Former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mark Jacob, has said he would not be surprised if suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, defects to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Jacob made the statement on Friday during an appearance on The Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television.
His comment followed a high-level meeting held late Thursday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where President Bola Tinubu met with Governor Fubara, Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, and suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Reacting to the meeting and referencing the recent wave of defections to the APC, Jacob suggested Fubara could be tempted to switch parties for political survival.
“So if they dangle a carrot to Siminalayi and tell him to come over to APC so that he can reclaim his seat, I will not be shocked if he agrees, because it’s all about me. ‘What will I gain,’” he asked.
The meeting at the Villa reportedly took place nearly three months after President Tinubu intervened in a deepening political crisis in Rivers State by suspending Governor Fubara, his Deputy Ngozi Odu, and lawmakers amid escalating tensions.
The rift was said to stem from a power struggle between Wike and Fubara, once considered political allies, over control of the state’s political machinery.
While the meeting may signal a move toward reconciliation, Jacob criticized the approach taken, particularly the suspension of elected officials, which he described as undemocratic.
He maintained that such actions undermine democratic institutions, regardless of the appearance of unity after the meeting.
