Fubara defects to NNPP ahead of Rivers LG polls

By Jude Opara, Abuja

As Rivers State prepares for the election into the local government areas, the Director General of the All Progressives Congress State Assembly Forum (ASAF), Ambassador Dagogo Fubara, has formally announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Fubara is expected to use the platform of the party to contest the chairmanship seat of his Bonny Local Government Area (LGA).

The defection was sequel to the decision of his former party, the APC, to boycott the election, which is being planned by the Governor Siminialayi Fubara administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, it was learnt that lobbying has intensified among the political parties in the various local government areas to woo potential aspirants from the APC and PDP ahead of the election.

It was further gathered that prominent Bonny APC stakeholders had earlier urged Fubara to make himself available for the election in the interest of what they described as the desired development of the council.

In a statement on Tuesday, Fubara revealed that the majority of the APC stakeholders in the area insisted that they would not allow his blueprints on the development of the council to die, because they are yet to see any other candidate who has presented a way forward programme that would transform Bonny from what it is right now.

The stakeholders, who insisted that they would mobilize massive support for Ambassador Dagogo, therefore asked him to seek the mandate of any political party of his choice since the APC has backed out, adding that they would give him support irrespective of their political affiliation.

It was further gathered that no fewer than four political parties, including the Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), and Action Peoples Party (APP), had wooed the former APC aspirants in the state, including the ASAF DG, to contest the October polls on their platforms.

Fubara noted that his decision to defect was taken after careful consideration and consultation with stakeholders in his local government area, adding that his decision was borne out of his burning desire to prove a point in the retarded development of Bonny LGA.

He added that he has been a follower of the ‘Kwankwasiyya’ movement that moved into the NNPP in 2022, and that he was immediately accepted into his former home by the party hierarchy in the local government area.

The ASAF DG was warmly received into the Bonny NNPP by its chairman, Hon. Kalada Igbo Allison, and his vice, Hon. Telema Kenneth, among other leaders of the party.

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