A fresh disagreement has emerged among political actors supporting President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, taking different positions on the structure for mobilising support for the President.
The disagreement centres on Wike’s National Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party platform which he says is aimed at mobilising support for Tinubu’s presidential campaign while allowing participating politicians to pursue their interests in governorship and legislative elections.
However, APC governors have rejected political arrangements they believe could weaken the party or affect its candidates in the 2027 elections.
Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Hope Uzodimma, disclosed the position of the governors after their meeting in Abuja.
Uzodimma said the governors would not participate in or endorse any alliance capable of undermining the APC or Tinubu’s re-election bid.
“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,” he said.
He added that the APC campaign structure would remain aligned with Tinubu’s agenda and the strategic objectives of the party.
Wike, however, has maintained that his support for Tinubu at the presidential level does not prevent the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or other politicians participating in the coalition from backing candidates from different parties in governorship and legislative contests.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said his commitment was specifically to Tinubu’s presidential campaign.
“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,” Wike said.
He also rejected the suggestion that the Rainbow Coalition was an APC initiative.
“Most importantly, Rainbow Coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is our own way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well to deserve a second term,” he said.
The disagreement has become more pronounced in states including Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River, where politicians associated with the coalition are involved in political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections.
In Rivers State, the coalition has brought together politicians from different parties and backed former PDP Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, for the governorship race, with Major Jack, Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, named as his running mate.
In Kwara, some aggrieved APC members have moved towards the PDP and joined political interests aligned with the Rainbow Coalition, intensifying tensions with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s APC structure.
Gombe has also witnessed political realignment following the movement of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, to the PDP with the backing of the coalition.
In Cross River, the PDP has maintained an active electoral structure, while reports of APC members moving towards the opposition have added to the political realignments ahead of 2027.
The developments have raised concerns among some APC leaders that a cross-party arrangement could allow politicians to support Tinubu for President while campaigning against APC candidates in governorship and legislative elections.
Wike has argued that such split-ticket voting occurred during the 2023 elections and does not prevent voters from supporting Tinubu at the presidential level while choosing candidates from other parties in other contests.
He cited APC victories in some National Assembly elections in the South-East despite the party recording relatively low presidential vote shares in some states.
“Was it Rainbow Coalition that also made APC to win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states where the president did not have ten per cent of the votes?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Ima Niboro, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, has urged Wike and the APC governors to reduce public exchanges and concentrate on grassroots mobilisation.
Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, Niboro described the disagreement as a “quarrel among siblings” and called on political leaders to demonstrate their influence through direct engagement with voters.
READ ALSO: Customs intercepts N5.53bn prohibited imports in 56 containers
“When I said tone down the rhetoric, I do not mean stop working. Stop talking, go and work,” he said.
Niboro urged politicians to strengthen their political structures, engage voters directly and focus on grassroots mobilisation.
“All this shouting is not taking anybody anywhere. Go and work. Go and establish your authority on your political base,” he added.
He also called on political leaders to take their campaigns beyond television appearances and public statements by engaging communities, markets and other grassroots constituencies.
