APC explains Fubara’s withdrawal from second term race, says Wike not involved

The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has explained the circumstances surrounding Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s withdrawal from the party’s governorship primary election ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The party maintained that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, is not a member of the APC and did not influence the party’s decision regarding Fubara’s second term ambition.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News, the APC Publicity Secretary in Rivers State, Chibuike Ikenga, said the decision was taken collectively by party members in the interest of peace and progress in the state.

“Though he [Wike] is a very serious colossus in Rivers State and Nigeria at large, he doesn’t influence what happens in Rivers State.

“We the members of APC discussed and took our decision solely on an agreement we had to chart another course, that is why the governor took that step for the interest of peace and progress of the state,” Ikenga said.

DAILY POST reports that Governor Fubara had disclosed that he faced intense pressure ahead of the APC governorship primaries and noted that not everything that transpired during the process could be publicly revealed.

Fubara’s administration has been marked by a prolonged political crisis involving his predecessor, Wike, who currently serves as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had repeatedly insisted that Fubara would not return for a second term as governor.

Meanwhile, public policy analyst and political communications strategist, Kenny Okolugbo, has said Fubara should not have purchased the APC governorship nomination form in the first place.

Speaking on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’, Okolugbo said Wike had earlier made it clear that there was an agreement preventing Fubara from seeking a second term.

“Wike made it very clear and didn’t hide the fact that there was an agreement of Fubara not going for a second term.

“But the more time drew closer, the more it looked like Fubara was going to breach the agreement.

“When you have 30 members of the House of Assembly and 27 of them are against you, you must try to poach them and if you can’t poach them, then you must capitulate,” he stated.