By Emeka Amaefula
FCT MINISTER NYESOM WIKE’S SHADOW LOOMS LARGE:GOV. FUBARA’S SENATORIAL ASPIRANTS REJECTED IN RIVERS APC
In the sweltering heat of Nigeria’s volatile Niger Delta, Rivers State is once again simmering with high-stakes political drama.
The air is thick with tension and whispers of betrayal as the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State releases its long-awaited list of screened senatorial aspirants. Tomorrow, Monday, May 18, 2026, delegates will converge for a direct primary election that many describe as a make-or-break moment for the party’s future in the oil-rich state.
Here are those who successfully navigated the stormy screening process and emerged qualified to contest:
SCREENED AND QUALIFIED SENATORIAL ASPIRANTS
- Felix Amaechi Obuah – Rivers West Senatorial District
- Allwell Heacho Onyesoh – Rivers South East Senatorial District
- Chief Barry Balera Mwara – Rivers South East Senatorial District
- Osarosaka E. Ebenezer – Rivers South East Senatorial District
For others, however, the news came like a thunderclap. Their political ambitions were abruptly extinguished at the screening stage. The list of those screened out and disqualified reads like a who’s who of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s supposed loyalists:
SCREENED AND UNQUALIFIED ASPIRANTS
- Ojukaye Flag Amachree – Rivers West
- Chief Dr. Tamunobaabo Wemike Danagogo – Rivers West
- Tein T.S. Jack-Rich – Rivers West
- Senator Banigo Ipalibo – Rivers West
Beneath the official-looking tables lies a deeper, more visceral power struggle that has split Rivers State politics down the middle.
On one side stands Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the man many now hail as the de facto Leader of the APC in Rivers State. On the other is the formidable Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Though Wike remains a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his shadow looms large over APC structures through strategic alliances, grassroots networks, and sheer political influence.
Insiders paint a clear picture: aspirants perceived to be in Fubara’s camp were methodically weeded out during the screening exercise, while those aligned with Wike’s political machinery sailed through with relative ease. The same script played out during the House of Representatives primaries just two days earlier on Saturday, May 16, 2026, where Wike-loyal candidates dominated the outcomes.
The disqualifications have sent ripples of shock and anger across the state.
Hon. Ojukaye Flag Amachree, a Kalabari heavyweight and serving Director of Energy Security in the Office of the National Security Adviser, was blocked from the Rivers West race.
Even more stunning was the exclusion of Tein T.S. Jack-Rich, the dynamic founder and CEO of Belemaoil Producing Limited — one of Nigeria’s most successful indigenous oil companies. Jack-Rich, a billionaire entrepreneur from the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta, had thrown his hat into the ring after contesting the 2022 APC presidential primary that eventually produced President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Not spared was Senator Banigo Ipalibo, a former Deputy Governor under Wike herself, further fueling speculation that loyalty lines are being redrawn in unpredictable ways.
As the clock ticks toward tomorrow’s primary, the political atmosphere in Port Harcourt and across the 23 local government areas is electric and fragile. Old ethnic fault lines — between the Riverine Ijaw people and the Upland Ikwerre nationality — are widening once more. Governor Siminalayi Fubara is Eastern Ijaws extraction while FCT Abuja Minister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike is of Ikwerre ethnic background. Beneath the senatorial contest lies a bigger prize: control of the APC machinery and, ultimately, who will fly the party’s flag in the all-important 2027 governorship election.
In the creeks, in the markets, and in the corridors of power, one question echoes louder than the others: Is this the beginning of a total takeover by the Wike machinery, or can Fubara’s camp regroup and strike back?
Tomorrow, the delegates will speak with their votes. But many already believe the real script was written long before they stepped into the arena.
The battle for Rivers State has only just begun.
Emeka Amaefula
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