ABUJA, Nigeria: The All Progressives Congress stated on Monday that Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara voluntarily withdrew from the party’s gubernatorial primary election.
Okay News reports that National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda stated the governor was not disqualified but personally chose to step down after passing the screening process.
Yilwatda made the statement during an interview on Channels Television‘s Politics Today. “He pulled out; he stepped down. It is personal to him,” Yilwatda said. “He bought the forms, came for screening, passed the screening, and we were waiting for the primaries before he opted to step down.”
The chairman denied claims that Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, influenced the withdrawal. “Wike is not in our party. He is in PDP,” Yilwatda said.
Fubara previously announced his withdrawal from the primary race. “Let it be clearly understood that I stepped aside from participating in the upcoming River’s state Gubernatorial election not out of weakness, fear, or surrender, but out of conviction and sacrifice so that Rivers State may move forward in peace and unity and I remain committed to serving the good people of Rivers state till the end of my term,” Fubara said.
On Monday, Wike endorsed Nigeria’s House of Representatives member Kingsley Chinda for the party’s ticket. Speaking to reporters during an infrastructure tour in Abuja, Wike stated that Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu brokered an agreement for Fubara to drop his second-term bid in exchange for halting impeachment proceedings by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“By collecting the form first, he didn’t show signs of gentlemanship. He didn’t show that sign, and that was not expected. We thought that Mr President had been intervening severally and pleading with the legislature not to continue with impeachment,” Wike said.
