The All Progressives Congress State House of Assembly Screening Appeal Committee for Rivers State has received 19 petitions from aspirants who were not cleared during last week’s screening exercise, with the bulk of the disqualified candidates described as loyalists of state Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Appeal panel Chairman Abdul Mahmud, addressing journalists at the APC state secretariat in Port Harcourt, said the committee’s mandate was to review the issues raised against affected aspirants by the screening committee in a transparent and equitable manner. He described himself as an Abuja-based legal practitioner engaged by the APC national leadership for the assignment in the interest of justice and equity, noting that he was not a party member.
Of the 98 aspirants who declared interest in the primaries, 33 were cleared while 65 were disqualified. The screening committee’s report cited multiple grounds for disqualification including nomination by party members who were not financially current in their dues, attempted bribery of committee members, submission of unsworn affidavits, failure to present voter registration cards or party membership documents, conflicting birth date records, irregular membership numbers of nominators, insufficient nominator counts per ward, and invalid affidavits with material omissions relating to academic certificates.
Mahmud said petitioners who had appeared before the panel were advised to provide the necessary supporting documents before the close of the appeal process, and assured that the panel would conduct its review fairly and without partisan influence.
