The All Progressives Congress (APC) screening committee has clarified the absence of three serving governors during its ongoing screening exercise for aspirants ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The exercise is being supervised by a committee chaired by the APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, with the party’s National Secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, serving as secretary.
Addressing journalists during the session, Yilwatda explained that the governors who were absent had legitimate 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.”
He noted that the committee took into consideration the responsibilities attached to their offices and excused them accordingly.
“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. “The governor of Ebonyi State says he has state issues to attend to, we excused him. The governor of Rivers State says he has state issues to attend to, we excused him.”
Yilwatda added that the affected governors would be screened at a later date once they are available.
“They are chief executives. They are field commanders. Anytime you are free, you can come to the screening committee. We will give you a slot and screen you at your convenience,” he said.
Meanwhile, other governors who appeared before the committee include Abba Yusuf of Kano State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, and Hyacinth Alia of Benue.
Others screened were Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Umar Bago of Niger, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Bassey Otu of Cross River, and Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State.
