APC Governors Weighs Support Over Wike’s Political Activities

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, including some aggrieved governors, are considering their options ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with some party stakeholders reportedly weighing support for alternative presidential candidates amid concerns over the political activities of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

Sources within the APC, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter, said many party leaders, including some governors, regarded Wike as a potential threat to President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, urged Wike to support the party’s presidential candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, instead of backing Tinubu, saying his support would help bring the President’s administration to an end.

Reacting, the Tanimu Turaki (SAN)-led Interim National Working Committee’s Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, criticized the ongoing political realignments involving the Wike-backed PDP group, describing those involved as “pretenders.”

Another party source said the APC National Working Committee was awaiting President Tinubu’s position before deciding on its next course of action.

However, political analyst and former president of the Nigerian Political Science Association, Prof. Hassan Saliu, and former APC organizing secretary, Eze Duru, said President Tinubu needed the support of Wike and state governors to reconcile the various interests within the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

They added that the ruling party had also depended on support from politicians and groups outside the APC.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and PDP leader serving in the APC-led Federal Government, Wike, has been promoting the Rainbow Coalition in Rivers State in support of President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

Wike, who has clashed with some APC governors, recently alleged during a media chat that Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma were responsible for some of the political challenges he was facing.

He linked the governors’ opposition to the expanding influence of the Rainbow Coalition, which he said was providing a platform for politicians seeking to challenge APC candidates in governorship and senatorial elections.

Responding to the development, Uzodimma, who chairs the APC Progressive Governors’ Forum, said after the forum’s meeting last week that APC governors would not back any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election or weakening the party ahead of the 2027 elections.

Uzodimma said the governors were committed to campaigning exclusively for APC candidates across all levels of government.

Wike, however, maintained his support for the Rainbow Coalition, arguing that the alliance was intended to back Tinubu’s presidential ambition while supporting the PDP in other electoral contests against the APC.

He insisted that supporting Tinubu for the presidency did not amount to endorsing APC candidates in the states, stressing that he remained entitled to support candidates of his choice.