THERE was drama on Sunday as the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, appeared before the screening committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Whereas other serving governors of the APC were screened on Saturday, where the national chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, took direct charge of the process. Fubara’s screening was delayed till Sunday.
He was the only governor so treated.
He also spent the least time before the panel, fueling speculations that he might be facing some challenges with the committee.
Though some sources raised questions over the relatively short time spent by Fubara before the screening panel compared to the other governors, no conclusion could be reached as of press time, as the party and the screening panel did not make public their conclusions.
While some sources told Nigerian Tribune that the governor was asked to “bow and go”, other sources had suggested that the rift between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, might still affect his chances.
At Plateau State Governor’sLodge, Governor Fubara, who met with the APC National Working Committee screening team, left shortly after arriving at the venue, without answering questions from anxious reporters.
A party source told our correspondent that Wike’s favoured candidate for the governorship seat, Honourable Kingsley Chinda, the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, was screened on Saturday before Fubara surfaced on Sunday.
Honourable Chinda was sighted at Kaduna Governor’s Lodge, venue of the screening for governorship aspirants, even though he was not a serving governor.
Victor Giadom, an ally of the FCT Minister and National Vice Chairman, South-South of the APC, who incidentally is from Rivers State, is a member of the screening committee.
The APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, who supervised the screening of other serving governors on Saturday, was, however, absent on Sunday.
The Deputy National Chairman (North), Honourable AliBukar Dalori, presided over the Sunday exercise.
Fubara, who walked into the waiting hands of anxious journalists, however, declined comment as he left the Plateau State: Governor’sLodge, venue of the screening committee.
Speaking with newsmen after the exercise, National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, who was also on the screening team, confirmed that, like every other governor, Fubara appeared before the panel.
Asked for details of the encounter with Governor Fubara, Senator Basiru told newsmen that the committee would meet and take a decision on the fate of Fubara and other serving governors, seeking a fresh ticket.
He said, “I don’t know what you mean by screening; anybody who appears before the screening committee, of course, it is necessary as part of the process.
“After appearing before the screening committee, the committee will issue its report.
“The screening committee, when it has completed seeing everybody it is supposed to see, will now sit down and come out with a report of the screening committee. “As of now, there’s no report of a screening committee.”
