Four members of the House of Representatives, all widely regarded as loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, have officially dumped their parties for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Their defection letters were read on the floor of the House on Wednesday, December 18, with the lawmakers citing the now-routine excuse of a “protracted and unresolved crisis” in their former parties.
The defectors are:
Hon. Awaji-Inombek Abiante, representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency – defected from PDP to APC
Hon. Boniface Emerengwa, representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency – defected from PDP to APC
Hon. Boma Goodhead, representing Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toru Federal Constituency – defected from PDP to APC
Hon. Manuchim Umezuruike, representing Port Harcourt I Federal Constituency – defected from Labour Party to APC.
Their defections were announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, during plenary on Thursday, following the reading of separate letters from the affected lawmakers.In their letters to the House, the lawmakers attributed their decision to what they described as deepening internal crises, leadership disputes and irreconcilable divisions within their former parties.
Rivers State hitherto had 13 members in the House of Reps (12 PDP and 1 APC). These latest defections now brings Rivers APC House of Reps members in the 10th National Assembly to 5, as they join, Anderson Allison Igbiks (representing Okrika/Ogu Bolo Federal Constituency), who was originally elected under APC, in the Green chamber.
The coordinated exit comes barely days after Governor Fubara himself crossed over from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC on December 9. Fubara described his move as “easy” and politically necessary to align openly with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the same president whose intervention earlier this year ended the controversial state of emergency that nearly consumed Rivers State.
What is playing out is a textbook consolidation of political survival. Fubara’s camp is closing ranks, migrating en masse into the ruling party to secure federal backing, shield themselves from political isolation and prepare the ground ahead of the 2027 elections. Rivers politics is being reconfigured in real time, and the PDP — once an unshakable fortress in the state since 1999 — is collapsing at alarming speed.
First, the pro-Wike bloc in the Rivers State House of Assembly jumped ship. Now, Fubara’s federal foot soldiers have followed suit. The message is clear: Rivers is drifting rapidly toward APC dominance, fueling fears of an emerging one-party reality not just in the state, but across the South-South.
From their perspective, the move is strategic. With Tinubu’s tacit support and Abuja’s influence looming large, remaining in a fractured PDP or an isolated Labour Party would be political suicide. But for democracy, this trend is deeply corrosive.