We Pity Fubara and Wish Him Well, Says PDP Faction

…Labels Governor’s defection a self-inflicted injury, warns of democratic decline

Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja

The Turaki-led faction of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has extended a sardonic message of pity to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, following his formal defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), through its National Publicity Secretary Comrade Ini Ememobong, said that while it pities the Governor, his departure was a voluntary act for which he alone bears responsibility.

“This news, as pitiful as it is, is an exemplar of the old legal maxim Volenti non fit injuria, meaning ‘to one who is willing, no harm can be done’,” the statement read.

The PDP asserted that Governor Fubara “willingly travelled the path” that led to his defection, and therefore cannot accuse the party of failing to protect him amidst his protracted political crisis.

The party reminded the public of its vigorous defence of the Governor during his feud with political heavyweight and former Governor, Nyesom Wike, which many saw as a proxy battle backed by federal might.

Employing pointed rhetoric, the faction expressed a hope that the Governor “should not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor.”

Beyond the personal jibe, the statement escalated into condemning the national political climate. It described the Rivers saga as evidence of a “dysfunctional democracy, where individuals are bigger and stronger than institutions,” accusing the ruling party of using federal apparatus to crush opposition.

The PDP also sounded an alarm for Nigeria’s democratic future, accusing the APC of an “unrelenting disposition towards the attainment of a one-party state” and the “constriction of the political space.”

“Democracy is under severe attack in Nigeria,” the statement declared, urging all citizens to unite against what it termed a slide into “electoral authoritarianism.”

The message concluded by circling back to its ironic well-wishing: “In all, despite these, we pity the Governor and wish him well.”