A total of 27 Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have declared their defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All-Progressives Congress (APC), with the lawmakers being perceived as loyalists of the former governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The announcement of their defection, including that of the factional Speaker, Rt. Hon. Matthew Amaewhule, was made through a letter read on the Assembly floor on Monday. Enemi George, a member of the Assembly, confirmed to newsmen that the 27 legislators, under the guidance of Martin Amaewhule, reached this decision during their Monday morning sitting.
In the letter jointly signed by all 27 lawmakers and addressed to the state’s acting chairman of PDP, the defectors attribute their decision to leave the PDP to the internal divisions within the party’s national leadership.
Background:
A Speakership rivalry between Amaewhule and Edison Ehie had been unfolding for weeks. In October, the Assembly issued an impeachment notice to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, citing Amaewhule’s leadership. Consequently, they removed Ehie from the position of House leader. However, Fubara’s loyal Assembly members promptly impeached Amaewhule, appointing Ehie as the new Speaker.
A dispute between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), triggered the crisis in the 32-member Assembly. The strained relationship between Wike and Fubara escalated following the Assembly’s threat to impeach the governor, with accusations against Wike as the alleged mastermind behind the impeachment plot.
Both Wike and Fubara belong to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). However, Wike emphasized that internal conflicts are commonplace in politics and will be resolved using the party’s mechanisms. He stated, “In politics, there are a lot of internal wranglings. But to come out and say, ‘Oh, they want to do this against me, it will not work.’ I had every power then to say where this thing is going. So, when things are wrong, you ask questions. It is a party affair. The party knows how they resolve their mechanism; it is not an ethnic affair. Our party is coming to it, that is what I will say. Every politician has his interest,” the former governor added.
