Some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have begun talks on a possible alliance with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), as tension builds within the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.
As reported by Premium Times, Yusuf Musa, an APC chieftain and promoter of the Tinubu Continuity Project, made this disclosure in a statement shared on Wednesday, September 23. Musa, who is also a chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and a former board member of the News Agency of Nigeria, said the governors were not planning to leave the APC but were exploring the alliance as a direct response to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s Rainbow Coalition.
Musa said:
“The APC governors believe they should also be free to explore alternative political relationships if Wike could mobilise politicians from different parties against their interests while simultaneously supporting Tinubu at the presidential level.”
Governors fear Wike’s coalition threatens campaigns
Musa did not name the governors involved but warned that they could push the alliance further if President Bola Tinubu and the APC leadership did not step in to resolve the dispute.
“If President Tinubu and the APC leadership cannot rein in Wike, then what stops the governors whose political future is being threatened from building alternative political relationships outside the ruling party,” he said.
His remarks echoed warnings he gave on TVC’s Breakfast Show on Monday, where he said Wike’s refusal to back down could ignite a serious crisis within the APC.
“If he doesn’t retrace his steps and allow us to campaign in peace, we are going to make this country very hot for him,” he told the programme.
Wike, a PDP chieftain serving in the APC-led federal government, has faced fierce opposition from APC governors over the Rainbow Coalition, which he says is designed to mobilise support for President Tinubu’s re-election. The coalition began in Rivers State and has since spread across the country, but the APC Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, formally rejected it, saying it could weaken the party and its candidates in 2027.
Wike denies ceding states, governors wary
Musa said the governors were particularly troubled by Wike’s claim that President Tinubu had ceded nine states to his coalition for governorship and legislative elections.
“Such claims may appear as mere political bragging, but no one should dismiss them as cheap talk because, in politics, you can’t take anything for granted, especially when it concerns elections,” he said.
Wike has denied that any states were ceded to him, though he maintains that the president is aware of the coalition and its goals. Musa argued that President Tinubu, who will not be seeking another term after 2027, would lose little by accommodating the arrangement, which is why the governors could not afford to ignore the threat.
He also predicted that politicians who win elections under the coalition’s umbrella could later defect to the APC, citing the recent movements of governors in Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Enugu, Adamawa, Kano and Rivers states as evidence that such realignments are common in Nigerian politics.
Paul Ibe, Atiku’s spokesperson, declined to comment when contacted.
Tinubu to give Wike fresh appointment
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Tinubu is working to carve out a defined campaign role for Wike ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sources familiar with the developing structure said the former Rivers state governor is being positioned to coordinate campaign efforts in Rivers state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The arrangement is designed to leverage Wike’s political network. It would also keep him outside the formal APC structure, given that he remains a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
