By Kolawole Ojebisi
Governor Fubara of Rivers State has said it is not inordinate desire for power that made him to adopt the All Peoples Party (APP) as a political party In the just concluded local government Council election.
Fubara said the move was not a matter of political structure but a move to meet the deadline for the implementation of supreme court’s ruling on LGA autonomy.
He stressed that the intraparty squabble in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have thwarted his loyalists’ ambitions if he had not made the move for them to jump ship and leave the party.
The governor, who referred to the rift in the PDP as “drama”, said time was of essence in the buildup to the election and hence the decision.
Fubara explained the reason for his decision while featuring in an Interview on. Channels Television on Monday night.
He said: “After the ruling of the supreme court (on LGA autonomy), we (governors) had an understanding with Mr. President and he gave us a window of 90 days to comply,” he said.
“The 90-day deadline expires on October 31. I needed to do something. There is no way that election would have been conducted in my party considering the drama surrounding my party.
“So, I opted for something safer to secure the civil servants that are working in the LGAs to ensure we have administrative officers, who would manage the affairs of the council.”
The rift between Fubara and Wike, which has lasted for months, came to a head in the buildup to the just concluded local government elections.
The Wike faction had vehemently opposed the conduct of the elections while the Fubara faction kept pressing for it.
The election was eventually held amid pervasive atmosphere of gunshots and explosions.
The All Peoples Party(APP) swept all but one chairmanship seats in the 23 local government of the state.
The remaining one chairmanship seat was won by the AAC.
Police officers were not present at the polling units during the exercise across the state.
Recall that on September 30, a federal high court in Abuja had stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters register to RSIEC.
The court also barred the inspector general of police (IGP) and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the conduct of the election.
The APP is believed to be loyal to Fubara and his loyalists who were displaced from the Peoples Democratic Party by Wike.
Meanwhile, hours after the election, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, ordered the withdrawal of police personnel from the state and unsealed all the secretariats.
Hours after the IG’s order, hoodlums descended on at least three secretariats and set them ablaze
