A political storm is brewing ahead of the 2027 general elections as governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have openly clashed with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The friction follows the creation of parallel political structures under the banner of the “Rainbow Coalition”, which ruling party governors fear could undermine President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid and split party ranks.
Speaking on behalf of the governors late Monday night after a closed-door meeting at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, Progressive Governors Forum Chairman and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, declared that the forum would not support any external arrangement that creates confusion or divided loyalty.
The governors warned that coalition candidates flying alternative party flags could confuse rural voters—with tensions already manifesting in states like Rivers, Kwara, Gombe, and Cross River—and maintained that their campaign commitment is strictly exclusive to official APC candidates.
The pushback is widely seen as a direct response to Wike—a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) serving in the APC-led administration—who has been championing the coalition.
The movement has rapidly expanded across the country, altering traditional loyalties and leaving local politicians scrambling as it carves out alternative platforms for legislative and state contests.
Firing back through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Minister Wike dismissed the governors’ concerns as baseless, maintaining that politics is local.
Wike clarified that the Rainbow Coalition has no affiliation with the APC, but rather serves as a cross-party platform to reward and mobilize support for President Tinubu’s second term.
Taking a sharp swipe at Governor Uzodimma, Wike questioned how the APC secured legislative seats in Imo and other southeastern states during the 2023 elections despite low presidential votes, arguing that voters are sophisticated enough to split their tickets without getting confused.
Adding fuel to the fire, the opposition PDP waded into the dispute, defending Wike’s constitutional right to political association.
In a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, the PDP asserted that Wike’s support for President Tinubu does not mean a defection to the APC.
The party labeled the APC governors’ anxiety as a “fundamental political miscalculation” and proof that the ruling party incumbents are growing jittery about facing competitive democratic contests at the polls.
As the 2027 horizon draws closer, the widening chasm between the APC governors and the FCT minister highlights deep-seated anxieties over grassroots control, party integrity, and the intricate chess match defining Nigeria’s evolving political landscape.
