{"id":100245,"date":"2026-09-16T15:01:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100245"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:02:56","slug":"wikes-apc-governors-are-unhappy-with-me-claim-and-the-rainbow-coalition-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100245","title":{"rendered":"Wike’s \u201cAPC governors\u00a0are unhappy with\u00a0me\u201d claim and\u00a0the Rainbow Coalition\u00a0dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Bola Tinubu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The latest clash between FCT Minister\u00a0 Nyesom Wike\u00a0and All Progressives Congress (APC) governors is not simply a disagreement over whether politicians should support President Bola Tinubu in 2027. The competing statements and the history of the Rivers crisis point to a struggle over\u00a0political structures, control of candidates, influence within the Tinubu camp, and positioning ahead of the 2027 and potentially 2031 political cycles.<\/p>\n

The immediate trigger is the APC Governors\u2019 Forum\u2019s rejection of Wike\u2019s cross-party \u201cRainbow Coalition.\u201d Wike now says the hostility toward him predates the coalition and began when Tinubu appointed him FCT minister in 2023.<\/p>\n

What Wike actually alleged<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his September 15 interview with ARISE NEWS, Wike said the disagreement with some APC governors \u201cstarted with the ministerial position.\u201d His argument is that some governors were unhappy that a former PDP governor was given one of the most politically significant portfolios in the APC-led federal government.<\/p>\n

He then connected that alleged opposition to the later Wike\u2013Siminalayi Fubara crisis in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

Wike’s version is that some APC governors\u00a0misled Fubara during the dispute and attempted to influence the political direction of Rivers State. He also alleged that money was used in the political manoeuvring around the crisis, but, importantly,\u00a0he did not provide evidence in the interview establishing that allegation.<\/p>\n

Wike’s accusation is a political claim, not an independently established fact.<\/p>\n

The minister also argued that the APC governors’ current opposition to his Rainbow Coalition is driven by their desire to control political outcomes in their respective states.<\/p>\n

The APC governors’ position<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Progressive Governors’ Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, took a substantially different position.<\/p>\n

Following a September 14 meeting in Abuja, the forum said its members would not participate in or endorse an alliance that could weaken the APC, adversely affect APC candidates or undermine Tinubu’s re-election campaign. Uzodimma said the governors’ campaign commitment was to\u00a0APC candidates at all levels.<\/p>\n

This creates the central contradiction:
\nWike’s position:\u00a0Supporting Tinubu for\u00a0president does not\u00a0require him or\u00a0other politicians to\u00a0support APC candidates\u00a0for governor, Senate, House of Representatives\u00a0or state assembly.<\/p>\n

APC governors’ position:\u00a0A cross-party\u00a0structure that supports\u00a0Tinubu while potentially\u00a0campaigning against APC\u00a0candidates in other\u00a0races could weaken\u00a0the party and\u00a0create divided political\u00a0loyalties.<\/p>\n

So the dispute is partly about the difference between\u00a0supporting a presidential candidate\u00a0and\u00a0supporting the presidential candidate’s political party across the ballot.<\/p>\n

What exactly is Wike’s Rainbow Coalition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cRainbow Coalition\u201d began principally as a Rivers State political arrangement but has increasingly been presented by Wike as a broader, cross-party mobilisation for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.<\/p>\n

In Rivers, the arrangement has brought together politicians associated with different parties, including the PDP, APC, Labour Party and Action Alliance. Wike has repeatedly said that the coalition’s central presidential objective is to support Tinubu, while individual parties can retain their own candidates for other elections.<\/p>\n

That distinction is precisely what has alarmed the APC governors.<\/p>\n

The coalition is not merely a discussion forum. It has been involved in organising candidates and political structures in Rivers. In May, Wike said the coalition would collectively determine the person it would support for governor, rather than allowing one political party to make the decision unilaterally.<\/p>\n

By August, the APC’s\u00a0Kingsley Chinda\u00a0had emerged as the key governorship candidate around the coalition, while a reconciliation committee headed by former senator\u00a0Magnus Abe\u00a0was working to bring former Wike and Fubara supporters together.<\/p>\n

Why Rivers State is so important<\/strong><\/p>\n

To understand Wike’s latest accusation, it is necessary to go back to the breakdown between Wike and Fubara.<\/p>\n

Wike helped Fubara emerge as Rivers governor in 2023. Their relationship subsequently deteriorated over the control of the state’s political structure. The disagreement spread into the Rivers State House of Assembly, where lawmakers aligned with Wike confronted Fubara.<\/p>\n

The conflict eventually became a national political crisis.<\/p>\n

President Tinubu intervened several times. In March 2025, he declared a\u00a0state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Fubara, his deputy and the state legislature and appointing Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator.<\/p>\n

A subsequent reconciliation process brought Wike, Fubara and the Rivers political actors back together. In June 2025, Wike and Fubara publicly said they had agreed to work together.<\/p>\n

The crisis, however, continued to cast a long shadow over the state’s 2027 politics.<\/p>\n

The crucial development: Fubara is no longer seeking a second term<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wike’s current statement that APC governors \u201ccouldn’t give the governor a second term\u201d needs to be understood against the fact that Fubara has now withdrawn from the 2027 governorship race.<\/p>\n

In May 2026, Fubara withdrew from the APC governorship primary. Wike said the withdrawal did not surprise him because, according to Wike, an earlier reconciliation arrangement had included Fubara not seeking a second term.<\/p>\n

There were competing accounts over whether such a condition was actually agreed. An online newspaper reported in 2025 that sources familiar with the Tinubu-brokered settlement said Fubara’s reinstatement was tied to not seeking another term; other Rivers figures disputed that interpretation.<\/p>\n

Later, however, Fubara himself was publicly saying he would not seek re-election, saying the decision was in the interest of peace and development in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

That substantially changes the political landscape.<\/p>\n

Fubara subsequently publicly supported Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, endorsed Tinubu for another term and backed Kingsley Chinda for governor.<\/p>\n

Wike and Fubara then met again in Port Harcourt at the end of August, with Chinda and Magnus Abe also involved in the reconciliation effort.<\/p>\n

In other words, the man at the centre of the original Wike\u2013Fubara confrontation has now moved politically closer to Wike’s coalition.<\/p>\n

So what does Wike mean by \u201cthey couldn’t give Fubara a second term\u201d?<\/p>\n

Wike’s interpretation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wike presents the story as follows:<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eSome APC governors\u00a0opposed his appointment\u00a0as FCT minister.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eThey subsequently became\u00a0involved in the\u00a0Rivers political dispute.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eThey influenced Fubara\u00a0against the political\u00a0structure that had\u00a0produced him.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eThe resulting confrontation\u00a0weakened Fubara politically.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eFubara eventually abandoned\u00a0his second-term\u00a0ambition.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eThe same political\u00a0interests are now\u00a0 opposing Wike’s Rainbow\u00a0Coalition.<\/p>\n

Wike therefore sees the present confrontation\u00a0 as part of a continuous political struggle, rather than a new dispute created by the 2027 election.<\/p>\n

It appears\u00a0the APC governors have their own candidates and political structures to protect.<\/p>\n

Other sources said the dispute was connected to competition over political influence, control of legislative positions and longer-term ambitions extending toward 2031.<\/p>\n

The tensions involving Wike, Uzodimma and other political actors in several states, appears connected to disputes over candidates and competing political networks.<\/p>\n

The 2023 election provides an important part of Wike’s argument<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wike’s defence of the Rainbow Coalition is built partly around the idea that Nigerian voters can vote differently in different contests on the same day.<\/p>\n

He cited the 2023 results in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu to argue that voters could support one party’s presidential candidate while choosing another party’s National Assembly candidates.<\/p>\n

That is a factual feature of Nigeria’s electoral system: presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives and state-level elections are separate contests, and voters can make different choices on different ballots.<\/p>\n

Wike therefore rejects the APC governors’ suggestion that supporting Tinubu while backing non-APC candidates necessarily produces voter confusion.<\/p>\n

He also pointed to politicians such as Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke, both of whom have publicly expressed support for Tinubu while remaining associated with their respective parties.<\/p>\n

Why the APC governors see the situation differently<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the governors’ standpoint, the issue is not necessarily whether Tinubu can receive support from people outside the APC.<\/p>\n

The more difficult question is\u00a0who controls the political machinery underneath the presidency.<\/p>\n

An APC governor has an interest in:<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eretaining control of\u00a0his state’s party\u00a0structure;<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0edetermining or influencing\u00a0APC candidates;<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eprotecting incumbent senators\u00a0and House members;<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0esecuring his preferred\u00a0governorship successor;<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0epreventing rival political\u00a0networks from becoming\u00a0stronger inside the\u00a0state;<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0eensuring that support\u00a0for Tinubu does\u00a0not simultaneously strengthen\u00a0an opposition party\u00a0against APC candidates.<\/p>\n

Wike’s model potentially\u00a0separates those things.Under his formulation, a politician could say: \u201cI support Tinubu for president, but I support another party’s candidate for governor or senator.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is politically possible, but it can be uncomfortable for an incumbent APC governor whose own candidates are competing against those candidates.<\/p>\n

This is why the APC Governors’ Forum has explained its objection around\u00a0party cohesion and candidate loyalty, rather than simply rejecting support for Tinubu.<\/p>\n

Wike’s relationship with Tinubu is another key element<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wike is still a PDP politician, but he is serving as FCT minister in Tinubu’s APC-led government and has openly backed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.<\/p>\n

In the latest interview, Wike was particularly emphatic that Tinubu knows about his political activities.<\/p>\n

He said his support for Tinubu does not mean he has joined the APC or abandoned the PDP, and that he has not entered into a political unity arrangement with the APC as a party.<\/p>\n

That is significant because it creates an unusual political arrangement: PDP affiliation + APC federal appointment + support for an APC president + a cross-party electoral coalition + opposition to some APC candidates.<\/p>\n

Wike regards those positions as compatible. The APC Governors’ Forum clearly regards the combination as potentially problematic.<\/p>\n

The dispute is spreading beyond Rivers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rainbow Coalition was initially most visible in Rivers, but Wike has increasingly described it as a national project.<\/p>\n

In August, he said a larger national Rainbow Coalition was emerging around Tinubu and specifically pointed to political realignment involving Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke.<\/p>\n

He has also identified Bayelsa as another state where PDP structures could support Tinubu.<\/p>\n

That expansion explains why the APC governors’ reaction has become more pronounced.<\/p>\n

A coalition confined to Rivers would primarily be a state-level matter. A coalition that can mobilise PDP, Labour and other politicians across several states potentially becomes a\u00a0parallel electoral network operating alongside the APC’s formal campaign structure.<\/p>\n

That is the underlying institutional question now facing the Tinubu camp.<\/p>\n

What makes the current confrontation unusual<\/strong><\/p>\n

The irony is that both sides publicly claim to be supporting Tinubu.<\/p>\n

Wike says: Support Tinubu first; parties can compete against one another in other elections.<\/p>\n

The APC governors’ position is effectively:
\nSupport Tinubu through the APC’s candidates and official party machinery rather than through a parallel coalition.<\/p>\n

Consequently, this is not principally a dispute between people supporting Tinubu and people opposing him.<\/p>\n

It is a dispute over\u00a0how Tinubu’s support should be organised and who should control the political machinery delivering it.<\/p>\n

The 2031 factor<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is also a longer-term dimension, although claims about individual politicians’ future ambitions should be treated cautiously unless they are publicly confirmed.<\/p>\n

PUNCH reported anonymous APC sources who characterised the struggle among some of Tinubu’s political allies as partly connected to positioning for influence after 2027, including possible 2031 ambitions and control of the next National Assembly.<\/p>\n

The importance of this distinction is that today’s alliances can serve two purposes simultaneously: winning the 2027\u00a0election; and establishing political networks\u00a0for the post-2027 period.<\/p>\n

That helps explain\u00a0why seemingly technical\u00a0disagreements over candidates\u00a0and party structures\u00a0have become so\u00a0politically sensitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest clash between FCT Minister\u00a0 Nyesom Wike\u00a0and All Progressives Congress (APC) governors is not simply a disagreement over whether politicians should support President Bola Tinubu in 2027. The competing statements and the history of the Rivers crisis point to a struggle over\u00a0political structures, control of candidates, influence within the Tinubu camp, and positioning ahead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[189,2544,47,56,2861,742],"class_list":["post-100245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-apc","tag-coalition","tag-governors","tag-tinubu","tag-uzodimma","tag-wike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100246,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100245\/revisions\/100246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}