Tinubu urged to mediate as Wike, APC governors clash over Rainbow Coalition

The political disagreement between Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has widened, with members of the party and its wider political camp calling for dialogue before the dispute affects the ruling party’s preparations for the 2027 elections.

The latest intervention came from Ima Niboro, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), who described the confrontation as an internal disagreement among political allies and said President Bola Tinubu should help bring the competing sides together.

The dispute centres largely on Wike’s proposed “Rainbow Coalition” and whether politicians from different parties supporting Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid should also back APC candidates in governorship and legislative contests.

While Wike has maintained that his support for Tinubu does not require him to abandon his political identity or support APC candidates in every election, APC governors have taken a different position, insisting that political arrangements capable of weakening the party or its candidates will not receive their backing.

Why the Rainbow Coalition has become a point of contention

The disagreement is not simply about support for the presidency. It touches on how political alliances operating across party lines could affect contests at state and legislative levels.

The APC governors, led by Progressive Governors Forum chairman and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, have said they will not participate in or endorse an arrangement that could undermine the APC or its candidates.

Wike, meanwhile, has argued that the Rainbow Coalition is primarily concerned with mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election. He has maintained that backing the President should not automatically translate into supporting APC candidates in every other contest.

That distinction has created a political fault line between Wike’s coalition-building approach and the governors’ desire to maintain a unified APC campaign structure.

In a separate statement, Wike’s camp argued that the Rainbow Coalition was not an APC structure but a platform involving politicians from different parties who support Tinubu’s re-election.

Wike fires back at APC governors

The disagreement became more public after Wike criticised APC governors who opposed his initiative.

In an Arise TV interview, the FCT minister described the governors as “politically lazy” and rejected the suggestion that his activities represented opposition to Tinubu.

Wike also argued that his political disagreements with influential figures did not begin with the Rainbow Coalition, pointing to earlier disputes dating back to his time as Rivers State governor and his subsequent appointment as FCT minister.

His position has remained that he can support Tinubu for president while maintaining political relationships and interests outside the APC.

That position, however, has raised concerns among APC figures who fear that competing political structures could weaken the party’s organisation in states where the coalition operates.

PCC calls for an end to the public exchanges

Niboro’s intervention appeared aimed at lowering the temperature rather than choosing between the two sides.

According to the PCC spokesperson, both camps ultimately share the same immediate objective: supporting Tinubu’s return to office in 2027.

He described the confrontation as a dispute among political “siblings” and argued that disagreements within a large governing party are not unusual, but need to be managed before they damage the wider political structure.

Niboro also urged the politicians involved to spend less time trading accusations publicly and concentrate on strengthening their grassroots structures.

His argument is that the disagreement should not be allowed to become a broader organisational crisis across states and local government areas.

The PCC spokesperson pointed to the history of Nigeria’s former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), arguing that internal divisions can eventually become as significant as external opposition when a political organisation becomes too large.

Joe Igbokwe asks Wike to explain the coalition

APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe has taken a somewhat different approach, calling for direct engagement between Wike and the governors.

Igbokwe acknowledged Wike’s political influence but argued that the minister should meet with the APC governors and clearly explain the objectives and structure of the Rainbow Coalition.

His position is that the disagreement is better handled through consultations within the political camp than through public exchanges.

The call is significant because it identifies communication, rather than merely political loyalty, as one of the immediate issues requiring attention.

Igbokwe’s intervention also reflects the broader question facing the APC: how can a governing party accommodate politicians and supporters from outside its formal structure without creating competing political machinery that its own state organisations regard as a threat?

Okechukwu backs continued cooperation with Wike

Former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria and APC chieftain Osita Okechukwu has gone further, arguing that Tinubu should maintain his political relationship with Wike.

Okechukwu criticised APC governors who, in his view, were trying to persuade the President to distance himself from the FCT minister.

He argued that Wike’s political network could provide additional support for Tinubu in areas where the APC’s existing political structures may face challenges.

Okechukwu’s comments are his political assessment, rather than an independently established measurement of the governors’ electoral strength. Premium Times reported his claim that some APC governors lacked the capacity to mobilise voters, while other reports carried his argument that Wike’s network could provide supplementary support for Tinubu.

He also argued that the issue should have been handled through established party channels rather than through public statements.

The bigger issue: one presidential campaign, different political structures

At the heart of the disagreement is a potentially complicated electoral arrangement.

Tinubu is the APC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election, and the APC has already completed its presidential primary process. The Presidency confirmed in May that Tinubu would receive the party’s certificate and flag as its 2027 presidential candidate.

At the same time, Wike remains politically connected to the Peoples Democratic Party and has been openly supporting Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

The Rainbow Coalition therefore creates a situation in which politicians outside the APC could support the same presidential candidate while backing different candidates in other elections.

For APC governors, the concern is that such an arrangement could produce competing campaign structures within their states.

For Wike and his supporters, the coalition provides a way of bringing additional political actors into the presidential campaign without requiring all of them to become APC members.

How that tension is eventually managed could determine whether the coalition operates alongside the APC structure or becomes a source of further competition.

2027 election timetable adds urgency

The dispute is unfolding as Nigeria moves deeper into the electoral cycle.

INEC has formally commenced the process for the 2027 general elections. The Commission’s published timetable initially set the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, followed by governorship and State House of Assembly elections on March 6, 2027.

With political parties already engaged in preparations, disagreements over campaign structures are becoming increasingly important.

The immediate question is therefore not only whether Wike and the governors can settle their differences, but whether the ruling party can coordinate multiple political networks around the same presidential campaign without creating conflicting interests at state level.

What happens next?

The clearest path suggested by the latest interventions is dialogue involving Tinubu, Wike, the APC governors and other senior party stakeholders.

Niboro has urged the parties to stop escalating the dispute publicly. Igbokwe has called for Wike to explain the coalition directly to the governors, while Okechukwu has urged Tinubu to preserve the relationship with the FCT minister.

The positions are different, but they point to the same unresolved question: how should Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign accommodate Wike’s cross-party mobilisation efforts while preserving the APC’s own candidates and structures?

Until that question is settled, the Rainbow Coalition is likely to remain a major point of discussion within the President’s wider political camp.

For now, there is agreement among the different camps that Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign is central to their political calculations. The disagreement is over how that support should be organised and how much room should be given to political structures operating outside the APC.

Key points to watch

• Whether Tinubu personally brings Wike and the APC governors together.
• Whether Wike modifies or clarifies the structure of the Rainbow Coalition.
• Whether APC governors maintain their opposition to parallel political structures.
• Whether the coalition remains focused on the presidential contest or becomes involved in state-level races.
• Whether the APC can coordinate its official campaign machinery with supporters from other political parties.
• Whether the dispute remains a political disagreement or develops into a wider organisational conflict within the ruling party.

The coming months should provide a clearer indication of whether the competing structures can coexist a