The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda, has said Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was cleared by the party’s screening committee before voluntarily withdrawing from the party’s governorship primary.
Fubara had on May 20 announced his withdrawal from the governorship race, saying the decision was made in the interest of peace and unity in Rivers State.
“I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” the governor had said in a personally signed statement.
Before his withdrawal, Fubara and Kingsley Chinda, an ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, were screened for the APC governorship primary.
Fubara’s appearance after the screening exercise had sparked speculations that he may have been disqualified, as he declined to speak with journalists and appeared visibly downcast.
The screening panel had earlier disqualified several associates of the governor in the Rivers State House of Assembly primaries while clearing aspirants believed to be loyal to Wike.
However, speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, Yilwatda dismissed claims that Fubara failed the screening process.
“He pulled out; he stepped down. It is personal to him. He bought the forms, came for screening, passed the screening, and we were waiting for the primaries before he opted to step down,” Yilwatda said.
The APC chairman also rejected suggestions that Wike influenced Fubara’s withdrawal from the race.
According to him, the FCT minister is not a member of the APC and could not dictate the party’s internal affairs.
“Wike is not in our party. He is in PDP,” Yilwatda said.
