Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers state, passed the party’s governorship screening but pulled out of the race willingly.
The governor had on May 20 announced his withdrawal from the
APC governorship primary, saying he stepped down out of conviction and
sacrifice for the state to move forward in peace and unity.
“I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to
support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” Fubara said in a
personally signed statement.
Before Fubara’s withdrawal, the party had screened him and
Kingsley Chinda, an ally of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital
territory (FCT), for the APC gubernatorial primary.
Fubara, who appeared visibly downcast after the screening,
declined to speak with journalists, fuelling speculations that the committee
had disqualified him.
During the earlier screening exercise, the APC panel
disqualified dozens of Fubara’s associates in the Rivers State House of
Assembly primaries but cleared aspirants loyal to Wike.
But speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today
programme on Monday, Yilwatda said the screening panel cleared the governor for
the primaries, but he later chose to withdraw from the race.
“He (Fubara) 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 dismissed insinuations that Fubara’s
withdrawal may have been influenced by Wike, insisting the FCT minister is not
a member of the ruling party and could not have dictated its internal
processes.
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