27 PDP lawmakers in Rivers assembly defect to APC

Twenty-seven members of the Rivers house of assembly have left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers who are said to be loyal to Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), held a plenary session at about 8 a.m. on Monday where the decision was taken amid tight security at the entrance of the assembly complex in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The legislators said division within the PDP is the reason for exiting the party to APC.

The defection of the lawmakers is suspected to be connected to the rift between Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers and Wike, his predecessor, over control of the political structure in the state.

During a recent quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, the governor said he would not “surrender our mandate and progress to intimidation, blackmail and deliberate sabotage”.

When he spoke on the crisis in the state in November, Wike said he would do all it takes to maintain his “political structure” in Rivers.

He said Fubara was importing the crisis through his actions, adding; “let me tell you — I don’t like ingrates. I can’t stand it. What is happening now (in Rivers) is what Odili said in his book: ‘Give a man power and money, then you will know the person.’ If you haven’t given manpower and money then you don’t know the person”.