Adeleke, Fubara Both Victims Of Circumstances They Created — PDP Spokesperson

The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ini Ememobong, has stated that Governors Ademola Adeleke of Osun State and Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State were “victims of circumstances they helped create.”

Ememobong noted that their recent defections from the party were consequences of long-ignored internal crises.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, Ememobong said the turmoil that eventually pushed both governors out of the PDP had been years in the making, worsened by the party’s reluctance to confront festering leadership problems.

“Governor Adeleke is a victim of circumstance which is precarious because every problem is human-caused and should be human-solved.

“The party ought to have acted decisively to solve the problem at the level of leadership that he belonged to. They were feeding the monster with animals, not knowing that one day they would become victims of the monster as well,” he said.

The PDP spokesman explained that the crisis began to escalate in 2023, but stakeholders resorted to negotiations, hoping that “time” would calm the situation, rather than taking firm action.

“They were supposed to tackle the problem from 2023 when the decline started, but they kept negotiating and thought that would bring calm until the convention when decisions were taken. He became a victim of circumstances and vicarious liabilities which he could not extricate himself from,” Ememobong said.

Turning to the Rivers State crisis, Ememobong said Governor Fubara also contributed to the political environment that ultimately led to his exit from the PDP.

“I’m not making excuses for Fubara or Adeleke; both were proponents of the situation that they became victims of,” he said.

“But in the case of Fubara, there were agreements with people that brought him. The point of our anger was when he said he wasn’t secure in the party, but he made sure he had sympathy — even me as a person, I had sympathy for him.”

He criticised Fubara for sidelining the PDP during and after the political turbulence that rocked Rivers State.

“The problem was that he didn’t carry the party that fought for him along after the crisis. Even when he went to meet with the President, the party was not aware. The party was not aware of their agreements as well.”