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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the withdrawal of Siminalayi Fubara from the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the move as an act of political cowardice and a dangerous surrender to alleged political intimidation and godfatherism in Rivers State.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the rights group said Governor Fubara’s claim that he withdrew in the interest of “peace and unity” failed to address what it described as the growing suppression of democratic freedoms in Rivers State.
According to HURIWA, Rivers State has increasingly become “a battleground where elected officials are compelled to operate under fear, coercion, and political intimidation.”
The group argued that if Fubara truly believed in the mandate given to him by Rivers people, he should have remained in the race and subjected himself to the democratic process rather than withdrawing and pledging support to what it described as a political arrangement allegedly influenced by Nyesom Wike.
“HURIWA believes that the time for fragmented opposition politics in Rivers State is over. Any opposition party that insists on contesting separately under the current circumstances would merely be helping to divide the resistance votes and indirectly strengthening the continued domination of Rivers State by entrenched political interests,” the group stated.
The association further alleged that both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party structures in Rivers State are under the overwhelming influence of one political figure, warning that candidates emerging from either platform could become “political surrogates” rather than representatives of the people.
HURIWA therefore called on opposition political parties, civil society organisations, labour unions, youth and women groups, student movements, and other democratic stakeholders in Rivers State to immediately form a coalition and present a single consensus governorship candidate ahead of the election.
The rights group warned that the political contest in Rivers State was no longer merely about party supremacy between the APC and PDP, but “about the liberation of Rivers State from external political control and economic exploitation.”
HURIWA also revisited the political crisis in Rivers State, referencing what it described as the unconstitutional removal of Governor Fubara and the controversial installation of an “illegal interim military administrator arrangement” which it claimed operated for six months without accountability.
The association demanded transparency over the alleged spending of billions of naira during the period, insisting that Rivers people deserve a full account of how public funds were utilised, who approved the expenditures, and why no independent audit or legislative scrutiny had been conducted.
“It is deeply disturbing that while Rivers people continue to struggle economically, nobody has been held accountable for the huge public funds allegedly spent during the six months of unconstitutional governance imposed on the state,” the statement added.
HURIWA further claimed that Governor Fubara now appears politically weakened and unable to independently defend the mandate given to him by Rivers voters.
The group warned that history would judge harshly those who remained silent while Rivers State was allegedly transformed into “a political estate controlled through intimidation, federal might, and godfatherism.”
It urged opposition leaders and democratic stakeholders in the state to immediately begin coalition talks towards producing a single consensus candidate “before it becomes too late.”