Analyst Claims Fubara Was Manipulated Into Joining APC

A policy analyst, Prof. Simon Nnah, has alleged that Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was deceived and manipulated into defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC, with the belief that he would be allowed to complete a second term in office.

Nnah made the claim while speaking with News Central during an analysis of the political situation in Rivers State and Fubara’s recent withdrawal from the APC governorship primary election.

InfoStride News reports that Fubara on Wednesday night announced his withdrawal from the APC governorship primary, saying the decision was taken in the interest of peace in the state.

Reacting to the development, Nnah claimed the governor joined the APC as a survival strategy amid alleged political pressure and impeachment threats.

“The move to APC was to forestall what was going on in Rivers State because there were still moves to impeach him again after they had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State,” he said.

“When he came back, there were moves to impeach him, so one of the safest things he had to do was to move to the ruling party so that they could protect him. It was a protective covering.”

The analyst further alleged that the APC had been using provisions of the Electoral Act to retain defectors within the party structure.

“The APC has been manipulating issues. They started with the Electoral Act that once a political party submits her register to INEC, you can’t move to another political party to contest, and that is what they have used to ensure that the people they drift into joining them will not leave them because they have the mind not to give them those tickets,” he stated.

According to him, Fubara joined the APC believing he would secure support for a second term bid.

“What happened in the case of Fubara was that he was tricked to join the APC thinking that with his movement they would allow him to do his second tenure because when he got there they came up with the euphoria that he is the 001, and this is where all deceits and manipulations come in because we have seen them now as just manipulations,” he added.

Nnah, however, said the governor’s actions were driven by political survival and should not be viewed entirely as a mistake.

“You will discover that he was fighting for survival and any other politician would have done worse than what he did. I don’t see that as a wrong move because his stay in PDP would have created a barrage of other problems,” he said.

The analyst also described Fubara as a politician who should not be underestimated.

“The APC will swallow itself in Rivers State and that is a sure bet. Sim Fubara, you might think that he doesn’t know what he is doing but such people are very dangerous because you don’t know what is in his mind.

“He doesn’t always speak, he just drops one or two words and goes back to his shell; such people are very dangerous, fear them,” he added.