Tensions are rising between Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike and the 31 All Progressives Congress (APC) governors over the 2027 presidential election power play.
The brewing conflict centers on the National Rainbow Coalition promoted by Wike, a cross-party platform intended to mobilize support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
Wike maintains that his loyalty lies exclusively with Tinubu’s second-term bid. However, he insists this alliance does not require backing APC candidates in down-ballot governorship and legislative races.
He belongs to a different political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former governor of Rivers State believes that he can wield, twist, manipulate and arm twist political power anywhere, anytime to get whatever he wants.
The FCT minister has repeatedly boasted and metaphorically told those who care to listen that in the coming 2027 election, his PDP is going to win governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers State, particularly, and other states of the federation and at the same time deliver president Tinubu for the ruling APC.
Wike continuously boasts that he remains the one calling the shut in Rivers state’s politics and will therefore replicate what he did for Bola Tinubu during the last presidential election. In 2023, Tinubu won Rivers State under APC while the PDP won the governorship and State assembly seats. This time, Wike says he has what it takes to extend the feat to other states.
This is one assertion that has not gone down well with governors of the APC who wish to maintain a clean slate in their respective states as against Wike’s interference tendency.
Meanwhile, Wike’s long time political foe, Hope Uzodimma, who is the governor of Imo State and chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), is not hiding his opposition to Wike’s style of politics. Before the political parties primary elections preparatory to the 2027 general election, it was alleged that Wike attempted to impose a governorship candidate and possible successor of Uzodimma in Imo State.
At least, that would have made good his claim that he has the well withal to ’cause political turbulence’ in any states. But Uzodimma perfectly proved Wike wrong. He did not only install a governorship candidate of his choice but also secured a senatorial ticket for his self.
The Uzodimma led progressive governor’s forum has formally rejected the Wike’s coalition. The APC governors declare that the party’s leadership will not support any political arrangement that risks weakening the ruling party or undermining its candidates at any level. The governors view Wike’s strategy as a threat to party cohesion and a source of voter confusion.
Wike has sharply dismissed the governors, describing them as “politically lazy” and alleging that their opposition stems from self-serving calculations regarding internal legislative leadership positions. He argues that voters are capable of splitting their tickets, pointing to past electoral outcomes where electorates supported different parties for presidential versus state-level contests. He also accused the governors of only ranting but lack the political grit to deliver the presidential victory to president Tinubu in their respective states.
For President Tinubu, this high-stakes feud presents a delicate balancing act. Tinubu relies on the formidable party machinery and grassroots mobilization controlled by state governors to secure victory. Yet, he also depends on political figures like Wike to break into traditional opposition strongholds where the ruling party historically underperformed.
If the rift deepens, it could fracture the coordination required for an effective national campaign. Governors might prioritize local survival and down-ballot victory over a unified presidential strategy, while counter-mobilization could depress turnout in critical battlegrounds. Conversely, an unmanaged alliance that alienates governors risks fracturing the internal party framework ahead of the polls.
Ultimately, how President Tinubu manages this friction between his loyalist minister and the powerful governors will shape the trajectory of the 2027 race. Striking a functional truce is essential to ensuring that competing personal ambitions do not derail the ruling party’s re-election momentum.
But looking at the situation critically with sharp political lenses, a derailment seems inevitable. Some governors are said to have already begun engaging in underground realignment just to teach the ‘Super’ Wike a bitter lesson for daring to describe 31 incumbent governors as ‘politically lazy’.
Some of the governors are said to have allegedly, inwardly vowed to remain indifferent during the presidential election and wait for Wike’s omniscience and omnipotence to deliver the president while they will exercise their full political strength and influence at the state level.
Indeed, Nigerians are keenly watching the unfolding political drama.
