2027: ‘No parallel structures’, APC Govs warn, as Wike’s Rainbow Coalition rattles party

ABUJA: State governors elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC have warned against the creation of parallel political structures capable of undermining President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, in a position widely seen as a direct response to the Rainbow Coalition championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike.

Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who Wike had recently accused of sponsoring political attacks against him, made the declaration on behalf of the governors on Monday night during a closed-door meeting at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

The warning comes amid mounting friction within the APC over the coalition, with some powerful blocs in the party said to be pushing back against the arrangement over fears that it could split votes and damage Tinubu’s 2027 presidential chances.

The governors warned that coalition candidates flying different party flags could confuse rural voters, with the tensions already playing out in states including Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River.

Uzodimma stated that no arrangement that creates confusion, divided loyalty or competing interests within the party would be entertained.

According to him, the primary focus of the forum is 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,” Uzodimma said.

The Progressive Governors Forum has declared that APC governors will not support or endorse candidates outside the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections. The governors also pledged to take charge of President Tinubu’s re-election campaign across their respective states.

The position was reached at a high-level meeting of the Progressive Governors Forum held at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, who read the communique, said the governors would not participate in any political alliance or arrangement capable of undermining President Tinubu’s re-election bid or weakening the APC.

The warning against parallel structures is likely to be read in some quarters as an indirect message to Wike, who remains a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP but has continued to insist that the Rainbow Coalition exists solely to secure Tinubu’s re-election.

A political storm has been gathering across the length and breadth of Nigeria since Wike’s the Rainbow Coalition, swept through state after state, upturning old loyalties, splitting ruling party ranks, and leaving governors, senators and grassroots politicians scrambling to recalibrate their positions ahead of the 2027 general election.

From the ancient city of Ilorin to the creeks of Rivers State, from the hills of Cross River to the plains of Gombe, the coalition’s tentacles are reshaping the political map in ways that have left even seasoned watchers of Nigerian politics struggling to keep pace.