the Governor should not hesitate to make him face the full weight of the law,” Osadolor said.
He warned that defecting to the APC would damage Fubara’s credibility.
“Any attempt for him to cross over to the APC will mean legitimising the illegal suspension and putting the final nail in his political coffin,” he declared.
As the suspension nears its end, the PDP is seeking to consolidate its hold in Rivers while ensuring that its embattled governor re-establishes authority amid tensions that prompted federal intervention earlier this year.
Source: TheTrentOnline | Read the Full Story…
