The crisis rocking the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has escalated following an open declaration of support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election by factional chairman, Dr Robinson Ewor.

Ewor said he has chosen to align politically with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, insisting the decision was necessary to help secure victory for Tinubu in the next presidential election.

He accused Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of misleading PDP members by portraying himself as capable of wresting political control of the state from Wike, only to later abandon the party and defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking on the matter, Ewor recalled that he had disclosed late last year, during an interview in Port Harcourt, that intelligence available to him indicated the governor was considering leaving the PDP for the APC. He stressed that he made it clear at the time that he would not follow Fubara to any other party.

According to him, the mandate held by the governor belongs to the people of Rivers State and should not be transferred without transparency.

“The mandate he is holding was given to him by Rivers people, and all his actions affect those people. He owes them a duty to fully disclose the details of the peace agreements brokered by the President before the Emergency Rule was lifted,” Ewor said.

He linked the political crisis in the state to the disagreement between the governor and members of the State House of Assembly, which he said culminated in the bombing of the Assembly complex and led to a presidentially mediated peace pact.

Ewor alleged that during the crisis, PDP members were fed propaganda that the governor would take over the state’s political structure from Wike, a claim he described as deceptive.

He further revealed that while the initial peace agreement was documented with an eight-point agenda, a later pact brokered during the Emergency Rule was undocumented and unknown to Rivers people. He said the collapse of this agreement eventually resulted in Governor Fubara’s defection to the APC in December 2025.

“As a party, we went to the Supreme Court to challenge the declaration of Emergency Rule and protect our mandate. Today, that mandate has been taken to the APC, which is not proper,” he stated.

Ewor also accused the governor of making reckless claims that President Tinubu would compel the State Assembly to pass the budget and force Wike to work for his re-election.

On the PDP Ibadan 2025 convention, Ewor said Governor Fubara was fully aware of the event and supervised preparations leading to it. He noted that the Rivers State delegation, led by him, attended and participated fully, even though the governor failed to show up.

He added that the Rivers State Executive Committee was dissolved at the convention and described the governor’s decision to send delegates while staying away as double standards unbefitting of a leader.

Ewor questioned whether the governor’s defection was prompted by his inability to take control of the PDP structure in the state.

He also disclosed that during visits to several local government areas, Wike appealed for continued support while repeatedly stressing the importance of “keeping to agreements.”

According to Ewor, Wike claimed that before the Emergency Rule was lifted, the governor agreed not to seek a second term, to reinstate Ohna Sergeant Awuse as Chairman of the Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council, and to remove Tammy Danagogo as Secretary to the State Government and Edison Ehie as Chief of Staff—agreements he alleged the governor later failed to honour.