The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has cleared aspirants loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, while disqualifying all aspirants believed to be aligned with Governor Siminalayi Fubara ahead of the party’s 2027 State House of Assembly primaries.
The party disclosed that 33 aspirants were cleared to contest in the primaries, while 65 others failed to scale through the screening process.
Among those affected are 32 aspirants reportedly loyal to Governor Fubara, all of whom were disqualified from participating in the exercise.
Meanwhile, serving members of the Rivers State House of Assembly said to be loyal to Wike were not cleared by the party.
In a statement issued by the APC State Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, aspirants who purchased the House of Assembly Expression of Interest and Nomination forms were advised to check their screening status at the party’s state secretariat located at 268B Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
Ikenga also directed dissatisfied aspirants to channel appeals arising from the screening exercise through the party secretariat.
According to him, the appeal process will take place on Tuesday, May 12, by 10 a.m. at the APC secretariat.
The party cited several reasons for the disqualification of aspirants, including failure to meet membership requirements, submission of incomplete documentation, irregularities in nomination forms, and inconsistencies in personal records.
Other grounds listed include alleged inducement and attempted bribery of screening committee members, failure to present voter cards or party membership cards, conflicting dates of birth, invalid affidavits, irregular membership details of nominators, and failure to provide the required number of nominators across wards.
The APC also noted that some affidavits submitted by aspirants failed to disclose material details relating to NECO certificates.
