2027: APC governors, Wike’s feud deepens

***Aliyu slams Wike, say he’s been compensated for 2023 support

***Jibrin warns APC govs against embarrassing Wike

***Shettima clarifies remarks on northern govs’ support for president

By Olasunkanmi Akoni, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Omeiza Ajayi

LAGOS — THE feud between the All Progressives Congress, APC, governors and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, deepened, yesterday, with APC leadership in the South-East throwing its weight behind the Progressive Governors’ Forum, PGF, demanding full party support for all APC candidates in the 2027 general elections.

The zone also rejected the Rainbow Coalition midwived by Wike, which has fielded candidates in many states, saying it will hurt APC flag bearers including re-election-seeking President Bola Tinubu at the polls. 

Wike has insisted that the coalition is 100 percent in support of Tinubu’s re-election. He accused some of the APC governors of being lazy and failing to work for Tinubu in 2023. 

Taking Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, he wondered how APC won two Senate seats in Imo in 2023 and the president could not get sizable votes and lost in the state. 

Like the South-East APC, Farouk Aliyu, a founding member of the APC in Jigawa State, and a former minority leader of the House of Representatives, who slammed Wike over his attacks on the governors, said that the minister has been adequately compensated for supporting Tinubu in 2023.

S-East natl vice-chairmen, 5 state chairmen back APC govs

The South-East APC stance was conveyed in a joint statement by the APC National Vice Chairman (South-East), Dr. Ijeomah Arodiogbu, and chairman of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states

It argued that the PGF’s position is essential in securing a comprehensive victory for the APC in 2027, and condemned Wike’s recent attacks on PGF members, which it described as “most unfortunate, reprehensible and completely unacceptable.”

They noted that Wike’s targets are governors who had delivered significant development in their states and secured more than 25 per cent of the presidential vote in 2023, insisting that the “Progressive Governors are not abstract politicians; they are performing leaders whose records speak for themselves.”

Beyond condemning the attacks, the statement accused Wike of actively working to hurt the political fortunes of sitting APC governors in 2027, arguing that no minister holds authority over elected governors.

“It is more troubling that Wike’s growing tendency to insult, diminish and plot to remove sitting Progressive Governors in 2027 is increasing each day,” it said, demanding that he withdraws his attacks and return to “party discipline, mutual respect and collective responsibility.”

The South-East leaders also rejected what they termed the “rainbow (chameleon) coalition” taking shape in the region, vowing that the APC will resist any attempt to undermine its structures there.

“We in the South-East stand solidly with all Progressive Governors and candidates of our party at all levels in the forthcoming 2027 elections,” they said, declaring the APC is “bigger than any individual” and rallying members behind its candidates from President Tinubu down to the State Houses of Assembly.

Aliyu slams Wike

Speaking during a televised interview on Arise TV yesterday, Aliyu, former APC governorship candidate in Jigawa, picked holes in Wike’s labelling of the APC governors as “lazy”.

Aliyu declared that the leadership and membership of the ruling party strongly reject such characterizations.

The controversy stems from an intensifying feud between Wike, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, serving in President Tinubu’s cabinet, and members of the APC Progressive Governors Forum.

While Wike maintains that his political alignment is designed to secure a second term for President Tinubu through his Rainbow Coalition, APC leaders have expressed growing frustration over his public hostility toward party executives.

Aliyu clarified that while the APC remains open to political alliances and appreciates Wike’s contributions to the party’s 2023 electoral success, the minister’s public outbursts undermine party discipline and overheat the national polity.

Addressing allegations of hypocrisy regarding the APC’s willingness to accept Wike’s support during the 2023 elections while condemning his current actions, Aliyu maintained that internal party boundaries must be respected.

Wike adequately compensated for supporting Tinubu in 2023

He stressed that Wike had been “adequately compensated” for his political backing through his high-profile appointment as FCT Minister, a role Aliyu commended him for executing effectively.

However, he warned against public arrogance and personal attacks on party figures, specifically referencing Wike’s recent televised remarks targeting leaders such as Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma and Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

Aliyu, therefore, urged party members not to be distracted by the ongoing altercations and called on all political leaders, including Wike, to exercise humility and restraint.

He affirmed that the APC remains committed to a unified, “top-to-bottom” campaign structure for future elections, reasserting that APC governors will remain in charge of political operations within their respective states.

Avoiding distraction

“I call on my party members not to join issues with Wike, let it not be a distraction to us. We have a party to run, we have a country to run,” he said and urged Wike “that tries to help the president, to be humble, to talk to people in a nice way, try to appeal to the sensibilities of Nigerians.”

He continued: “There are certain things that as a government, people are not happy with us. So, it is very uncalled for, for someone that is trying to help us, to be insulting members of our party.

“So, yes, we’re not happy with his comments, and we hope he will also desist from these kinds of comments so that it does not overheat the polity. I mean the country, it’s not just APC.”

Jibrin warns APC govs against embarrassing Wike

However, a chieftain of the APC and federal lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has warned aggrieved governors within the party against publicly embarrassing Wike, insisting that no member of the ruling party can claim not to have benefited from his efforts in delivering President Tinubu. 

Jibrin, a former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, spoke on Wednesday night while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he mounted a spirited defence of the FCT minister amid mounting attacks from some APC governors. 

Describing Wike as central to the party’s fortunes, the Kano lawmaker declared: “There is no APC member in Nigeria today that has not directly or indirectly benefited from the efforts of Wike, so long as delivering the President, also managing the government, also performing his work, there is nobody.”

He went further to stress the scale of sacrifice Wike has made for the ruling party, stating, “Wike is an asset to APC, he has sacrificed so much for the President and the APC. I don’t think Wike should be embarrassed at this moment with public statements.”

Jibrin’s intervention came amid criticisms of Wike by some APC governors, notably Kwara State governor, and Imo State governor, who have questioned his floating a national rainbow coalition for Tinubu while still remaining in the PDP. In reality, we should be fair to him; he has done far more than that,” he said.

Shettima clarifies remarks on Northern govs’ support for president

Meanwhile, the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima has clarified his remarks concerning the support President Tinubu received from Northern governors in the build-up to his emergence as the presidential candidate of the APC.

A statement by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communication, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Stanley Nkwocha, explained that “the Vice President’s reference to six Northern governors, who believed in and supported President Tinubu, was specifically about political consultations and alignments preceding the APC presidential primary in June 2022.”

According to the statement: “It was not a comment on the position of Northern APC governors following President Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s candidate, nor was it intended to question their support during the 2023 presidential election.”

It stated that following the presidential primary, APC governors in the North rallied around the party’s candidate and played important roles in the campaign and electoral efforts that culminated in President Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 general election.

“VP Shettima holds the Northern governors and other leaders of the APC in high regard and recognises their individual and collective contributions to the success of the party and the emergence of President Tinubu.

“The Vice President regrets any interpretation of his remarks that may have suggested otherwise and hopes this clarification places the comments in their proper context.

“VP Shettima also appreciates the Nigerian media for its longstanding professionalism and constructive engagement with his office and urges continued accuracy and context in the reporting of public remarks as the country approaches another political season,” the statement added.