Wike Fires Back as APC Governors Draw the Line on 2027

...‘I Can’t Help You Win in Your States’ — Wike Clashes With APC Governors Over Tinubu, 2027

A fresh political showdown is brewing ahead of the 2027 elections as Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike fires back at APC governors over his controversial “Rainbow Coalition” project, insisting that his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not amount to abandoning opposition candidates in state and legislative contests.

Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made it clear that his political bargain is with Tinubu — not with the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the minister, he never promised that the PDP would surrender its candidates in governorship, National Assembly or State House of Assembly elections simply because he is backing Tinubu’s re-election.

And he delivered a blunt message to APC governors: they should not expect him to campaign for their survival in their respective states.

“Politics is local,” Wike said, arguing that governors facing political battles at home should deal with those challenges themselves rather than attempting to make Tinubu’s re-election a condition for securing his support.

Wike: Rainbow Coalition Is Not APC

Wike also rejected suggestions that the Rainbow Coalition is an APC project.

He described it instead as a broader political platform bringing together individuals and groups from different parties who, in his view, support Tinubu and want to mobilise behind his second-term bid.

The minister recalled that he and members of the PDP’s G5 did not negotiate with the APC before backing Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

His position, he said, remains essentially the same for 2027: support Tinubu for president, while retaining the freedom to participate in other contests.

Wike then turned his attention to Imo Governor Hope Uzodinma, questioning the voting pattern recorded in the state in 2023.

He pointed to the fact that APC candidates won two Senate seats in Imo even though the party secured less than 15 per cent of the presidential vote in the state.

His question was pointed: if voters could split their ballots in 2023, why should anyone assume they cannot do the same in 2027?

Wike cited similar voting patterns in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu, arguing that voters can support Tinubu for president while choosing candidates from other parties in legislative or governorship contests.

APC Governors Push Back

But the APC governors have now drawn a line in the sand.

At a closed-door meeting in Abuja, the Progressives Governors Forum, chaired by Uzodinma, rejected any political arrangement that could undermine APC candidates or create competing loyalties within the ruling party.

The governors said their campaign commitment would be exclusively to APC candidates at every level.

Uzodinma, who read the forum’s communique, said the governors would neither participate in, support nor endorse any alliance capable of weakening the APC or damaging the electoral prospects of its candidates.

The message was unmistakable: support for Tinubu cannot be separated from support for the APC candidates running alongside him.

The governors also pledged to take leading roles in mobilising support for Tinubu across their states, with an emphasis on grassroots campaigns and coordinated party structures.

A Collision Course for 2027

The clash exposes a potentially explosive fault line in the emerging 2027 political landscape.

Wike says he can support Tinubu for president while backing opposition candidates in other races.

The APC governors, however, are insisting that their loyalty must extend to the party’s entire electoral ticket.

That difference is already playing out in states where Wike has thrown his weight behind candidates opposed to the interests of sitting APC governors.

In Imo, he is supporting the PDP governorship candidate. In Kwara, he is backing Senator Saliu Mustapha in the Kwara Central senatorial contest against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

Wike has defended his involvement in such contests as part of his broader political strategy, while his critics within the APC see it as evidence of divided loyalty.

For now, the two sides appear unwilling to blink. Wike insists: his support is for Tinubu, not a blank cheque for APC governors.

The governors, meanwhile, are saying: Tinubu comes with the APC ticket — and they intend to defend both.

With the 2027 election battle still ahead, the dispute could become one of the clearest tests of whether political alliances built around Tinubu can survive the fierce, state-by-state battles that will define the rest of the electoral contest.