APC Crisis Deepens in Rivers as Wike Loyalists Cleared, Fubara Camp Disqualified Ahead of 2027 Assembly Primaries
Fresh political tensions have erupted within the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, after the party cleared loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, while disqualifying aspirants believed to be aligned with Governor Siminalayi Fubara ahead of the 2027 Rivers State House of Assembly primaries.
PulseNets learnt on Monday that the APC screening exercise approved 33 aspirants to participate in the primaries, while 65 others were disqualified from the process.
A breakdown of the screening outcome obtained by PulseNets showed that all 32 aspirants reportedly linked to Fubara’s political structure were screened out of the exercise.
Meanwhile, serving members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Wike were successfully cleared by the party’s screening committee to participate in the primaries.
The latest development is expected to further escalate the already mounting political crisis between supporters of the Rivers governor and loyalists of the former governor, as both camps continue to battle for political control ahead of the 2027 general elections in Rivers State.
In a statement issued by the Rivers APC Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, aspirants who purchased nomination and expression of interest forms for the State House of Assembly election were directed to confirm their screening status at the party secretariat located along Aba Road in Port Harcourt.
Ikenga further told PulseNets that aspirants dissatisfied with the outcome of the screening process could proceed to file appeals through the party secretariat.
According to the statement obtained by PulseNets, the appeal hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, by 10 a.m.
The APC screening committee, in its report, outlined multiple reasons for the disqualification of affected aspirants during the exercise.
The committee reportedly accused several aspirants of submitting incomplete, inconsistent, or questionable documents during the screening process.
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Among the reasons cited were: “Nominations by persons who are not financially up to date members of the Party, contrary to Article 9.3 of the Party Constitution, inducement and attempted bribery of Committee members, submission of unsworn affidavits, failure to present voters cards, failure to present Party membership slips or cards, conflicting dates of birth, failure to confirm payment of membership dues by nominators, irregular party membership numbers of nominators, inconsistencies in names appearing in submitted documents, insufficient nominators with required numbers which fall short of three nominations per ward, invalid affidavits that failed to disclose material particulars relating to NECO certificates.”
