2027: APC Governors, Wike Clash Widens as South-East Rejects Rainbow Coalition

ABUJA — The political disagreement between Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress has widened, with APC leaders in the South-East openly backing the party’s governors and rejecting Wike’s proposed Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.

The latest confrontation highlights a growing disagreement within the political camp supporting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election: while Wike argues that politicians from different parties can independently mobilise votes for the President, APC governors insist that such mobilisation must not weaken the party’s candidates and structures in other elections.

The South-East APC leadership made its position known in a joint statement signed by the party’s National Vice Chairman for the zone, Ijeomah Arodiogbu, and the APC chairmen in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

The leaders backed the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), which has said APC governors will not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the party or undermining its candidates at the 2027 polls.

South-East APC rejects Wike’s coalition

The South-East party leaders said the APC would support its candidates across the ballot, from the presidential contest through governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.

They also criticised Wike’s recent comments about some APC governors and called on him to withdraw what they regarded as attacks on elected party officials.

The leaders specifically rejected what they described as the “Rainbow Coalition,” arguing that the APC would resist any political arrangement that could create structures outside the party and affect its electoral interests.

Their position effectively places the South-East APC leadership behind the PGF in an increasingly public disagreement with Wike over the organisation of the 2027 campaign.

The dispute is particularly significant because the South-East was one of the areas Wike referenced while making his case for a cross-party approach to the presidential election.

Why Wike says the coalition is different

Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party while serving in President Tinubu’s administration, has repeatedly maintained that his political project is specifically designed to mobilise support for Tinubu’s presidential re-election.

He has also made a distinction between the presidential election and the other contests scheduled for 2027.

According to Wike, supporting Tinubu does not require politicians from other parties to abandon their parties or stop fielding candidates for governorship and legislative positions.

In a statement issued through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, Wike said the Rainbow Coalition had no formal affiliation with the APC and was intended to bring politicians from different parties together around Tinubu’s presidential bid.

That position is at the heart of the disagreement.

For the APC governors, the concern is that a cross-party structure could compete with the party’s established machinery at the same time that APC candidates are seeking votes in governorship and legislative contests.

The governors’ position was formally stated by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, chairman of the PGF, after the forum’s meeting in Abuja earlier this week. The governors said they would not participate in or endorse an arrangement that could weaken the APC or adversely affect its candidates.

Wike’s criticism of APC governors

The dispute intensified after Wike criticised some APC governors and questioned their political performance and commitment to Tinubu’s 2023 presidential campaign.

He specifically referred to Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma and Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in recent public comments.

Wike argued that the 2023 elections demonstrated that voters could support a presidential candidate from one party while backing candidates from another party in legislative elections held on the same day.

He cited Imo and other South-East states as examples, pointing to situations in which APC candidates performed strongly in National Assembly elections despite Tinubu recording a weaker presidential result in those states.

His argument is therefore that the same voting pattern can be reproduced in 2027: politicians from different parties can cooperate around Tinubu’s presidential campaign while retaining their separate identities and candidates for other offices.

The APC governors, however, have taken a different institutional position.

APC voices divided over how to handle Wike

The reaction within the ruling party has not been completely uniform.

Former APC governorship candidate and party chieftain Farouk Aliyu criticised Wike’s description of some APC governors and argued that the minister’s support for Tinubu should not translate into public attacks against members of the ruling party.

Aliyu also argued that Wike had already been rewarded for his role in the 2023 political realignment through his appointment as FCT minister, while praising his performance in that office.

But federal lawmaker Abdulmumin Jibrin has taken a substantially different position.

Jibrin urged APC governors not to publicly embarrass Wike, describing the FCT minister as an important political figure whose contribution to Tinubu’s political project should not be dismissed.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Jibrin said Wike should be treated as an asset and that APC governors should find ways of managing their disagreements with him rather than escalating the dispute publicly.

The competing reactions show that the disagreement is not simply between Wike and the APC as a single bloc. Different figures within the ruling party are taking different approaches to his political role.

The 2027 disagreement began before the latest exchange

The current confrontation has developed over several stages.

Wike has spent months promoting a political arrangement capable of bringing supporters of different parties behind Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid. He has maintained that such cooperation does not require the participating politicians to abandon their original parties.

The issue became more contentious in September when APC governors publicly warned against political arrangements that could create competing structures or damage the party’s candidates.

On September 15, the PGF formally rejected participation in any alliance it believed could weaken the APC or adversely affect its candidates.

Wike responded by insisting that he had never sought an alliance with the APC governors and that his coalition was focused on the presidential election rather than other electoral contests.

The public exchanges subsequently became sharper, with Wike accusing some governors of opposing his political activities and APC figures responding to his criticism.

The South-East APC statement has now added another regional party structure to the dispute.

Shettima clarification adds another layer

The political controversy has also coincided with clarification from the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima concerning remarks about Northern governors and their support for Tinubu.

Shettima’s office said his reference to six Northern governors who supported Tinubu related specifically to political consultations before the APC presidential primary in June 2022.

It said the remarks were not intended to suggest that Northern APC governors failed to support Tinubu after he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.

The clarification stated that Northern APC governors subsequently rallied behind Tinubu during the 2023 presidential campaign and recognised their contribution to his electoral victory.

The intervention is significant because it comes at a time when political actors are closely examining regional support structures ahead of the 2027 election.

What the dispute means for 2027

The immediate disagreement is about political organisation rather than whether Wike and the APC governors publicly support Tinubu’s re-election.

Both sides have stated that they support the President’s second-term bid.

The unresolved question is how that support should be organised.

Wike’s position allows politicians to maintain their party affiliations while independently supporting Tinubu for president. The APC governors’ position places greater emphasis on protecting the party’s candidates and organisational structure across all levels of the election.

That distinction could become increasingly important as the 2027 election approaches because Nigerians will vote in presidential, governorship and legislative contests within the same electoral cycle.

The disagreement also raises questions about how political alliances formed around a presidential candidate interact with existing party structures, particularly when coalition members belong to different parties.

For now, there is no indication that either side has abandoned its stated position.

Instead, the latest developments suggest that the debate over Wike’s political coalition and the role of APC governors is likely to remain an important feature of the 2027 political build-up.

What readers should watch next

The next developments will likely centre on whether Wike and the APC governors can establish a working arrangement that allows support for Tinubu without creating competing political structures.

Attention will also remain on the South-East, where APC leaders have now publicly rejected the Rainbow Coalition and pledged support for the party’s candidates.

The positions of individual governors, state party organisations and other political groups could become increasingly important as the parties move from broad alliances and public statements toward actual candidate selection, campaign organisation and grassroots mobilisation.

For now, the political divide is clear: Wike is advocating cross-party mobilisation for Tinubu’s presidential bid, while the APC governors are insisting that their party’s structure and candidates must remain central to the 2027 electoral strategy.