The fight between the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, which blew open Monday night, may shape the outcome of the 2027 general elections, Daily Trust has learnt.
Party sources and analysts, who spoke to our correspondents, posited that since the rift appears to be more of a turf fight for political interests, it may affect the outcome of the elections in ways that even the actors cannot predict.
Daily Trust reports that 31 out of the 36 state governors in the country are of the APC and 15 of them from 28 states are seeking reelection. Those in their second term are, however, interested in ensuring their candidates succeed them.
Tensions in the APC escalated on Monday night as the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) formally rejected cross-party political arrangements set by the FCT minister under the rainbow coalition.
Wike is the national leader of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose candidates have been recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but he has openly been working for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The core political objective of the coalition is to support President Tinubu’s second term under the “Renewed Hope Agenda”, while pursuing the election of other candidates on different political platforms in the alliance.
He has championed the idea in his home state of Rivers, bringing four major political parties: the APC, the PDP, the Labour Party (LP) and the Action Alliance (AA) to work together.
His bid to replicate the move nationwide, sources say, has pitted him against the APC governors of various states who are either interested in second terms or want certain candidates to succeed them.
Investigations by our correspondent indicate that the FCT minister is seriously working with the candidates of the faction of the PDP aligned to him in states like Katsina, Benue, Plateau, Rivers, Kwara, Nasarawa, Gombe and Taraba states while he is supporting the governorship candidate of another party in Gombe State.
In what is definitely a move to checkmate Wike, the APC governors’ alliance, following a closed-door meeting in Abuja, resolved to prohibit its members from engaging in or endorsing external coalitions that could fragment the party’s vote base, saying this could jeopardise President Tinubu’s re-election bid.
PGF Chairman and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, while reading the communique, said the APC Governors’ Forum unanimously resolved that its members would not participate in, support, or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining the re-election of President Tinubu, saying it would weaken the APC, “or adversely affect any candidate of the party at all levels.”
The governors argued that Wike’s strategy of endorsing non-APC candidates in state and legislative races threatens party unity, risks vote-splitting, and weakens ruling party power in key states such as Rivers, Kwara, and Imo.
I’m working for Tinubu, not APC – Wike
Meanwhile, Wike has challenged the APC governors to distinguish between support for President Tinubu and the electoral fortunes of the ruling party’s candidates.
Wike, who has openly backed Tinubu’s bid for a second term, said his support was strictly for the president and did not amount to an endorsement of APC candidates contesting governorship and legislative elections.
The former Rivers State governor made the position clear during an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday, hitting back at APC governors who criticised the emerging Rainbow Coalition and its political activities ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike described the governors as “politically lazy” and accused them of using Tinubu’s re-election bid as an excuse to address their own political challenges.
He said politicians who have problems in their respective states should solve them politically instead of attempting to restrict the activities of those mobilising support for the president.
“My support is for the president only,” Wike said, stressing that he had never promised APC leaders that the PDP would not field candidates in the 2027 governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
He argued that Nigerian voters are capable of supporting one party’s presidential candidate while voting for candidates of other parties in governorship and legislative elections.
To buttress his argument, the FCT minister cited the outcome of the 2023 elections, when voters in several states backed candidates from different political parties for different positions.
He specifically mentioned Imo State, questioning how APC candidates secured two senatorial seats in the state despite the party recording less than 15 per cent of the presidential vote there.
“Was it a rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?” Wike asked.
He also cited election results in Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states, where the voting pattern for presidential and National Assembly candidates differed.
According to Wike, the results demonstrated that voters could make independent choices. He maintained that there was no basis for the argument that supporting Tinubu should automatically mean supporting every APC candidate on the ballot.
The minister said the same pattern could emerge in 2027, arguing that politicians should concentrate on building genuine support among voters rather than depending on political arrangements at the leadership level.
He also rejected the description of the Rainbow Coalition as an APC project. According to him, the coalition is made up of politicians from different parties who have chosen to support Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
The arrangement, he said, does not require members to abandon their political parties or stop them from contesting elections against APC candidates at the state and legislative levels.
‘Coalition will hurt ruling party’
President of the Nigerian Society of International Affairs (NSIA) and Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Ilorin, Professor Hassan Saliu, said the face-off between Wike and the APC governors has implications for the 2027 elections.
He argued that if President Tinubu wins the presidential election, the APC would not have the majority in the National Assembly and that other parties could produce a significant number of members at the State Houses of Assembly.
On the wider implications for Tinubu, Saliu said the crisis could affect the president if allowed to escalate, particularly because of Wike’s influence in Rivers State and the potential electoral value of the state.
“If they carry the crisis beyond a certain level, it may affect the president. That is the truth. Rivers has the potential of delivering one million votes. And since all of them are now supporting Mr President, you can imagine the kind of votes that will come from there,” he stated.
He advised the APC leadership to continue managing its relationship with Wike while encouraging governors and party leaders to return to their respective states and address their internal problems.
Saliu said it would therefore be difficult to condemn politicians who had aligned with Wike after the prolonged attempts to resolve their grievances within the APC.
“With a clear conscience, it will be difficult to blame those who are aligning with Wike. They were dancing around, going to Abuja, doing everything. Nobody listened to them. So, what do you expect them to do?” He queried.
Wike’s dual allegiance threatens APC, PDP – Prof Kari
A political scientist, Professor Abubakar Kari, described the political activities of Wike as a threat to both the APC and the PDP
Kari said Wike’s support for President Tinubu as a PDP chieftain backing candidates against APC governors had created contradictions that could undermine party discipline and internal cohesion.
Kari, who spoke in an interview with Daily Trust, said Wike’s alleged sponsorship of opposition candidates in states such as Kwara and Gombe had put him at odds with the interests of APC governors, despite his support for Tinubu.
He said Wike’s activities represented “an abnormality” in democratic politics because the minister is attempting to support rival political interests while maintaining his membership of the PDP.
“What Wike represents politically is an abnormality; something that is antithetical to party discipline; something that democratic purists, we even call it patently undemocratic,” Kari said.
According to him, Wike’s activities in Kwara State, where he alleged that the minister aligned with former Senate President Bukola Saraki to support the PDP candidate against the APC, illustrated the contradictions in his political strategy.
Kari said the alleged sponsorship of PDP candidates against APC governors and their preferred candidates conflicts with the interests of the governors and the ruling party.
“Many of the PDP candidates that are contesting against governors or against the governors’ candidates have been sponsored and financed allegedly by Wike. And this clearly conflicts with the interests of the governors as individuals and then of APC as a party,” he said.
The professor said the situation has made it difficult for APC leaders to reconcile Wike’s support for Tinubu with his alleged opposition to some APC candidates.
“He is at once pro and anti-APC, pro and anti-PDP. I mean, this is patently abnormal,” he said.
Kari said the political crisis is likely to intensify because the interests of Wike and the APC governors could not be reconciled under the present arrangement.
“Clearly, if the opposition wins, it is anybody’s guess. But again, even in the likely event that the APC wins, things become bad. I do not foresee Wike playing the kind of role and wielding the kind of influence (he currently has) in the next government,” he said.
‘Wike consistent in supporting Tinubu not APC’
The PDP candidate for Plateau Central Senatorial District, Timothy Golu, said the FCT minister has been consistent about his support for only the president and not the entire APC structure.
“Wike is a person. So, any other person within the PDP can also support Mr. President. He is entitled to his opinion, entitled to his choice. Just like any one of us, there are other people in the APC that are also supporting other people from other political parties.
“We have not said the PDP has endorsed Mr. President. We have our own candidates. So whoever wants to support Mr. President is free to support Mr. President because this is democracy”, he said.
He expressed confidence that more than one million votes would come from Rivers because of the coaltion.
APC reaping what they sowed – Turaki-led PDP
When contacted by our correspondent, the PDP under the leadership of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki mocked the APC governors over their ongoing altercation with Wike.
The National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Comrade Ini Ememobong, told Daily Trust that the governors and the APC as a party are reaping the alleged crisis they encouraged Wike to cause within the PDP.
Ememobong said, “He who rides on the back of the tiger will one day end up in its belly. The evil seed that APC encouraged to be sown in PDP is fruiting and the bitter fruit is now being served on them as a meal.”
While saying this is just the beginning, Ememobong added that even President Tinubu would soon become a victim of what he encouraged.
“They (APC governors) shouldn’t complain. They should just enjoy their meal. The good part is that it will go round and ultimately, all, I mean all, including President Tinubu, who directly or indirectly had a hand in or benefitted from this political anomaly, will become its victims. This is just the beginning,” he added.
