PDP Brands Rivers Assembly Defectors ‘Puppets of a Demigod,’ Launches Legal Bid to Reclaim Stolen Mandate

By Emmanuel Kwada 

In a scathing rebuke amid escalating political turmoil in Rivers State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the latest mass defection of 16 lawmakers from the Rivers State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a “redefection” orchestrated by “political puppets” loyal to a shadowy paymaster.

The party announced plans to invoke constitutional provisions to reclaim the electoral mandate these legislators allegedly “ignobly” won under the PDP banner.

The defections, announced during Friday’s plenary session and led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule and his deputy Dumle Maol, mark a dramatic shift that hands control of the 32-member assembly to the APC.

Amaewhule cited a “clear division” within the PDP as the rationale, a move that the APC’s Rivers State chapter swiftly confirmed, stating the lawmakers had fulfilled all registration requirements and were now “official members.”

This development comes just days after the assembly passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, fueling speculation of deeper alignments in the ongoing power struggle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike—a key PDP figure whose influence over the defectors has long been a flashpoint.

PDP National Publicity Secretary Comrade Ini Ememobong issued the party’s fiery response on Saturday, labeling the lawmakers’ actions as a repeat offense.

“We have seen on various media platforms news of the redefection of some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who, for a second time, announced their defection from our party,” Ememobong wrote in the statement. “We recall that they had done so earlier and later recanted.

These are people whom the world is aware are doing the bidding of their paymaster and demigod.”

Ememobong did not mince words in portraying the defectors as betrayers of democratic ideals. “The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” he added.

“They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature. So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC.”

The PDP’s vow to pursue legal recourse hinges on Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which allows for the vacation of seats by defecting lawmakers unless they can prove a national party crisis—a threshold the PDP argues these members fail to meet, given their prior recantation.

“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution… to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now ignobly and surreptitiously switched to another platform,” Ememobong declared.

Despite the setback—leaving only 10 PDP loyalists in the assembly, who on Friday reaffirmed their commitment by selecting new leadership—the party called for unity. “We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” the statement concluded.

The defections exacerbate Rivers State’s fractious political landscape, where loyalties have seesawed since the 2023 elections. Wike, now Federal Capital Territory Minister and a vocal critic of Fubara’s administration, has been accused by PDP factions of engineering the switch to bolster his influence ahead of future polls.

APC officials, however, hailed the move as a “homecoming,” with state chairman Tony Okocha emphasizing the defectors’ formal integration into party structures.

As court battles loom, analysts warn of potential paralysis in the assembly, which has been mired in dual-faction disputes since a 2023 bombing attempt on its chambers.