Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have thrown their weight behind Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State in his ongoing feud with his predecessor and minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Their renewed support for Fubara came after the conduct of a disputed party congress in which Fubara was denied a say.
The governors at the meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF), which took place in Jalingo, Taraba State, on Friday, August 23 have now tasked the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to revisit the exercise and allow Fubara to take his rightful place in the leadership of the party.
A communiqué released at the end of the meeting said:
“The Forum notes the political impasse in Rivers State, where court judgements are employed to determine the outcome of the party congresses.
“The PDP Governors’ Forum restates its stand with the Governor of Rivers State and will engage the NWC of our great party to revisit the congress with a view to correcting the anomaly and allowing His Excellency Governor Siminalayi Fubara to take his rightful leadership position of the party in the state.”
“With regard to the coming governorship election in Edo State, we condemn the pronouncements by the President to compromise the election in favour of his party as well as the systematic intimidation of PDP supporters by the Nigeria Police and call on the Inspector General of Police to call his men to order.”
They called on President Tinubu to “show statesmanship by restraining his officials from blame games that make the sub-nationals look bad by mentioning piecemeal interventions that cannot solve the problem.”
“We remain unshaken in our firm resolve to stand with the suffering Nigerian masses and to take all legitimate steps to ameliorate their plight,” the governors added.
The PDP state leaders noted with concern “the refusal” of the federal government to distinguish between the federal government’s revenue and the revenue accruing to the federation, which must be allocated in accordance with existing laws.