Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers; Francis Nwifuru, governor of Ebonyi state; and Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, Kwara governor; were absent on Saturday as the All Progressives Congress (APC) commenced screening of incumbent governors ahead of the 2027 general election.
The screening exercise is being conducted by a committee chaired by Nentawe Yilwatda, APC national chairman, while Surajudeen Basiru, national secretary of the party, serves as secretary.
Speaking during the exercise, Yilwatda said the three governors were absent because of official engagements in their respective states.
“When you have three governors that have not appeared, all of them have their excuses and their reasons why they’re not appearing,” he said.
“And we know that they are chief executives of their states, and they have state issues to attend to.”
Yilwatda said the committee excused the governors because of the responsibilities attached to their offices.
“So any governor who has state issues to attend to, the governor of Kwara says he has state issues to attend to, we excused him,” he said.
“Governor of Ebonyi state says he has state issues to attend to, we excused him. Governor of Rivers state says he has state issues to attend to, we excused him.”
The APC chairman said the governors would be screened whenever they become available.
“And we said, they are chief executives. They are field soldiers. They are commanders, field commanders,” he said.
“Anytime you’re free, call the screening committee. We give you a room. You come at your will and your convenience, and we also screen you.”
Governors screened by the committee included Abba Yusuf of Kano, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, and Hyacinth Alia of Benue.
Others were Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Umar Bago of Niger, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Bassey Otu of Cross River, and Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto.
