He said, “If you look at what is going on in the South-South, governors elected on the PDP platform have decamped. Did we expect the Rivers lawmakers to move? It may have come as a surprise, but when you consider the crisis in the PDP, was it avoidable? Possibly not.

“When a party is bedevilled by crisis, people will naturally look for alternatives. The anti-defection provisions in the constitution recognise differences at the national level, and there are clear indications of such differences in the PDP.”

Describing the PDP’s recent internal actions—including issuing an unprecedented “expulsion certificate”—as signs of deep-seated turmoil, Nwuke said PDP members are simply reacting to a party that “has not been this divided in a long time.”

On whether Fubara might soon join the APC, he said, “There are speculations that the APC has been wooing the governor. Only he can confirm whether he is crossing. But what we’re seeing suggests he may consider leaving the PDP. And if he does, he will not be the first.”

But a senior Government House official, who asked not to be named, dismissed the rumours, insisting Governor Fubara had shown no sign of defecting.

“We are not aware that the governor wants to defect,” he said. “Even the lawmakers claiming to have moved to the APC have not fulfilled the Supreme Court requirement of registering at their wards. Until they produce evidence, nobody should take their claims seriously.”

The official added that the APC’s upcoming national convention means anyone intending to join the party at this time “would have shown clear signals,” which Fubara has not.

“I don’t see any sign and he has not told us he will be joining the APC. Very soon the APC will round off receiving defectors because in December they will hold their convention. If the governor wanted to move, he would have shown signs by now. But let’s keep our fingers crossed,”he added.

Similarly, the factional PDP chairman in Rivers State, Robinson Ewor, mocked the defected lawmakers, saying the party would work to reclaim its mandate.

“My prayer is that they shouldn’t deny again,” he said. “There is no division in the PDP that justifies their action. What they are holding is the PDP’s mandate.”

Ewor vowed that the PDP would reclaim its mandate from the defected lawmakers.

“We must definitely talk to the remaining PDP lawmakers. And for those who have moved, the party must make an effort to reclaim its mandate. What they are holding is the PDP mandate.”

When asked if he would welcome Fubara to the APC, state APC chairman, Tony Okocha, said he had not been contacted by the governor.

“I’m not a soothsayer. The governor has not reached out to me. If I have the opportunity of talking to him, I will advise him to follow his mind. Why put the cart before the horse?” he said.

Meanwhile, fresh tension may be brewing as the Amaewhule-led Assembly continues to sit at the lawmakers’ residential quarters along Aba Road, despite Fubara’s insistence that the newly reconstructed Assembly complex will be ready this month and his promise to present the 2026 budget there.

At their sitting last Friday, Amaewhule queried the governor’s delay in forwarding a full list of commissioner-nominees to the House, noting that Fubara was running the state with only eight commissioners—an action he said contravenes constitutional expectations.