PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA – The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly dismissed widespread speculations and media reports claiming that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, forced the incumbent Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to step down from the upcoming 2027 gubernatorial race.
According to the state chapter of the party, Governor Fubara’s dramatic withdrawal from the internal political contest was not an act of political submission or intimidation. Instead, the party clarified that it was a highly strategic component of a broader, structured political understanding designed to permanently restore peace, administrative focus, and long-term stability to the oil-rich Niger Delta state following months of destructive infighting and high-stakes tension within the state's political architecture.
The clarification followed an unexpected announcement on Wednesday night, May 20, 2026, when Governor Fubara officially declared his decision to pull out of the party's upcoming gubernatorial primary elections. In a detailed and emotionally charged public statement personally signed by him, titled “My Decision to Withdraw from the Rivers State Gubernatorial Primaries,” the governor explained that the decision was reached after extensive, deep consultations with his immediate family, key political allies, and closest institutional associates. He further pledged his total loyalty to the party, promising to throw his full administrative weight and political machinery behind whoever eventually emerges as the APC’s official flagbearer for the 2027 election.
The Rivers State governor emphasized that his withdrawal was a selfless sacrifice made in the larger, overarching interest of unity, brotherly love, and political peace in the state. He maintained that the socio-economic stability and progress of the regular citizens of Rivers State must always take precedence over any individual political ambition or second-term aspiration.
Reacting swiftly to the wave of rumors that immediately flooded the political space alleging that the governor was bullied out of the ticket, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Comrade Chibuike Ikenga, stated categorically that the decision was never imposed on the governor by Chief Nyesom Wike or any powerful political bloc loyal to the former governor.
Speaking during a live, hard-hitting interview on ARISE Television, Ikenga described the governor’s exit from the race as the highly mature outcome of an internal, gentlemanly agreement aimed strictly at charting a completely new, frictionless political direction for the complex state. According to the party’s spokesperson, the executive leadership of the APC in Rivers State independently and collectively birthed this decision after conducting exhaustive, round-the-clock consultations among various critical party stakeholders, elders, and grassroots structures.
> “Though Wike is a very serious colossus in Rivers State and Nigeria at large, he doesn’t influence what happens in Rivers State,” Ikenga stated during the television broadcast, attempting to de-escalate the narrative of Wike's absolute political dominance in the region. “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.”
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The political crisis in Rivers State, which had previously polarized the state House of Assembly, local government administrations, and the ruling elite, has been a source of intense national scrutiny. Observers note that Governor Fubara's withdrawal represents a massive, unexpected concession that could effectively defuse the political time bomb in the state. By publicly framing the exit as a consensus-driven peace pact rather than a forced ouster, the Rivers State APC leadership is actively working to preserve the dignity of the governor's office while simultaneously repositioning the party structure for a unified, formidable campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections.
