As political shockwaves continue to reverberate across Rivers State following Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s dramatic withdrawal from the APC governorship primaries, the ruling party has moved swiftly to deflect mounting accusations that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike orchestrated the governor’s exit from the race.
The APC insists the outcome was driven purely by the party’s own internal rules and constitutional processes — not by Wike’s enormous political influence in Rivers State.
The APC Screening Committee cited Article 9.3 of the Party Constitution, which restricts the right to vote or be voted for to “only fully registered and financially up-to-date members,” as the primary legal basis for the mass disqualification of 65 out of 98 aspirants who appeared for the Rivers State House of Assembly screening exercise.
However, sources within the party confirmed that many of those disqualified were associates of Governor Fubara who recently sought a platform in the APC amid the ongoing crisis, while aspirants linked to Wike were cleared to contest.
The APC screening committee disqualified dozens of Fubara associates in the Rivers State House of Assembly primaries but cleared aspirants loyal to Wike — a development that fuelled intense speculation about Wike’s behind-the-scenes role in the entire exercise.
Fubara eventually announced his withdrawal from the governorship primary in a personally signed statement, declaring that he stepped aside following “deep reflection and extensive consultations” with his family, friends, and political associates, and pledging to support whoever emerged as the APC candidate.
The governor maintained he stepped aside “not out of weakness, fear, or surrender, but out of conviction and sacrifice so that Rivers State may move forward in peace and unity.”
Political analysts, however, remain unconvinced by the party’s official narrative, with most observers agreeing that the Rivers State political crisis has effectively been resolved on Wike’s terms — whether that constitutes peace or simply the end of resistance remains a matter of deep perspective.
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