Former Minister of Transport, Chief Abiye Sekibo, has revealed that he and several other political leaders decided to withdraw their support from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He attributed their decision to the influence of Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.
Speaking at the inauguration of the rehabilitated Borokiri Fire Service facility in Port Harcourt, Sekibo stated that Fubara played a key role in persuading them to back Tinubu. He urged the President not to listen to those claiming that the governor is surrounded by Atiku loyalists.
“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’.
“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 the Ijaw nation in more than eight local government areas of Rivers State have an opportunity of having one of their own as the governor of this state. We stand with him, we have no choice”, he stated.
He said Fubara, through his work in Rivers, Fubara had shown that he prioritises the interest of the people and the unity of the country.
He said at a time when the state’s funds were seized, he made sure that there was no problem in Rivers; kept essential services active and worked tirelessly to avoid creating any problem for the federal government.
