Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara’s re-election bid on the platform of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has collapsed, according to THEWILL, after failing to get the support of President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, his political godfather.
Both Fubara and Wike have been struggling for supremacy and control of the APC machinery in the oil-rich State ahead of the 2027 general poll.
An authoritative party source, who asked to remain anonymous, told THEWILL that the President directed the National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda to give Wike full control of the party’s structure in Rivers State and approve all his nominees as candidates of the party in the next election. “Wike has nominated Kingsley Chinda, who currently represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives as his preferred choice for the APC’s governorship ticket.”
Fubara had unsuccessfully sought the president’s support. “The President said he should go and talk to Wike about it. If Wike agrees then he has his full support. As you already know, Wike has repeatedly said Fubara will not get a second term. So we will not give him the ticket to our party,” the source said.
THEWILL reports that Chinda was until last week a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and served as Minority Leader in the House. He was cleared by the APC screening panel last week to run in the governorship primary.
Out of the 31 incumbent governors on the platform of the APC, 13 first-term governors are seeking a second term in office in the 2027 election. They have no opposition. In some states like Lagos, President Bola Tinubu’s home state, and Borno, Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s state, the party has chosen its governorship candidates through consensus. In states like Ogun and Nasarawa where the outgoing governors have got stakeholders to endorse preferred candidates, primaries are being held by the party in deference to aspirants opposed to the consensus mode of choosing its candidates.
Yet, none of the 31 states governed by the party has the challenge facing Rivers State where the polity has been polarised by a prolonged rift between Fubara and Wike, who has decided, with the subtle support of the APC and President Tinubu, that the governor will not get a second term.
Their prolonged battle entered its crucial and final stage with the ongoing party primaries which began yesterday, Saturday, May 16, 2026, with the conduct of the primaries for the House of Representatives aspirants who would contest the available 13 seats on the platform of the APC. In his first round, Fubara lost to Wike.
As announced the previous day by the state APC Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, in a statement titled, ‘Final List of Aspirants for the House of Representatives Primary Election for Saturday, 16th May, 2026’, the list of cleared and disqualified aspirants showed that the outcome of the exercise was foretold.
FUBARA Vs WIKE’S ASPIRING LEGISLATORS
THEWILL gathered that recent screening exercises conducted by the APC for National and State Assembly aspirants have further strengthened perceptions that Wike’s loyalists now dominate the Rivers APC structure. In what many political observers describe as a major setback for Fubara’s camp, the APC House of Representatives Screening Committee disqualified three serving lawmakers widely identified as loyal to the governor from participating in the party’s primaries. Those disqualified include Hon. Anderson Allison, Hon. Awaji-Inombek Abiante and Hon. Boma Goodhead — lawmakers who openly aligned with Fubara during the prolonged political crisis that fractured Rivers politics.
The Rivers State House of Assembly Screening Committee also cleared only 33 aspirants, while disqualifying 65 others over alleged compliance and documentation-related infractions. The committee, chaired by Muraina Ajibola, cited reasons including alleged inducement of officials, invalid affidavits, irregular membership documentation, inconsistencies in names and dates of birth, insufficient nominators and failure to comply with party guidelines.
However, the pattern of the disqualifications has continued to fuel controversy because many aspirants linked to Fubara’s camp and other rival blocs were screened out, while aspirants associated with Wike’s political structure were largely cleared. Among those reportedly disqualified are Chijoke Ihunwo, Victor Oko-Jumbo and Sokari Goodboy, all believed to be aligned with competing political tendencies within the Rivers APC.
Hon. Anderson Alisson, currently represents Okrika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency, while Hon. Abinate Awaji Imombek represents Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, and Hon. Boma Goodhead, represents Kuku-Toru/Asari-Toru Federal Constituency.
Hon. Hart Cyril, representing Degema/Bonny Constituency; Hon. Blessing Amadi, representing Port Harcourt II Federal Constituency; Hon. Dumnamene Dekor representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency; Hon. Solomon Bob, representing Abua/Odual and Ahoada East constituency; Hon. Uche Felix Nwaeke, representing Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo Federal Constituency; Hon. Victor Chukwuemele Obuzor, representing Rivers Ahoada West Ogba Egbema Ndoni Federal Constituency and Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule who replaces Kingsley Chinda who bought the APC governorship forms). Other allies of the minister were also cleared to replace the three disqualified Rep members.
Remarkably, the three Rep members, Hon. Alisson, Hon. Imombek and Hon. Goodhead was part of the lawmakers who took sides with Governor Fubara during the political crisis in Rivers State. They were also among the four lawmakers who defected with the governor to the APC.
The fourth Rep member, Boniface Sunday Emerengwa, is said to have got the Senate nomination forms, but the final list is not yet out as the primary for the senatorial position, according to the party’s timetable, will be held on Monday, May 18, 2026. The State House of Assembly will follow on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, while the governorship will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2026.
However, as the primary for the Reps was being concluded, another round of crisis broke out on Saturday following the disqualification of a former presidential aspirant on the party’s platform, Tien Jack-Rick, from aspiring for the Rivers West Senatorial race and the clearance of a Wike loyalist, a former state PDP Chairman, who joined the APC three months ago, Felix Obua. Jack-Rich was one of the aspirants during the APC presidential primary held in July 2022.
“How can our party allow only one man who is not a member of our party to make decisions or dictate the direction of our party? National Coordinator, Dr. Bilal Galadima, and General Secretary, Hon. James Ogenyi, of the Conference of APC Support Groups, said in a statement made available to journalists on Saturday, adding, “How can our party disqualify Jack-Rich, a former presidential aspirant who has been loyal and supported our party for the last 13 years, only for our party to choose Felix Obua, a Wike loyalist who only joined the party three months ago?”
According to them, only aspirants aligned with Wike were cleared to contest for elective positions in the state. The third round of primaries involving the Assembly, to be held on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, is already predetermined. The governor’s loyalists failed the screening while all Wike’s loyalists scaled through.
In the fourth and final round, Governor Fubara himself will enter the ring with two other Wike’s chosen contenders, Hon. Kingsley Chinda and Dax George-Kelly, a director-general of the Border Communities Development Agency, BCDA, alongside Tonye Cole, a former governorship candidate.
-Ripples
