The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the defection of Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a “self-inflicted injury”, invoking the Latin maxim *Volenti non fit injuria* – “to one who is willing, no harm can be done”.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP said it received the news of the governor’s formal exit from the party with pity rather than suprised.
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The party insisted that Fubara voluntarily chose the path that led to his departure and cannot now claim to have been abandoned by the PDP or its leadership.
“Everyone who has followed the developments that culminated in this uneventful defection will recall that the Governor willingly travelled the path that took him to this destination,” the statement read.
It added that Fubara should instead be grateful to the PDP, civil society organisations, and Nigerians who “freely stood up in his defence” during the protracted political crisis in Rivers State.
The PDP expressed hope that the governor does not develop “Stockholm Syndrome, where a victim falls in love with his captor”, in an apparent reference to alleged pressure from federal authorities linked to the APC.
While expressing sympathy for Fubara, the opposition party used the occasion to issue a broader warning about the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
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It accused powerful individuals of wielding federal institutions to suffocate political opponents, describing the Rivers crisis as evidence of a dysfunctional system where “individuals are bigger and stronger than institutions”.
The statement concluded with a stark alert that the ruling APC is pursuing a “one-party state” agenda and shrinking Nigeria’s political space, urging citizens and the international community to resist what it called a slide towards “electoral authoritarianism”.
