Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru was absent on Saturday when the All Progressives Congress began screening incumbent governors ahead of the 2027 general election. The party said he had state issues to attend to, and the committee said he would be screened when he becomes available.
Nentawe Yilwatda, who chaired the screening panel, said the governors who did not show up had reasons for their absence and that the committee understood they were chief executives with state duties. He said Ebonyi’s governor had requested to be excused, and that any governor free at a later time could return for screening at their convenience. Surajudeen Basiru served as secretary of the committee.
The APC screened Abba Yusuf of Kano, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau and Hyacinth Alia of Benue on Saturday, along with Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Umar Bago of Niger, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Bassey Otu of Cross River and Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto. The exercise was part of the party’s wider effort to clear incumbents before the 2027 race.
Yilwatda’s remarks pointed to a process that is moving on schedule even when some governors are missing, with screening deferred rather than cancelled. He said the committee would open its doors whenever the absent governors were available, which means Nwifuru’s turn is still pending and the party is not treating his absence as a rejection.
The same day, The Nation reported that Siminalayi Fubara arrived at the Plateau State Governor’s Lodge at 3.15 p.m. and left about 3.25 p.m., then answered reporters’ questions with “no comments.” The newspaper also reported that Yilwatda said Fubara and Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq took permission to be absent and would face screening when they returned. AbdulRazaq was reported to be on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s entourage to France, Kenya and Rwanda.
Separate APC screening activity also continued in Rivers State, where the party’s State Assembly screening committee examined 98 aspirants in Port Harcourt on Saturday and Sunday. Tanko Yamowa said the turnout had been orderly and that no trouble had broken out, describing the atmosphere as a surprise and saying the party appeared united in Rivers State. That calm matters because the Rivers political battle between Fubara and Nyesom Wike has been one of the sharpest fault lines in the party’s national politics. But on the day the governors were being screened, the party’s message was simple: absent governors will not be shut out, only rescheduled.
