The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced the composition of its national assembly primary election and appeal committees ahead of the 2027 general election, amid growing political tension within the party in Rivers State.
In a statement issued on Friday, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka said the committees would supervise the conduct of the primaries across the country.
“The committees are expected to ensure transparent, fair and peaceful conduct of the exercise in line with the party’s guidelines,” Morka said.
For Rivers State, former Lagos local government chairman Wahab Owokoniran was named chairman of the primary election committee, while Musa Diko will head the appeal committee.
Other members of the Rivers primary committee are Abdullahi Candido, Tony Onu, Sulaiman Sadik, Moses Alokpa and Samuel Danjuma, with Sunny Omotola serving as secretary.
The appeal committee comprises Baushe Isah, Audu Elias, Abgoola Dabiri and Oyinade Nathan-March.
The development comes amid reports that three serving members of the House of Representatives loyal to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara were disqualified from participating in the APC primaries.
The affected lawmakers are Anderson Alisson, Awaji-Inombek Abiante and Boma Goodhead.
The lawmakers were among those who supported Fubara during the political crisis in Rivers State and later defected to the APC alongside the governor.
Meanwhile, several politicians aligned with Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Rivers State, were cleared to participate in the primaries.
Those cleared include Hart Cyril, Blessing Amadi, Dumnamene Dekor, Martin Amaewhule, Solomon Bob, Uche Felix Nwaeke and Victor Obuzor.
Amaewhule, the factional speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Wike, is expected to replace Kingsley Chinda, who recently purchased the APC governorship nomination form.
On Tuesday, Wike visited APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda at his residence in Abuja.
The meeting came days after 65 pro-Fubara aspirants seeking to contest the Rivers State House of Assembly election on the platform of the APC were reportedly disqualified.