WIKE TELLS CRITICS TO WAIT FOR INEC LIST BEFORE CELEBRATING COURT RULING ON RIVERS PRIMARIES. (PHOTO).

 Wike Tells Critics to Wait for INEC List Before Celebrating Court Ruling on Rivers Primaries

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has urged those claiming that a court ruling has dismissed his preferred candidate for the Rivers State governorship election to exercise patience until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) publishes the official list of candidates in July.

A Rivers State court had earlier reinstated a factional leadership and declared all nominations from the recently concluded APC primaries in the state as null and void. The primaries had produced Kingsley Chinda, a known ally of the minister, as the governorship candidate after Governor Siminalayi Fubara stepped down. Several other associates of Wike also emerged as candidates for National Assembly and State Assembly seats on the APC platform for the 2027 elections.

The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, on Friday upheld the Rivers State High Court’s decision, nullifying the congresses that produced Chief Tony Okocha as APC chairman in the state.

Speaking on the development, particularly in reaction to comments by Mr. Emeka Beke on the dismissal of candidates linked to the Rivers political rainbow coalition, Wike said Beke does not fully understand the issues at stake.

“In July, the candidates of the parties will be published by INEC. Let us wait till July. We are tired of hearing from people who have lost out,” the minister said.

**On Oyo Teachers’ Protest**

Wike also addressed the ongoing teachers’ protest over abductions in Oyo State. He expressed deep concern over the rising cases of abduction of citizens across the country, irrespective of their profession or location.

However, the minister maintained that there is no need to politicise the abduction incidents in Oyo State, as some individuals have attempted to do.