On Thursday, the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) declared Kingsley Chinda as its governorship candidate for Rivers State ahead of the 2027 general election.

The Chairman of the party’s governorship primary election committee and returning officer, Bitrus Kwamoti, made this announcement after collation of results from the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.

Kwamoti said: “I, Kwamoti Bitrus, Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee, hereby certified that I am the Returning Officer for the Rivers State Governorship Primary Election held on this day, 21st day of May, 2026.

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“The name of the aspirant, which is the sole aspirant, is Chinda Ogundu Kingsley. He scored the total number of votes, 268,497.

“Ogundu Kingsley, having satisfied the requirements of the APC constitution and guidelines and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner of the primary election and is, in return, elected as the party’s governorship candidate for Rivers State.”

The Rivers APC governorship primary attracted significant political attention amid the lingering crisis in the state and the influence of allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, within the party structure.

There had also been widespread speculation over the political future of Governor Siminalayi Fubara following reports that he withdrew from the APC governorship primary race.

The emergence of Chinda as the party’s candidate is expected to shape political alignments in Rivers State as preparations intensify for the 2027 governorship election.