The renewed political hostility between the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has taken a dramatic turn as the House of Assembly Screening Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, disqualified all 32 aspirants approved by the governor.
Meanwhile, the four-man committee, led by Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol, cleared all 29 serving members of the state House of Assembly loyal to Wike to run in the APC primaries for the Assembly elections in 2027.
This comes as the APC screening committee rejects the list of cleared and uncleared contestants for the 2027 elections, claiming that it did not originate from the committee.
The House Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, was said to have picked the nomination form for the House of Representatives.
The state House of Assembly Screening Committee screened 98 aspirants for the APC.
The committee’s report, which was sighted yesterday following a two-day screening on Saturday and Sunday at the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt, designated Muraina Ajibola as Chairman, Ishaku Yamawo as Secretary, and Abdullah Adamu and Danjuma Samuel as members.
According to the report, the committee followed an open, orderly, and participative approach to assure fairness to all hopefuls, and it screened all 98 who showed up.
The report read: “The screening committee constituted by the National Working Committee of the party respectfully submits its report on the screening exercise conducted for aspirants seeking nomination on the platform of the party for election into the Rivers State House of Assembly for the 2027 general elections.”
The committee also stated that the exercise was largely peaceful and orderly and that aspirants behaved maturely and decorously throughout the exercise, with the exception of Mr. Victor Oko-Jumbo, who insisted on entering the screening venue with a retinue of security aides, resulting in a disagreement with Nigeria Police Force officers on duty.
While noting that the committee received petitions against several applicants from concerned individuals, it stated that aspirants provided complete and adequate paperwork, with anomalies in some submissions being recognized.
According to the source, three pro-Fubara MPs, Oko-Jumbo, Sokari Goodboy, and Timothy Orubibanugha, as well as a renowned governor ally, Chijiole Ihunwo, were disqualified, among other loyalists.
“The committee respectfully recommends the following aspirants who successfully satisfied the requirements of the screening exercise and are hereby cleared to participate in the party primaries for the Rivers State House of Assembly elections: Maol Dumle (serving deputy speaker), Major Jack (serving House leader), and Enemi Alabo George (serving House spokesman),” among 30 others.
The committee listed 10 reasons for the “non-clearance” of the other aspirants as follows: “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; and conflicting dates of birth.”
Committee dismisses list of cleared, uncleared State Assembly aspirants.
It was discovered that 65 of them, who are directly tied to the governor of the state, were not cleared; however, 33 of them, who are loyalists of the minister of FCT, Wike, were cleared by the committee.
However, in a disclaimer issued yesterday, the secretary of the committee, Tanko Yamowa, said, “The attention of the party leadership has been drawn to the circulation of a purported list of cleared and uncleared aspirants for the Rivers State House of Assembly currently making rounds across various media platforms.
“We wish to categorically state that the said publication is false, unauthorized, and does not emanate from the appropriate party authorities.
“It is important to note that the screening exercise conducted by the committee headed by Ajibola was concluded less than 24 hours ago, and no official list has been released by the party at this time.
“As a responsible political party, we are guided by established procedures, rules, and timelines regarding the publication of screening results and related information. Any official communication concerning the status of aspirants will be communicated through the appropriate channels in due course.
“We, therefore, urge party faithful, aspirants, supporters, and the general public to disregard the purported list and treat it as the handiwork of mischief makers whose intention is to create confusion and unnecessary tension within the party.”
Wike distanced himself from the Rivers APC screening, saying, “I am not a member of the APC, so I don’t know what is happening in their screening. Even if they publish the results, why would I comment? I don’t know the reasons they have,” Wike told journalists during an inspection tour of ongoing infrastructure projects across the territory, ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office.
“What pertains to me is what I will talk about, not what does not concern me. I’m not a native doctor, nor am I a prophet,” he said.
Speaking on the emerging political alignment in Rivers State ahead of 2027, Wike said his rainbow coalition would be guided by electoral pragmatism rather than fixed party loyalties.
“That is the essence of the rainbow coalition in Rivers State. We will look at where we have strength, compare notes, and vote accordingly,” he said.
