In a bold post-defection move, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has vowed unwavering support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, pledging that his administration will deliver for the president while inaugurating the long-awaited Egbeda–Omerelu link road. The pledge, made during Fubara’s first major public appearance since switching to the All Progressives Congress earlier this week, signals a strategic pivot from his turbulent Peoples Democratic Party roots, which were marked by a bitter feud with former godfather Nyesom Wike, to alignment with the federal government. Fubara framed the defection as a peace-building imperative for Rivers’ development, urging unity to counter disagreements that stall progress in a state where shifting political loyalties could reshape the South-South’s electoral landscape in twenty twenty-seven.
Speaking at the Egbeda–Omerelu road commissioning in Ikwerre Local Government Area, a twelve-kilometer asphalt lifeline designed to ease rural-urban bottlenecks, Fubara tied infrastructure achievements to national loyalty. He declared that the administration’s position is to ensure development reaches every corner of Rivers State, emphasizing that the medium to achieve this is support for the president. Flanked by APC chieftains and local elders, he stressed resilience and continued service to the people, promising an inclusive development agenda that spans the oil-rich creeks to upland farms, while urging calm and discouraging disunity, noting that progress cannot occur in an atmosphere of conflict.
This public embrace of Tinubu marks Fubara’s sharpest commitment since his APC switch, ratified by Rivers APC executives on December eighth, which consolidated his loyalists and could net more than twenty state assembly seats for the ruling party. The Egbeda–Omerelu link road, a five-point-two billion naira project under Fubara’s “Rivers First” blueprint, connects flood-prone farmlands to urban hubs, reducing travel times by approximately forty percent. Constructed by Setraco Nigeria Limited, it features reinforced drainage and solar lighting, timely improvements amid Delta and Rivers’ 2025 flooding. Locals welcomed the road enthusiastically, citing increased ease in transporting yams and cassava to Port Harcourt markets, with this rollout marking Fubara’s fifteenth major infrastructure project this year, including the twenty-one billion naira Trans-Kalabari Road.
The governor’s vow lands amid Rivers’ high-stakes politics, where his emergence in twenty twenty-three as Wike’s successor devolved into a twenty twenty-four impeachment saga, and Wike loyalists in APC boycotted his events. The defection now positions Fubara to court federal patronage, including oil funds and security assistance for the state’s kidnap-prone creeks, while analysts view it as a strategic move that could secure seventy percent of the South-South vote for Tinubu, joining Delta’s Sheriff Oborevwori and Edo’s Monday Okpebholo in the APC fold. Wike has remained silent, though allies express disapproval, and PDP’s Dejo Adeyanju criticized the move on X, claiming it exposes the rot of godfatherism, while APC’s Tony Okocha hailed it as Rivers returning home to unity and progress. For supporters of Peter Obi and the Labour Party in the zone, the pledge represents a significant setback, fueling narratives of an APC “takeover.”
Fubara’s peace-focused messaging could help stabilize Rivers’ twenty twenty-seven gubernatorial race, where he is ineligible, but ongoing assembly probes into his spending mean that delivering on promises will require careful navigation. Tinubu’s camp has welcomed the endorsement, with Port Harcourt visits anticipated in the coming months. Rivers’ political and infrastructural renaissance now rides on roads and resolve, as Fubara bets big on Tinubu’s ticket, leaving observers to watch whether this alignment paves the way for electoral victory or faces potholes along the path.
Compiled from real-time reports by Vanguard News; political shifts remain fluid.
About The Author
