- As FCT Minister’s Rainbow Coalition threatens APC’s stranglehold on Rivers, C-River, Gombe, Kwara, Others
BY VICTOR BUORO – The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) says President Bola Tinubu must intervene in the current explosive face-off between ruling party governors and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike to save the party’s 2027 re-election prospects.
Delivering the urgent appeal amid fears the escalating political war could harm and derail the party’s grip on power ahead of next year’s polls, Spokesperson of the APC PCC, Ima Niboro, however described the dispute as an internal disagreement between allies who share the same top-line goal.
He expressed confidence that the face-off will be resolved internally, saying: “I consider this a quarrel among political siblings. They are all working in the same direction, but there are differences in the details. Both camps agree that President Tinubu must return in 2027.”
According to him: “The ultimate beneficiary of this entire process is the President. The quarrel we are talking about is a quarrel that is trickling down to states and local government areas. But both camps agreed on re-electing the President. I do not see it as a direct challenge to the President himself, beyond the fact that he is a leader and it’s in his interest to intervene for peace.
“If I were the President, for instance,you know, the President is an astute, very experienced politician, you cannot take that from him, I think he is networking these people. I know that. You see this kind of quarrel, you remember when we used to be in the PDP, sometimes the party gets so big, it becomes its own opposition.
‘’Those days, (Vincent Ogbulafor and) Ali Modu Sheriff used to say that PDP will rule for 60 years and there’s no opposition, but PDP itself became its opposition. That’s how you had the breakaways from PDP and all those issues that led to the demise of PDP governance in this country. So, these are the issues that happen when you have big parties.
“It is inevitable. So, they have to be managed. These things have to be managed, and we have a leader who I think is competent enough to manage these things, and he will. Take my word.”
The Simmering Wike Vs APC Gov Feud
Forefront News notes that at the heart of the bitter feud is Wike’s controversial “Rainbow Coalition” that has put him at daggers drawn with the APC governors over the cross-party initiative known to be fielding rival candidates across multiple states with both sides hammering on party loyalty, state power structures, and the rules of engagement for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
Consequently, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) led by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State warned that the FCT Minister’s strategy will backfire, insisting they would not participate, support or endorse any alliance that could undermine President Tinubu’s re-election bid or affect APC candidates at any level.
However, firing back at his critics, Wike described the APC Governors as “politically lazy”and slammed some of them, including Governor Uzodimma and his Kwara State counterpart, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for opposing his Rainbow Coalition, ahead of the 2027 polls.
In an Arise TV interview, the former Rivers State governor dismissed their concerns, arguing that his decision to support Tinubu did not mean he had abandoned PDP as his political party or agreed that other parties should not field candidates.
The FCT Minister, who is clearly the driving force behind the fractured opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “They are politically lazy. When you have your local problems, don’t use Mr President as your excuse”, maintaining also that the disagreements surrounding his political activities did not start with his decision to support Tinubu.
While acknowledging that he had faced opposition as governor of Rivers State and now as FCT Minister, he said, “This thing did not start today. It started at my appointment as a minister. They were not happy that I was Minister of FCT. Also, they were unhappy when I was governor”.
The Minister, who stoutly defended his controversial stances, argued that his critics lack the insider information necessary to judge his actions, and further asserted his political insight surpasses his detractors’.
Also suggesting that access to his intelligence briefings would completely alter public perception, he drew a sharp line between party loyalty and national allegiance, maintaining that his staunch support for President Tinubu remains completely unaffected by partisan activities.
