It was an unpalatable outing for River State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara on Sunday following his reported encounter with the screening panel of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
While other serving governors were successfully screened on Saturday, Governor Fubara was conspicuously absent from the exercise.
Sunday Telegraph gathered that the Rivers State Governor, however, arrived at the Plateau Governor’s Lodge around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday but angrily left the screening room barely five minutes later and headed straight to his unmarked vehicle parked at the entrance of the screening venue.
When approached by journalists on how the exercise went, Fubara, who appeared visibly upset, simply said: “No comment.”
Journalists at the venue gathered that the process did not go well with the Rivers State Governor, fueling speculations that unresolved political issues surrounding the state may have affected the exercise.
Speaking after the exercise, the National Secretary of the APC and Secretary of the Screening Committee, Ajibola Basiru, said, “It appears that everybody must appear before the screening committee, of course, that is necessary as part of the process. After the exercise, the screening committee will issue its report.
“As of now, the screening committee, when it has completed seeing everybody it is supposed to see, will now sit down and come up with reports on the screening. As of now, there is no report from the screening committee.”
Fubara’s latest ordeal may not be unconnected with the prolonged political crisis in Rivers State involving his estranged political godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.
The crisis between the two men began shortly after Fubara assumed office as governor, leading to a bitter power struggle over the control of the political structure in the state. The rift polarised the Rivers State House of Assembly, triggered mass defections and culminated in a series of legal and political battles.
Wike and his loyalists had repeatedly accused Fubara of abandoning the political structure that brought him to power, while Fubara’s camp insisted the governor must be allowed to govern independently.
At the peak of the crisis, Wike had publicly declared that Fubara would not secure a second term as governor, a statement that further deepened tensions within the Rivers political landscape.
It is believed the lingering feud between the two political heavyweights may continue to shape the governor’s political future ahead of the 2027 elections.
