Fubara Withdraws From Rivers APC Primary as Chinda Set to Clinch Ticket

Fubara Steps Down: “I Withdraw Out of Conviction, Not Fear”

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has pulled out of the APC governorship primary, opening the door for Kingsley Chinda — FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s preferred man — to take the ticket without a fight.

Fubara’s announcement came in a personal statement late Wednesday, hours before primaries kicked off across 28 states on Thursday. By then, every other aspirant in Rivers had already stepped down for Chinda, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

“After deep reflection and extensive consultations with my family, friends, and associates, I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to withdraw from the APC gubernatorial primaries,” Fubara said. He insisted he would “support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party.”

The Governor called it sacrifice, not surrender. “Leadership is ultimately about sacrifice. There comes a time when personal ambition must yield to the greater good of the people. Rivers State is bigger than any individual.”

A Political Defeat Dressed as Sacrifice

But anyone who has followed Rivers politics over the last 18 months knows this is the latest chapter in the Fubara-Wike war. The governor and his former godfather have been locked in a bitter feud that already produced one impeachment attempt by lawmakers loyal to Wike.

The signs were there. Last week, the APC screening committee disqualified dozens of Fubara’s allies from state assembly primaries while clearing Wike loyalists. Fubara came out of his own screening looking deflated and refused to speak to reporters.

Wike had publicly vowed to block Fubara’s re-election, accusing him of breaking a peace deal brokered by President Tinubu.

Fubara addressed his supporters in the withdrawal letter, acknowledging their frustration. “I understand the disappointment, the anger, and the pain many of you may feel,” he wrote — then added a line that will keep the rumour mill churning: “As our elders say, not everything a hunter sees in the forest is spoken of in the marketplace.”

With Fubara out, Chinda — who defected from the PDP just last week — will become the APC flagbearer for Rivers 2027 without a single ballot being cast.

Sources: TheCable, Punch, Daily Trust