‘Fubara Will Become Rivers APC Leader If He Decamps Upon Return’

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has openly invited Governor Siminalayi Fubara to join its fold ahead of his planned reinstatement ceremony.

the call was made by the reinstated Rivers APC spokesman, Darlington Nwauju, during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday.

“If I were the governor of Rivers State, on my return on Thursday, I would announce my defection to the All Progressives Congress. I think the governor should join the APC, and we would gladly receive the governor into our party,” Nwauju said.

When asked if Fubara would automatically lead the party in the state upon defection, Nwauju responded in the affirmative.

“By the convention of our party, if he joins the All Progressives Congress, he becomes the leader of the party,” he stated.

Nwauju also addressed concerns over the performance of the Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd.), who has overseen the state under emergency rule for the past six months.

He clarified that the APC had not officially demanded a probe of Ibas’ administration.

“The budget approval he got was from the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There is a committee from the House of Representatives overseeing the period of emergency. I do expect that the committee should be able to do due diligence, come up with that report, and tell Nigerians what they found out. It is one of their core mandates in the business of legislations and lawmaking,” he said.

President Bola Tinubu and Governor Fubara are expected back in the country on Tuesday ahead of Rivers State’s return to democratic rule on Thursday.

Tinubu, who left Nigeria on September 4 for his annual holiday in France and the United Kingdom, was initially billed to spend 10 working days abroad but concluded his vacation earlier than scheduled.

Fubara is also due back from London, as preparations intensify for the handover of power from the state administrator to the reinstated governor.