The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State on Monday elected candidates for the forthcoming House of Assembly bye-elections for Ahoada East Constituency II and Khana Constituency II.
Napoleon Ukalikpe emerged as the party’s candidate for Ahoada East Constituency II, while Mrs Bulabari Loolo clinched the ticket for Khana Constituency II.
Loolo is the wife of the immediate past occupant of the seat, who passed away in September 2023.
The candidates were elected through what party sources described as a rainbow coalition championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
They emerged from primary elections organised by the party in the two constituencies on Monday.
Speaking after the exercise, a former lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, said Wike “is the leader of the Renewed Hope Family in the state. As far as the politics of Rivers State is concerned, the Minister of the FCT is the leader of the Renewed Hope Family. There is no confusion, and there is no dispute about the different roles people are playing.
“Everybody, go and revalidate your membership. We are all working together. We are all supporting President Tinubu. Rivers State will deliver the highest percentage of votes for the Renewed Hope Family in this country.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Dr Thomas Bariere, described the primary election as peaceful and well conducted.
Bariere said, “In the history of party primaries, we have experienced one of the most peaceful and well-conducted primary elections in Khana, and this shows that truly, party politics is growing.”
PUNCH Online reports that the House of Assembly bye-elections in Ahoada East Constituency II and Khana Constituency II were necessitated by vacancies arising from the death of sitting lawmakers, including the late member representing Khana Constituency II, who passed away in September 2023.
Under Nigeria’s electoral framework, such vacancies require the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct bye-elections to fill the seats.
The Rivers APC primaries come against the backdrop of deep intra-party and inter-party realignments in the state following the prolonged political rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.
Since Wike’s defection-aligned bloc publicly declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration under the banner of the “Renewed Hope Family,” the APC in Rivers has increasingly coalesced around figures loyal to the former governor.
This realignment has seen several defections from opposition parties and a consolidation of APC structures in parts of the state, particularly in Rivers South-East and Rivers East.