The Labour Party (LP) has decided to withdraw its petition against the election of Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 poll.
The LP had previously contested Fubara’s victory, but the Appeal Court in Lagos dismissed its petition and upheld the win of the PDP candidate.
Weeks after this development, LP’s governorship candidate in the election, Beatrice Itubo, announced that the party had decided to drop the case. She made this announcement during a Saturday conversation with Channels Television at her home in Ogbakiri, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Itubo stated, "Because of the current happenings in River State, we feel that the interests of the state are far more paramount than every one of our expectations or feelings. So, we are looking at it from the angle of the people. People have said, 'Let us allow the government to move on, let there be good governance' and there cannot be good governance without peace. And so we looked at the whole scenario and we said 'Enough is enough. Let us go back and ask our lawyers to withdraw the suit so that we can join hands with the present government to see how we can move the state forward'."
According to her, all Rivers residents must support the Fubara government to foster development in the state. She also called on all well-meaning Rivers indigenes, including those who live and work in the state, and those who do business there, to come out and support the government of Sir Sim Fubara. She emphasised the need for peace to move Rivers State to the next level and to ensure the dividends of democracy in Rivers State.
The collaboration between Fubara and Itubo is the latest development in Rivers State politics amid the ongoing political crisis in the state. While Itubo had previously vowed to pursue the election petition to the highest length, insisting that the governorship election process was fraudulent, LP’s most recent move is believed to be connected to the tension between the Governor and his predecessor Nyesom Wike.
Itubo had earlier visited Fubara at the Government House in Port Harcourt as the political divisions in the South-South State deepened. The State House of Assembly is currently divided into two factions, with a group of 27 lawmakers leaving the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the defection, Governor Fubara’s government demolished the assembly complex in Port Harcourt, citing a fire incident that engulfed a section of the structure some weeks ago. He subsequently presented the 2024 budget to some lawmakers – in the absence of the 27 defectors – at the Government House.
However, the crisis rocking the state seems to be far from over as nine commissioners have resigned from the Fubari cabinet for various reasons. Despite these developments, Fubara maintains that there is no crisis in the state. He stated, "Rivers State is a haven for investment. What we are doing today is to let the world know; not what you hear on the radio or what you see on the screen of television, ‘Rivers State is not safe, there is a crisis’. Rivers State is safe and secure for anybody anywhere to come and invest, your investment is safe in our hands."