A former Minister of Transport, Senator Abiye Sekibo, yesterday in Port Harcourt, said himself and other leaders abandoned ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Sekibo, a strong supporter of the former vice president and the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, stunned his audience in Port Harcourt yesterday when he said Fubara was able to convince them to leave Atiku for Tinubu.
Sekibo, who was a Special Guest of Honour at inauguration of the Borokiri Fire Service Station in Port Harcourt City Local Government, which was rehabilitated by Fubara, appealed to President Tinubu not to listen to those telling him that the Rivers governor was surrounded by Atiku’s loyalists.
Skibo said: “Mr President, our own President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, lend me your ears. We, the Rivers people, have always supported the government at the center. We have always worked with the government at the center.
“This governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has convinced Rivers people that they must stand with their President and we do stand with you.
“There might be persons telling you stories, especially when they see people like me, who were core Atiku men, they will say, ‘don’t you see it is Atiku people that are with the governor.’
He added: “There are also Atiku people that are with them there in Abuja. But the governor has convinced us that the place to be is with our President and Mr. President, we stand with you. We stand with you because that is the right thing to do.
“The elections delivered you as our President and so we stand with you. The elections delivered this governor, our son, for the first time in 24 years.”
According to him, the Ijaw nation, which is more than eight local government areas of the state, has an opportunity of having one of their own as the governor of the state, adding: “We stand with him, we have no choice.”
Sekibo said Fubara through his work in Rivers had shown that he prioritised the interest of the people and the unity of the country, adding that at a time when the state’s funds were seized, he made sure that there was no problem in Rivers State, kept essential services active and worked tirelessly to avoid creating any problem for the federal government.
The ex-Minister called on President Tinubu to support the governor, describing Fubara as an ally of the President. “Standing by and working with Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the right thing to do and I urge you Mr. President to stand with Siminalayi Fubara,” he said.
He added: “My dear people as we urge our President and the Federal Government to stand with our son, we all have a duty to rally round him and stand with him,”
Fubara, Sekibo said, assured him that he would comply with the Supreme Court judgment, adding that he was honoured that the governor chose him to inaugurate the rehabilitated Borokiri Fire Station.
The governor said the purpose of the government was to provide services to the people and protect lives and property.
“So, when we are doing those things that we are elected to do and we start showcasing them, sometimes it doesn’t make any sense.
“But you have to show the world what you are doing so that they will know that you are working. Some will commission boreholes and advertise it.
“But for us, we have chosen to showcase to the world a vital and most needed item of service,” he said.
