The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has denied allegations that aspirants loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, were favoured during the party’s screening exercise for House of Assembly positions.
The party dismissed claims that aspirants believed to be aligned with Governor Siminalayi Fubara were deliberately denied clearance, describing the reports as misleading and baseless.
Speaking with journalists at the APC State Secretariat on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Chibuike Ikenga, insisted that the screening process was conducted fairly, peacefully and transparently.
Ikenga also rejected attempts to link Wike to the outcome of the exercise, stressing that the former Rivers governor is not a registered member of the APC and therefore has no influence over the party’s internal screening process.
According to him, although Wike has publicly declared support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid, associating him with the screening decisions was unfair and without merit.
The APC spokesman explained that the screening committee handled the exercise independently and submitted its report after reviewing all aspirants who participated in the process.
He disclosed that out of the 98 aspirants screened for the Rivers State House of Assembly primaries, only 33 were cleared, while 65 failed to scale through the exercise.
Ikenga further stated that the party had already constituted an appeal committee to review complaints and petitions submitted by dissatisfied aspirants.
According to him, the appeal process has been progressing smoothly without any disruption.
Chairman of the Appeal Committee, Abdul Mahmud, confirmed that the committee received the screening report containing details of aspirants who were cleared and those who were not cleared.
Mahmud said the committee had since begun reviewing petitions filed by affected aspirants and would conclude its assignment on May 13, 2026.
He explained that some aspirants who failed to submit required documents during the initial screening had been given another opportunity to provide the missing documents before the end of the appeal process.
According to Mahmud, the committee places more emphasis on documentary evidence than verbal explanations.
He stressed that decisions were based strictly on the documents presented before the panel.
One of the affected aspirants, Gogo Friday, who is contesting for the Andoni Constituency seat, criticised the party for allegedly failing to officially communicate the reasons for his non-clearance.
Friday said he purchased nomination forms and participated fully in the screening exercise but was later informed that some individuals who nominated him had not paid their party dues.
He also disclosed that discrepancies in the names appearing on some of his documents were cited as part of the reasons he was not cleared.
Another aspirant, Atuzie Collins, who is seeking to represent Obio/Akpor Constituency II, said he was initially denied clearance because of a spelling discrepancy on his voter’s card.
Collins explained that he had already sworn an affidavit to correct the error and argued that the issue should not have been enough to disqualify him from the process.
The controversy surrounding the screening exercise comes amid growing political tensions in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly between supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and loyalists of former governor Nyesom Wike.
