Four members of the House of Representatives from Rivers State have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), further deepening the wave of defections rocking the state’s political landscape.
The lawmakers are Manuchim Umezuruike (Port Harcourt I), Boniface Emerengwa (Ikwerre/Emuoha), Awake-Inombek Abiante (Andoni/Opobo) and Boma Goodhead (Asari-Toru). Their decision comes barely a week after Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, formally joined the ruling APC.
The defecting federal legislators are believed to be close allies of Governor Fubara, who announced his departure from the PDP last week, citing the need to align fully with President Bola Tinubu and the APC-led Federal Government.
Explaining his own defection, Fubara said his political survival and continued leadership were made possible by President Tinubu’s intervention.
He stressed that supporting the President required total political identification with the ruling party rather than what he described as “backdoor support.”
The development followed a similar move in the Rivers State House of Assembly, where the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, alongside 17 other lawmakers, defected to the APC earlier in December.
The lawmakers attributed their exit from the PDP to internal crises within the party.
The growing list of defections from Rivers State has significantly altered the political balance in the oil-rich state, strengthening the APC’s foothold while dealing a major blow to the opposition PDP.
