2027: APC campaign spokesperson urges Wike, APC governors to end media war

A spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Ima Niboro, has urged FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and APC governors to stop trading words in the media and focus on mobilising voters at the grassroots ahead of the 2027 elections.

Mr Niboro made the call on Wednesday during an interview on Arise News while commenting on the disagreement between Mr Wike and APC governors over the minister’s proposed Rainbow Coalition to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

He described the dispute as a “quarrel among political siblings”, saying both sides were ultimately working towards Mr Tinubu’s return in 2027 despite their differences over how to achieve it.

“When I said tone down the rhetoric, I do not mean stop working. Stop talking, go and work. That is my point,” Mr Niboro said.

He urged the politicians to leave television studios and engage directly with voters in their political constituencies.

“Go and establish authority on your political base. That’s what you need to do. Get away from the TV cameras, go to the people, go to the streets, go to the marketplaces and go and win the people by working,” he said.

“Stop all this high-sounding grammar that they are blowing everywhere. It’s not leading anybody anywhere. Go and work.”

The dispute followed the Progressive Governors’ Forum’s rejection of political arrangements that could undermine the APC or its candidates at the state and local government levels.

Mr Wike has promoted the Rainbow Coalition as a platform for politicians from different parties who support Mr Tinubu’s re-election, arguing that support for the president should not prevent politicians from backing candidates of other parties in state-level elections.

The position has brought him into conflict with APC governors, who insist that their political machinery must support APC candidates at all levels.

Mr Niboro said the concerns of both sides were understandable.

“APC governors naturally will worry that, Ok, we are working for the President, but then the PDP is fielding candidates against APC at the state level, at the local government level,” he said.

He added that Mr Wike also had political interests to protect as the debate over the coalition continued.

“So what I need to do is to make sure everybody needs to put their head down and work together with a common direction, a common plan,” he said.

According to him, the major point of agreement among the groups involved in the dispute is their support for Mr Tinubu’s re-election.

“Dr Nyesom Wike, the minister, is in the PDP. Most of the men and the rest of them are of the APC. But they agreed that President Bola Tinubu must return in 2027,” Mr Niboro said.

“So we need to find a way to tone down this rhetoric. We need to find a way to reduce this big battle that is flying from all directions and then work in a specific direction, which is to re-elect the president. That is the most important assignment.”

‘Governors are very powerful’

Mr Niboro also rejected Mr Wike’s description of APC governors as “politically lazy.”

He said governors wield considerable political influence because of the powers vested in them by the Nigerian Constitution.

“If Wike, all due respect to him, his position and his experience as a two-term governor, if he says the governors are lazy, then was he lazy as governor of a state?” Mr Niboro asked.

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“Governors are very, very powerful people. Governors are people who, actually, because of the nature of our Constitution, can sometimes really bring changes to even the centre.”

Mr Wike had criticised APC governors after they rejected his proposed cross-party arrangement, while Progressive Governors’ Forum Chairman and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma said the governors would not support arrangements that could weaken the APC or affect its candidates.

2027 Tinubu different from 2023 candidate

Mr Niboro also argued that the political contest in 2027 should not be viewed through the same lens as the 2023 presidential election.

“Sure, that was then. That was candidate Tinubu, but now this is President Tinubu,” he said, pointing to what he described as substantial work by the administration, particularly in the South-east.

He said the president’s record in office would form part of the political context going into the next election.

“I do not see it as a direct challenge to the president himself, beyond the fact that he’s a leader and it’s in his interest for him to maintain the peace,” Mr Niboro said.

He said the dispute was becoming more significant because of its potential impact on state and local government politics. Still, he maintained that both camps remained aligned on Mr Tinubu’s re-election.

Mr Niboro also warned that internal disagreements could pose a problem for large political parties if not properly managed.

“You know, we used to be in PDP. Sometimes a party gets so big, it becomes its own opposition,” he said.

“But PDP became its own opposition. That’s how you had the breakaways from PDP and all those issues that now led to the demise of PDP governance in this country.”

He said such disputes were common within large political organisations and required political management.

“These are the issues that happen when you have big parties. It is inevitable. So they have to be managed,” he said.

“And we have a leader who I think is competent enough to manage these things, and he will. Take my word for it.”