According to Punch newspapers, on Monday, May 11, 2026, the ruling All Progressives Congress has effectively handed FCT Minister Nyesom Wike a decisive role in shaping Rivers State's 2027 governorship contest, as the party's screening committee assessed two of his key loyalists while giving incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara a noticeably cooler reception.
The closely watched screening exercise saw former House of Representatives Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda and state Commissioner for Works Alabo Dakorinama George Kelly assessed by a committee chaired by APC Deputy National Chairman Benjamin Nwoye. Both men are loyalists of Wike and only recently joined the APC after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, reportedly at Wike's direction.
Fubara also appeared before the screening panel, but party sources say his session was markedly different the APC national chairman, who ordinarily would preside over the screening of a sitting governor, was conspicuously absent.
Wike had earlier confirmed during a press briefing that George Kelly had picked the APC governorship nomination form, ending months of speculation about his preferred candidate for the race.
However, the minister subsequently denied formally endorsing any candidate, clarifying that his coalition spanning loyalists in both the PDP and the APC would only settle on a candidate after broader consultations. He described the arrangement as a deliberate political strategy, since "there is someone they have to fight."
The backdrop to the unfolding contest is a prolonged power struggle between Wike and Fubara, his estranged political protégé, who has steadily distanced himself from his former benefactor since taking office. Efforts by President Bola Tinubu to mediate the crisis have yielded limited results, with underlying tensions persisting.
In March 2025, Tinubu intervened by suspending Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, appointing a sole administrator to oversee governance. Emergency rule was eventually lifted following a high-level reconciliation meeting, but the ceasefire has proven fragile.
Rivers State, a major oil-producing hub and one of Nigeria's most fiercely contested political battlegrounds, now faces what analysts expect to be one of the most consequential governorship races of the 2027 cycle.
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