2027: APC Governors Draw Battle Line Against Wike’s Coalition

ABUJA — The political battle over the 2027 presidential election intensified yesterday as governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) drew a line against political alliances they believe could weaken the party and undermine President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.

The governors, through the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, declared that they would neither support nor participate in any political arrangement capable of producing parallel structures against the APC.

Uzodimma spoke late Monday night after a closed-door meeting of the governors at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

His declaration came amid rising tension over the Rainbow Coalition led by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and was widely seen as a response to the former Rivers State governor’s political activities ahead of 2027.

Wike had recently accused Uzodimma of sponsoring political attacks against him.

The governors’ position followed concerns within some APC circles that the coalition could divide votes and affect Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign.

They also expressed concern that candidates contesting under different party platforms could confuse rural voters, with political tensions already reported in Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River states.

Uzodimma said the governors would not entertain any arrangement that could produce confusion, divided loyalty or competing interests within the APC.

He said the Progressive Governors Forum was primarily committed to supporting APC candidates at every level of the 2027 elections.

“The APC Governors Forum unanimously resolved that its members will not participate in, support or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining the re-election of Mr President, weakening the APC or adversely affecting any candidate of the party at all levels.

“In other words, the forum has no intention to support any candidate at any level that is not an APC candidate because our candidates who are contesting the election are being sponsored by our party.

“The governors’ campaign commitment is exclusive to APC candidates. All levels of the party campaign architecture will align with the expectations of Mr President and the strategic objectives of the party,” Uzodimma said.

The governors further pledged to take charge of Tinubu’s re-election campaign across their respective states.

The declaration against parallel political structures was interpreted in some quarters as a message directed at Wike, who remains a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but has repeatedly said the Rainbow Coalition is aimed at securing Tinubu’s re-election.

The coalition’s activities have already stirred political calculations in several states, with established alliances and loyalties coming under pressure ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Wike hits back

Wike wasted no time in responding to the APC governors’ position, questioning Uzodimma’s ability to mobilise massive support for Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

He argued that politics had moved beyond the practice of emerging from fourth position to become governor, insisting that political mobilisation should be measured from the polling units.

Wike said his mission ahead of 2027 was to mobilise support for Tinubu and not to meddle in governorship or other local contests.

In a statement yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister said the Rainbow Coalition was not an APC structure.

According to him, the coalition was a platform for members of other political parties who were pleased with Tinubu’s performance and wanted to support his re-election.

Wike said he would not help anyone win an election in his or her state, insisting that “politics is local and those having problems in their states should resolve them instead of using the re-election of the President to whip up sentiments.”

He recalled that he did not meet with the APC before he and other members of the G5 supported Tinubu in 2023, stressing that his support in 2027 was for the President.

The minister also questioned the voting pattern in the South-East during the 2023 elections, using it to challenge arguments that the Rainbow Coalition could confuse voters.

“In Imo State under Governor Uzodinma, how did APC win two Senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day with that of the President and APC had less than 15 per cent in the presidential election? Was it the rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?

“Was it the rainbow coalition that also made APC to win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states where the President did not have 10 per cent of the votes?

“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027, provided we all support the president genuinely this time.”

Wike called on stakeholders to put the presidential election ahead of state-level contests.

He said, “after the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our states.”

He further stated: “What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and States House of Assembly elections.

“Most importantly, the rainbow coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is its way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well, to deserve a second term.”

PDP backs Wike

The PDP yesterday entered the fray, describing Wike as a formidable political force ahead of the 2027 elections and rejecting the reported position of the APC governors against his political support for Tinubu.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, the PDP said Wike had the constitutional and democratic right to choose whom he supported.

“Wike has every constitutional and democratic right to decide whom he supports politically. His support for President Tinubu is legitimate, and as a serving appointee of the President, there is nothing contradictory about supporting the President while maintaining his political identity and relationships within the PDP,” Jungudo said.

The party argued that supporting Tinubu did not mean Wike had abandoned the PDP or joined the APC.

It said APC governors had initially viewed Wike’s support for Tinubu as an endorsement of the ruling party but were now faced with the possibility that he could support the President while retaining his PDP identity and political relationships.

The PDP described attempts to dictate whether Wike could support or field candidates against the governors and their preferred candidates as a “fundamental political miscalculation.”

The party maintained that political parties had the right to field candidates and said the governors’ reported position suggested concern about facing strong opposition candidates in 2027.

“If they have truly performed and retained the confidence of their people, they should welcome a contest and allow the electorate to decide,” the party said.

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