The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has commenced the hearing of appeals filed by aspirants seeking the party’s ticket for the Rivers State House of Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The appeal hearing started on Tuesday at the APC state secretariat in Port Harcourt, where 19 petitions were submitted before the appeal committee for consideration.
Speaking with journalists, the Chairman of the Appeal Panel, Abdul Mahmud, explained that the panel was set up to review complaints arising from the screening exercise conducted by the party on Saturday and Sunday.
The appeal process further confirmed the authenticity of the list of cleared and disqualified aspirants earlier released by the party ahead of the forthcoming primaries.
According to the screening results, 33 aspirants were cleared to participate in the primary elections, while 65 others were disqualified.
Mahmud assured stakeholders that the appeal panel would carry out its assignment fairly, transparently and without bias.
He also dismissed claims that the disqualification of some aspirants was influenced by alleged factional interests within the party.
Recall that all 32 aspirants believed to be loyal to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, were reportedly disqualified during the screening exercise.
Responding to allegations of political bias, Mahmud maintained that decisions would strictly depend on the documents submitted by aspirants during screening.
“People have raised the issue of factionalisation of the party in the state, saying they suspect that they were not cleared because they belong to one faction.
“I’m not interested in your faction; I’m interested in your documents before me. It is your documents that I speak to. And I’ve just seen documents that I’ve spoken to,” he said.
Mahmud also expressed concern over allegations involving one of the aspirants, Tonye Tom-George, whom the screening committee reportedly accused of attempting to induce members of the committee with money concealed inside an envelope submitted alongside his passport photograph.
According to him, although Tom-George filed an appeal, he had not appeared before the panel as of Tuesday.
Also reacting to the controversy, the Rivers State APC Publicity Secretary, Chibuike Ikenga, dismissed claims that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, influenced the screening process.
Ikenga noted that Wike is not a member of the APC despite publicly supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for re-election.
He stated that it was unfair to link the former Rivers governor to the screening outcome.
His comments followed allegations that many of the 33 cleared aspirants were loyalists of the FCT Minister and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Ikenga maintained that all 98 aspirants were subjected to the same screening requirements in line with party guidelines, electoral laws and constitutional provisions.
According to him, the appeal panel was established to independently review whether the decisions of the screening committee were fair and properly conducted.
“The Appeal Panel is there to take another look at whether the decisions taken by the Screening Committee were properly done and fair.
“And that’s the process we are in now, and it’s going on successfully,” he said.
He added that the party made the screening results publicly available at the state secretariat to enable aspirants verify their status and decide on their next steps.
The appeal process is expected to conclude on Wednesday as the party intensifies preparations for its primary elections.
Among the disqualified aspirants who appeared before the panel were serving members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Victor Oko-Jumbo, Sokari Goodboy and Adolphus Timothy Oruibienimigha.
