The All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling political party, says it has not officially staged a public welcome for Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara because the party is following a planned sequence of receptions across the country.
APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, gave the explanation during an interview on Television Continental (TVC), a Nigerian television station, on Sunday, 8 February 2026.
Yilwatda said the party is preparing activities in northern Nigeria first, including Kano State, a key northern state, because Ramadan, the Muslim fasting period, is close and many communities there are sensitive to events scheduled around that time.
He said the party chose to complete receptions involving northern leaders before turning attention to the south, where he suggested Ramadan does not create the same scheduling pressure.
Yilwatda stressed that the delay is not linked to any suggestion that Fubara lacks authority within the party in Rivers State, an oil-rich state in southern Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
When questioned about claims that Fubara might be unable to control the APC structure in Rivers, Yilwatda challenged the premise and asked for proof that anyone had lodged a formal complaint or petition.
He also criticised what he described as public speculation that creates conflict where no documented grievance exists, saying the media should not act as both accuser and judge in party disputes.
The APC chairman also spoke about remarks credited to Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a former Rivers governor, concerning political actors aligning under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda, the policy slogan of Nigeria’s president.
Yilwatda said political support groups are separate from the APC’s official party operations and should not be treated as part of the chairman’s office or the party’s formal structure.
Rivers State has faced a long-running political crisis tied to tensions between Fubara and Wike since 2023, including rival camps and power struggles that have influenced both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of Nigeria’s major political parties.
Fubara joined the APC on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, after leaving the PDP, a shift that has been widely seen as connected to his expected bid for a second term in the 2027 election season.
The debate over leadership in Rivers has also been fuelled by Wike’s public position that party control depends on grassroots influence and existing structures, not only on the status of a sitting governor.