The APC‘s concluded screening exercise for Rivers State House of Assembly aspirants has exposed the party’s internal power struggle between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
In what political observers are already describing as a carefully engineered purge, all 29 incumbent lawmakers loyal to Minister Wike sailed through the party’s screening committee without a hitch. Meanwhile, a sweeping majority of those linked to the Fubara camp were shown the door.
The numbers tell a damning story. Of the 98 aspirants who appeared before the committee, only 33 were cleared, and the composition of that list leaves little to interpretation. Former Obio/Akpor council chairman Chijioke Ihunwo and serving lawmakers Sokari Goodboy and Victor Oko-Jumbo, all widely regarded as strong allies of Governor Fubara, were among those not cleared by the party’s screening committee.
The 65 disqualified aspirants included several figures who had been vocal in their support of the sitting governor, and in contrast, incumbent members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to the FCT minister were cleared.
CLEARED ASPIRANTS (33)
The following aspirants were confirmed as cleared by the screening committee and are eligible to participate in the APC primaries for the 2027 Rivers State House of Assembly election:
- Maol Dumle
- Major M. Jack
- Nwabochi Frankline
- Ofiks K. Christopher
- Enemi Alabo George
- Tonye Smart Adoki
- Tekenari W. Granville
- Azeru Opara
- Igwe Obey Aforji
- Opuende Lolo Isaiah
- Ukalikpe Napoleon
- Hope Ugwumadu
- Kenneth Minimah
- Justina Aniton Okorji
- Onyema Rex Nwankwo
- Jumbo Soparagh
- Wami Solomon
- Gift Esede Ali
- Ejekwu Chisa Nathan
- Peter E. Abbey
- Loolo Bulabari Henrietta
- Barida Alice Samuel
- Ohanuna Bright N.
- Kue Yeghene
- Nwankwo Chimezie C.
- Emeji Gloria Chika
- Ejekwu Ezebunwo Leslie
- Okpokipoy Peters
- Arnold O. Davids
- Gerald C. Oforji
- Amadi Promise Amadi
- Opuene Thompson Atekebo
- Amakri Awowari
ASPIRANTS NOT CLEARED (65)
The following aspirants were disqualified from proceeding to the APC primaries. The committee cited reasons including attempted bribery of committee members, submission of unsworn affidavits, failure to present voter cards or party membership slips, conflicting dates of birth, irregularities in documentation, and nomination by individuals who were not financially up-to-date party members, among others.
- Orubibanugha Timothy
- Chime Eguma Ezebulike
- Onyema Loveday Hechiaru
- Tonye Briggs Oniyide
- Chris Okey Ochije
- Amua Isioma Henry
- Sokari Goodboy Sokari
- Chijioke Kemzunum Ihunwo
- Ideye Granville
- Nwoziri Chukwuemeka Best Bishop
- Oba Fred Ajubulaka
- Kpeden Kenneth
- Chigozie Emem Jr.
- Emeji Wisdom Chimele
- Gift Okere
- Jolly Benjamin Ngbor
- Luke Mobene Eneriene
- Nwankwoala Paul
- Prince Lezina Ngbor
- Bobby Abayomi
- Victor Oko Jumbo
- Reuben Vincent Obu
- Bellor Kingsley Waite
- Morris Prince Lelesi
- Claudius Princewill
- Abdurazaq Tamunodiepriye
- Fubara Goodluck Ohaka
- Berebupakabo Isaac Sekibo
- Prince Achor
- Sokari Samuel Reginald
- Wechie Ndubisi Raymond
- Tyger Ebemeniya Dumo
- Goodluck G. Menekpugi
- Gbosi Mathew Bardagara
- Tonye Garrick Tom-George
- Prince Emukuighro Fubara
- Tamunobaraiba George
- Obunezi O. Clinton
- Chinondu Wokocha
- Akpanah Ibibo
- Tamunokuro Alex Somiari
- Opakirite Tonye Lawson
- Nengisa Akuro-Egerton
- Okere C. Chigozie
- Igwe Princewill Ake
- Karibi Karibi Bobmanuel
- Chizobam Oba Wokekoro
- Tamunotonye Briggs
- Victory Victor Uchendu
- Crowther S. Snithers
- Green Tamunodienye
- Ibima Firstbury Garrick
- Atuzie Ntekachi Collins
- Gogo-Ogute Isaiah
- Murphy Deemua
- Adele Justice Nkanitye
- Williams Chimadhu
- Epelle Sotonye P.
- Awoala Daniel Wokoma
- Tamunotonye Lolomari
- Ejekwe Princewill Amos
- Oduye Tom-West
- Solomon Deesi Lenu
- Legborsi Sunday Yamaabana
- Macsunday Uziuke Ugwu
The committee cited procedural irregularities to justify the mass disqualifications from unsworn affidavits and absent voter cards to conflicting birth dates and invalid nominators.
Political observers are interpreting the failure of Fubara’s allies to scale through as more than just a routine internal party exercise.
They say it is the latest signal of the deepening political fault lines in Rivers, where Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Minister Nyesom Wike, remain locked in a prolonged struggle for political supremacy.
The roots of this conflict run deep. Fubara emerged as governor in 2023 with the backing of Wike, who has played a dominant role in the politics of Rivers State for nearly a decade.
However, months after assuming office, cracks appeared in their relationship over the control of the state’s political structure, appointments, and influence within the government.
The dispute rapidly escalated into one of the country’s most intense intra-party political battles, splitting the Rivers State House of Assembly into rival factions loyal to either Wike or Fubara.
The crisis led to impeachment threats against the governor, violent confrontations around the Assembly complex, a state of emergency in the state, and repeated interventions by political leaders and security agencies.
Sunday’s screening outcome is merely the latest chapter in that saga. This development comes barely three months after a high-profile reconciliation effort led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, widely described as the third major attempt to restore unity between the feuding factions.
The peace move had initially raised hopes of stability. However, investigations reveal that beneath the surface, tensions never fully subsided. As one senior party official, who requested anonymity, put it bluntly: “The peace was more of a ceasefire than a resolution. What you are seeing now is a continuation of the struggle for control—just in a more strategic form.”
The 2027 electoral cycle is now clearly in view, and both camps are positioning aggressively. One of the major agreements in the peace deal was that Fubara must not seek re-election in 2027 and that he must join the All Progressives Congress.
Last December, the governor took everybody by surprise when he defected from the PDP and pitched a tent with the APC, a move widely seen as the surest way of escaping the incessant impeachment threats against him by the House of Assembly.
Yet his defection to the APC appears to have bought him little protection within a party whose Rivers chapter is firmly under Wike’s orbit.
Aspirants aggrieved by the outcome have been directed to channel their appeals through the party secretariat at No. 268B Aba Road, Port Harcourt, with the appeals process scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, at 10 a.m.
Whether those appeals will yield any meaningful reversals remains to be seen, but given the committee’s apparent alignment with Wike’s political interests, few are holding their breath.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The APC’s screening exercise in Rivers State was never just about party primaries; it was a political statement.
With all 29 Wike-aligned lawmakers cleared and virtually every Fubara-backed aspirant shown the door, the exercise has exposed what many already suspected: that the so-called peace between Wike and Fubara was a temporary ceasefire, not a genuine resolution.
