Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) are within their right to do so.
On Friday, 17 Rivers legislators, including Martin Awaewhule, the Speaker, resigned from the PDP and joined the APC.
Two days before the defection, the 32-member Rivers assembly passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, urging him to seek re-election.
Speaking in Abuja over the development during an inspection of an ongoing bridge construction, Wike said the lawmakers did not inform him before making the decision.
The minister described the defection as unfortunate, attributing the lawmakers’ decision to the crisis rocking the PDP, adding that he would continue to work with the remaining members of the party in the assembly.
“It is unfortunate. I have always said that everybody has the right to make a choice. The party is fully factionalised. And the constitution requires that when a party is factionalised, they are allowed to leave the party,” Wike said.
“They never told me [before they quit PDP], but they have a right.
“You will see that it is not everybody who has left. I believe 16 or 17 of them have left out of 27. We still have a good number, about 10, and we will continue to work together.
“I’m still in the PDP. So, those who have remained, we’ll continue to work together.
Wike, who has just recently been from the PDP by the Taminu Taraki-led faction, asked the party to resolve its leadership crisis.
“I have said to the party: Put your house in order. Because at the end of the day, if you don’t put your house in order, it is the party that will lose,” Wike said.
“And we still ask the party to work together to see how the remaining members will be a relevant opposition. But they chose not to.
“So, for me, those who have left are free. But those who remain in the party, we will continue to work together.”
On March 18, Tinubu declared emergency rule in Rivers over a prolonged political crisis and instability in the state.
The president also suspended Siminalayi Fubara, governor of the state; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and all members of the Rivers assembly for an initial period of six months.
The emergency rule was lifted on September 17, 2025.
The Rivers state lawmakers are Wike’s allies.
