Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Mr Tony Okocha, has declared that suspended governor Siminalayi Fubara will not go scot-free even if he defects to the ruling party.
There are indications that Fubara is on his way to the APC.
NATIONAL POST reports that the speculation became rife after Fubara’s visit to President Bola Tinubu in Lagos State.
Sources hinted that Fubara is ready to move to the APC in order to save his job.
There has also been pressure on President Tinubu to lift his suspension tomorrow, June 12, Democracy Day celebration.
However, the Rivers State Chapter of the APC, has told Fubara that even if he decides to join the party, his sins cannot be forgiven.
Okocha said Fubara’s suspension and the declaration of a state of emergency was about his misdemeanors and had no political undertones.
According to him, “If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with the state of emergency in Rivers state. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party.
“You will jump into APC today and your sins are forgiven? That cannot be true. It won’t work that way.
“Then, it would have made APC as a dumping ground for people who commit misdemeanor and believe that by and large we will come for reconciliation.
"No. It is not true. He has not spoken to me. He will enter the party through the door not the window.
“Not only him, there are procedures for defection to another party and if he claims to be a politician, he would know that all politics is local, he would try and defect in his ward.
“From there it will come to us and my ward chairmen. I have asked, nobody brought any information about him entering APC.”
Political observers have expressed the opinion that should Fubara be recalled without his defection to the ruling party, he would still be impeached by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“They will still remove him; his estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike has said repeatedly that he was not in support of the state of emergency, that he wanted Fubara impeached.
“Wike also likened him to a son who brought an armed robber to his father’s house.
“So, even if he is recalled, it is not over until he defects to the APC; that’s the only grim chance of allowing him to complete his tenure. Of course, he won’t get a second term ticket,” a source within the Rivers APC circle stated.