Former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has raised concerns over the political safety and legitimacy of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, following the governor’s recent alignment with a faction of the party in the oil producing state located in southern Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, a privately owned Nigerian television news channel based in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, Cole argued that Governor Fubara aligned himself with a faction that does not enjoy legal recognition within the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State. He maintained that the faction led by Emeka Beke remains the only legitimate leadership of the party in the state.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the sitting governor of Rivers State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in December 2025. His defection was openly welcomed by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, Nigeria’s ruling political party at the federal level.
Following the defection, the governor was presented with an All Progressives Congress membership card by Tony Okocha, who heads a faction of the party operating in Rivers State. However, Cole insisted that this development was procedurally flawed and politically risky.
Okay News reports that Cole described Governor Fubara’s decision to align with the Okocha-led faction as a wrong political move, despite acknowledging that leaving the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress was, in itself, a strategic decision within Nigeria’s evolving political landscape.
According to Cole, the governor cannot be lawfully recognised as a member of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State unless he formally aligns with the Emeka Beke-led faction, which he said has the legal backing to operate as the party’s leadership structure in the state.
Cole questioned the legitimacy of the process through which Governor Fubara was received into the party, asking who officially welcomed him, who issued his membership card, and under which ward and register he was documented.
“Who is welcoming him to the All Progressives Congress? Who is the one issuing him the membership card? Where is he registered under? Now, Tony Okocha is not a legally recognised faction of the All Progressives Congress, and that is where the problem is,” Cole said.
He further explained that while Governor Fubara may be recognised at the national level as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the faction that received him in Rivers State lacks legal standing.
“Even though he is recognised nationally as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the group that has welcomed him is not legally recognised,” he added.
Cole stressed that the Beke-led faction remains open to receiving the governor properly. “He should come. We will recognise and welcome him because we have the legal standing to do so. He is not safe where he is,” he warned.
Beyond the immediate controversy, Cole cautioned the All Progressives Congress against repeating the internal conflicts that plagued the party ahead of the 2019 general elections, when a court barred the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria’s election management body, from recognising the party’s candidates in Rivers State due to unresolved leadership disputes.
The latest comments further highlight the deepening political tensions in Rivers State, where defections, internal party rivalries, and unresolved leadership struggles continue to shape the political environment ahead of future elections.
