Confusion Trails Report Of Rivers State House of Assembly Screening Exercise

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

There appears to be a heavy crack within the ranks of members of the All Progressive Congress, APC,  Rivers State House of Assembly Screening Committee over the report of the  exercise.

The Committee in its report of the exercise held  weekend, disqualified about 56 aspirants out of the initial 98 that obtained  nomination forms.

While all 32 aspirants sponsored by Governor Siminalayi Fubara were disqualified, 33 others believed to be from  the political camp of Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister were cleared.

The Committee’s report was endorsed by its Chairman, Muraine Ajibola, and two others.

The spokesperson for the Rivers State chapter of the APC, Chibuike Ikenga, while confirming the development noted that the Committee’s report has been officially handed over to the party in the State.

But in a twist, on Monday, the Secretary of the Committee, Honourable Tanko Yamawo, while disclaiming the said report in circulation, described it as false and unauthorized.

According to him, an official report of the screening exercise which was only concluded late on Sunday, has not been released.

“The attention of the party leadership has been drawn to the circulation of a purported list of cleared and uncleared aspirants for the Rivers state House of Assembly currently making rounds across media platforms.

“We wish to categorically state that the said publication is false, unauthorized and did not emanate from the appropriate party authorities.

“It is important to note that the screening exercise conducted by the committee headed by Muraine Ajibola concluded less than 24 hours ago, and no official list has been released by the party as at this time.

“As a responsible political party, we are guided by established procedures, rules, and timelines regarding the publication of screening results and related information.

“Any official communication concerning the status of aspirants will be communicated through the appropriate channels in due course.

“We, therefore, urge party faithful, aspirants, supporters and the general public to disregard the purported list, and treat it as the handiwork of mischief makers whose intention is to create confusion and unnecessary tension within the party”, Yamowa’s statement reads in part.

But in a swift reaction, the Rivers State APC spokesperson, Ikenga, accused  Yamowa of being mischievous and peddling misleading narratives on the status of the screening exercise.

He remained adamant that the list in circulation is official, having emanated from the Committee.

The APC State Publicity Secretary insisted that Governor Fubara’s nominees were disqualified from further participating in the contest.

According to him, the only thing left for those disqualified is to avail themselves of the appeal window which will open on Tuesday.

“Which statement did the man, Yamowa issue? That is fake news. The report of the screening exercise is out.

“If you go through our statement, we said the disqualified aspirants can go on appeal as from tomorrow at the Appeal Committee.

“They can approach the Appeal Committee to challenge their disqualification.

“The correspondence has to go to the State Secretary of the Party, indicating their interest to appeal their disqualification or whatever”, Ikenga noted.