Govs reject cross-party pact

​Wike insists coalition for Tinubu not APC

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that only President Bola Tinubu can question his political decisions, as he fired back at critics of his support for the President ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Wike stated this yesterday during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time, amid a growing disagreement between him and governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over his proposed Rainbow Coalition.

The minister’s comments came hours after the APC Governors’ Forum reaffirmed its opposition to political arrangements it believes could undermine APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

The governors had rejected political arrangements that could weaken the party’s candidates at various levels of the 2027 elections, insisting that their support for Tinubu’s re-election would go hand in hand with support for APC candidates.

Wike, however, drew a clear distinction between his support for Tinubu and his relationship with the APC.

“The only person that can question me today is the President. No other person,” he said.

He maintained that his support was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential bid and did not amount to an agreement to support APC candidates in governorship or legislative elections.

“There was never a day I went to the Governors’ Forum to align with the APC coalition. There was never one day. I have been talking about my alliance with political parties, and there was never one day that he referred to our alliance.”

Wike said he had never hidden his decision to support Tinubu, recalling that he and other members of the G5 backed the President during the 2023 presidential election.

“When, in 2023, we said we were going to support Tinubu, I never knew that it mattered that a presidential election could be viewed from the angle of literacy and other considerations.

“Let me just say that it is about the trustworthiness and background of persons providing leadership,” he said.

The former Rivers State governor explained that his decision to support Tinubu in 2027 was based on his belief that the presidency should remain in the South after eight years in the North, stressing that he had made his position clear from the outset.

“After the election, we decided to support you, and I have never hidden that,” he said. “Why? Because of my belief in the trajectory of the South producing the presidency, having had what has been done now for eight years. So, it would not be fair if the situation goes back to the North.”

Wike also dismissed the argument that his support for Tinubu meant politicians from other parties should abandon their own candidates in state and legislative elections.

He cited the positions of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke as examples of politicians who could support Tinubu at the presidential level while maintaining their political interests in other elections.

“Soludo is supporting Mr President. Does it mean that Soludo will not present candidates in the National Assembly election? Adeleke is supporting Mr President. Does it mean that Adeleke will not support candidates in the National Assembly election? So you can see, the whole thing they are talking about has no basis,” he added.

Wike also insisted that Tinubu was aware of his political activities and intentions, saying he had never taken any political decision without informing the President.

“And there’s nothing I have done that I have never told Mr President what I intend to do. If they know what I know, they won’t come out to say that.”

The FCT minister called on political actors to focus on their own states rather than attempting to use Tinubu’s presidential campaign to secure support for their local candidates. He also rejected the claim that he was trying to build a political structure that would make him more powerful than the APC governors.

“I have heard them say that, oh, I’m presenting candidates so that I’ll be the most powerful person that has better legislators.

“It’s only Mr President that put me in this position. If Mr President said, ‘Look, we are done,’ I mean, to God be the glory. But not because I’m influenced.”

Wike further said his political activities should not be interpreted as a challenge to Tinubu’s authority, stressing that the President remained fully aware of his position.

“Mr President knows what I do. He knows what I do. Not just for election,” he said.

Asked why he had remained in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite backing an APC presidential candidate, Wike said there was nothing contradictory about his position.

“The presidential candidate is my friend, and he came to me, and I told him that, look, there’s nothing wrong with you running,” he said.

The minister said he had never approached the APC Governors’ Forum to form an alliance with the party, stressing that his commitment to Tinubu’s second-term bid was based on his personal conviction about the President’s performance and the need to keep the presidency in the South.

According to him, the Rainbow Coalition is primarily concerned with supporting Tinubu at the presidential level while allowing political parties and their members to pursue their interests in governorship, National Assembly and state assembly elections.

Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja on Monday night, the APC governors resolved not to participate in, support or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election, weakening the APC or adversely affecting the fortunes of any candidate of the party.

Reading the communiqué after the meeting, the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Senator Hope Uzodinma, said the governors would not support any arrangement capable of creating “confusion, divided loyalty or competing interests” within the party.

The governors also resolved to work collectively to strengthen the party and ensure that APC candidates receive the support required to prosecute the 2027 elections.

Uzodinma maintained that the primary focus of the forum was to support official APC candidates at all levels rather than external interests.

“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 exclusively to all APC candidates. All levels of the party campaign architecture will align with the expectations of Mr President and the strategic objectives of the party,” he stated.

The governors added that although the party had unveiled its national presidential campaign council, they would remain at the forefront of the campaign in their respective states.

They also pledged to continue strengthening internal party unity, harmonising campaign structures from the national level down to the constituencies, and driving development across their states in line with the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope agenda.

Meanwhile, the Oodua Progressive Youths League (OPYL), a South-West support group for the APC, alleged that some governors whose preferred aspirants lost National Assembly tickets had directed their candidates to seek tickets from other political parties and contest against APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Wale Abdulwaheed, the group further alleged that the governors had reached an understanding with some opposition parties over the selection of polling agents for the elections.

According to the group, the affected governors had directed candidates sponsored on the platforms of opposition parties to nominate their loyalists, who are still members of the APC, as agents for the ruling party.

The group alleged that the names would subsequently be submitted to the APC National Secretariat in Abuja as the party’s agents in their respective states.

The states where Wike’s Rainbow Coalition is reportedly causing political tensions for incumbent APC governors include Kwara, Imo, Rivers, Gombe, Benue and Ondo.

In states such as Rivers, Imo, Benue and Gombe, the Wike-backed, PDP-led coalition has emerged as a political platform for candidates challenging incumbent governors. The political structure has given tickets to opponents of the incumbent governors for various elective positions.

In Ondo, however, the Wike-backed PDP has largely been adopted by loyalists of incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa who lost APC tickets in the state. The development has heightened concerns among some National Assembly APC candidates, who fear they may not enjoy the governor’s support.

The governors of Benue and Ondo states, Hyacinth Alia and Lucky Aiyedatiwa, respectively, have particularly come under scrutiny over the alleged development.

In Ondo State, however, the allegation has assumed a more serious dimension, with party sources claiming that the governor’s strained relationship with some APC candidates could affect the party’s campaign structure and election-day operations.

Aiyedatiwa has, however, denied directing any aspirant or candidate to contest against APC candidates on the platform of another political party.

While dismissing allegations that he was involved in anti-party activities, the governor described his accusers as “naysayers, blackmailers and slanderers.”

“I have zero tolerance for anti-party activities. I have never engaged in anti-party activities in my life,” he said.