2027: APC Governors Reject Wike’s Rainbow Coalition

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have rejected political arrangements they believe could create parallel structures or weaken the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, announced the position after a closed-door meeting of APC governors in Abuja on Monday night.

The governors said their focus would remain on supporting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election and all candidates officially fielded by the APC for the 2027 elections.

The position comes amid growing disagreements between some APC governors and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over his Rainbow Coalition, a political platform involving individuals and supporters from different parties who are backing Tinubu’s presidential bid.

Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party while serving in the APC-led Federal Government, has maintained that the coalition is not an APC structure and is focused solely on mobilising support for Tinubu.

Uzodimma said the APC Governors Forum had resolved not to participate in or support any alliance capable of weakening the party, affecting its candidates or creating divided loyalty within its ranks.

He said APC governors would campaign for candidates officially sponsored by the party at all levels and align their campaign activities with Tinubu’s re-election effort and the party’s objectives.

The governors’ position has been viewed as a response to Wike’s efforts to mobilise support for Tinubu across political party lines, particularly as political alignments continue to shift ahead of the 2027 polls.

Wike, however, rejected the suggestion that his political activities were aimed at creating problems for the APC or its governors.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister said his support for Tinubu was separate from contests for governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly seats.

Wike said he never promised that the PDP would refrain from fielding candidates in those elections and maintained that his commitment was limited to mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election.

He also argued that political decisions at the state level should be handled by politicians within their respective states rather than being linked to the President’s re-election campaign.

The minister recalled that he and other members of the G5 supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election without first reaching an agreement with the APC.

Wike also referred to the results of the 2023 elections in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states, where voters supported different parties in presidential and National Assembly contests held on the same day.

He cited the APC’s victories in two senatorial seats in Imo despite the party recording less than 15 per cent of the presidential vote in the state. He also referred to APC victories in National Assembly elections in Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu, where Tinubu received less than 10 per cent of the presidential votes.

Wike argued that the results showed voters could make different choices in separate elections and would not necessarily be confused by candidates backed by different political groups.

He said his priority was to mobilise support for Tinubu and that politicians could focus on their respective state contests after the presidential election.

The PDP also defended Wike’s political position, saying his decision to support Tinubu did not amount to abandoning the PDP or joining the APC.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, said Wike had the constitutional and democratic right to choose the candidate he wanted to support while maintaining his membership and political relationships within the PDP.

The PDP said political parties remained free to field candidates in the 2027 elections and argued that Wike’s support for Tinubu should not be interpreted as an agreement to prevent opposition candidates from challenging APC candidates.

The disagreement has added another layer to the political realignments taking place ahead of the 2027 elections, with the APC governors seeking to maintain the party’s structures while Wike continues to advocate a cross-party mobilisation platform for Tinubu.