Port Harcourt — The political atmosphere in Rivers State has reached a boiling point following the release of a controversial screening report by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 House of Assembly primary elections. Loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara have vehemently dismissed the findings of the screening committee, labeling the exercise a coordinated hatchet job designed to dismantle the Governor’s legislative influence ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The outcry follows a weekend of intense vetting in Port Harcourt, where the Ajibola Muraina-led screening committee evaluated nearly 100 hopefuls seeking the party’s ticket for the state legislature. The resulting document has sparked a firestorm of allegations, with Fubara’s allies crying foul over a process they claim was rigged from the outset to favor individuals aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The statistics released in the report have provided significant ammunition for those alleging bias. Out of the 98 aspirants who presented themselves for vetting, the committee cleared only 33 individuals, effectively disqualifying a staggering 65 candidates. A closer look at the "successful" list reveals a pattern that has stunned political observers in the state: 28 of the 33 cleared candidates are sitting lawmakers who have remained steadfast in their loyalty to Nyesom Wike. Among those given a clean bill of health is the Deputy Speaker of the House, Dumle Maol, along with other key members of the Wike-aligned legislative bloc.
In sharp contrast, the list of disqualified candidates reads like a directory of Governor Fubara’s most vocal supporters. High-profile figures and local political heavyweights such as Victor Oko-Jumbo, Sokari Goodboy, Timothy Orubibanugha, and Chijioke Ihunwo were all listed as failed aspirants. The systematic exclusion of these individuals has led to a chorus of "everything was already rigged" from the Governor’s camp, with supporters arguing that the committee was merely acting out a pre-written script to clear the path for a pro-Wike legislature.
In its defense, the Ajibola Muraina-led committee has maintained that the vetting process was transparent, rigorous, and governed strictly by the provisions of the APC constitution. The report cited a litany of technicalities to justify the massive wave of disqualifications. These reasons ranged from missing permanent voter cards (PVCs) and inconsistent information in sworn affidavits to discrepancies in party membership records and the failure of nominators to pay their party dues.
The committee’s report also contained detailed and controversial narratives regarding the conduct of certain aspirants. For instance, the document alleged that Victor Oko-Jumbo attempted to force his way into the screening venue with a cohort of security aides, causing a disturbance. Even more explosive was an allegation leveled against Tonye Garrick Tom-George, who was accused of attempting to bribe committee members by offering an envelope stuffed with cash. Tom-George has since vehemently denied the accusation, describing it as a fabrication intended to destroy his reputation, and has threatened legal action for defamation.
Despite the committee’s insistence that the exercise was conducted in an orderly fashion, the credibility of the entire process took a massive blow from within. The committee’s own secretary, Tanko Yamowa, issued a stinging disclaimer shortly after the report began circulating. Yamowa distanced himself from the document, labeling the circulated list as unauthorized, premature, and false. He insisted that the committee had only just concluded its primary work and that no official, sanctioned results had been approved for public release at that time.
This internal contradiction has provided Fubara’s supporters with the evidence they need to claim the process was compromised. They argue that the "leak" of the list was a deliberate psychological tactic to demoralize the Governor’s base. Disqualified aspirants have expressed deep frustration, pointing to what they call a "mathematical impossibility"—a scenario where every single pro-Wike candidate satisfied the technical requirements while nearly every pro-Fubara candidate failed on minor administrative grounds.
One affected aspirant, Gogo-Ogute Isaiah, who was seeking to represent the Andoni constituency, lamented the lack of formal communication. He noted that he had met every stated requirement and paid all necessary fees, only to learn of his disqualification via social media platforms. He questioned how a professional screening committee could disqualify two-thirds of its aspirants without providing them a formal opportunity to rectify what were often described as typographical or clerical errors.
Other critics have pointed out that in previous election cycles, minor errors in affidavits or dues records were typically treated as rectifiable mistakes. In this instance, however, they claim these minor flaws were weaponized as "career-ending" technicalities to prune the field of any opposition to the Wike faction. Solomon Lenu and other affected candidates have warned that this "exclusionary politics" is pushing the Rivers State APC toward a looming crisis of confidence and a potential implosion before the first ballot is even cast in 2027.
The deepening divide between the Fubara and Wike camps has now effectively moved from the halls of the Government House to the internal machinery of the APC. With 65 aspirants currently in political limbo and alleging a "pre-planned script," the party faces a significant challenge in maintaining unity. Analysts suggest that if these disqualifications are not reviewed by the party’s national leadership, the APC in Rivers State risks entering the 2027 polls as a fractured house, potentially handing an advantage to opposition parties.
As the disqualified candidates prepare to file formal appeals, the political temperature in Port Harcourt continues to rise. The Governor’s supporters have vowed to challenge the "Muraina Report" at every level, insisting that the will of the party’s grassroots members cannot be subverted by a committee’s pen. For now, the Rivers APC remains a house divided, with the shadow of the 2027 elections looming large over a screening process that many believe has more to do with settling scores than selecting candidates.
