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APC Screening Committee Disqualifies Fubara's 32 Loyalists, Clears Wike's Allies as Fubara Walks Out of Screening in Abuja
The APC screening exercise in Abuja took a dramatic turn when Governor Fubara walked out after the disqualification of his loyalists.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) screening committee for the Rivers State House of Assembly elections has disqualified all 32 aspirants adopted by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, while clearing candidates loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, in a move that deepens the already bitter political fracture in the oil‑rich state. The decision, announced in Abuja on Sunday, also saw about 56 aspirants in total screened out, including former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Victor Oko Jumbo. The mass disqualification triggered a dramatic walkout by Governor Fubara, who reportedly stormed out of the screening venue, casting a cloud over his re‑election bid and signalling that the Wike‑Fubara proxy war has now fully migrated to the party primary arena.
The screening committee cited various irregularities — including incomplete documentation, alleged anti‑party activities, and failure to meet residency requirements — for the disqualifications. However, critics within the Fubara camp have dismissed the exercise as an orchestrated purge designed to take Wike's side of the party's bitter divide. Wike, for his part, has publicly distanced himself from the controversy, telling reporters on Monday: "Count me out, I am not a member of the APC." The statement, widely viewed as deliberately cryptic given Wike's role as an APC‑appointed minister and his well‑known influence over Rivers APC structures, did little to calm the waters.
What This Means for Rivers Politics
The disqualifications, if upheld by the party's appeals panel, effectively decapitate the Fubara faction within the Rivers APC and hand control of the party's legislative ticket to Wike's allies. For Fubara, who has been locked in a bitter struggle with Wike since shortly after taking office, the screening outcome represents a near‑fatal blow to his hopes of securing a second term on the APC platform — unless he can successfully challenge the disqualifications or find an alternative path. The former factional Speaker, Victor Oko Jumbo, who was also disqualified, described the exercise as "a script written in advance," though he stopped short of announcing his next move.
The crisis is far from over. With the appeals process yet to run its course and the courts likely to be dragged into the dispute, the Rivers APC remains a tinderbox. And for a state that has long been a bellwether of national political trends, the fallout from this screening could reverberate far beyond Port Harcourt.
Stay tuned to Unuevbo TV for continuing coverage of the Rivers APC crisis, the Wike-Fubara power struggle, and the 2027 election landscape.
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