GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have distanced themselves from any coalition or alliance with any individual ahead of the 2027 general elections, maintaining that they remain committed to the APC and its political structure.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, said this at the end of the governors’ meeting in Abuja late Monday night, stressing that they had not entered into any formal agreement with any individual or opposition party ahead of the election.
The position came amid the activities of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and national leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nyesom Wike, who is serving in the APC-led Federal Government and has been championing a Rainbow Coalition movement in Rivers State in support of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike, who has been embroiled in disagreements with some APC governors, disclosed during his recent media chat that Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and Uzodimma were allegedly behind his political challenges.
He said this was because of the growing national spread of his Rainbow Coalition, which he said was providing the PDP with a platform for politicians seeking to challenge the ruling party’s governorship and senatorial candidates in the next election, contrary to the governors’ interests.
In what appeared to be an indirect response to Wike’s remarks and his moves to expand his political influence across the states, the APC governors declared that they would not entertain any arrangement that could create confusion, divided loyalty or competing interests within the party.
Uzodimma, who read the communique at the end of the meeting, said the forum’s primary focus was to support official APC candidates at all levels rather than promote external interests.
He stated, “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.”
However, Wike has reiterated his support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying he never promised that the PDP would not field candidates in governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
The FCT Minister said the Rainbow Coalition does not have anything to do with the APC, describing the coalition as a platform for other political parties that are pleased with the “good works” of the President and are supporting his re-election.
In a statement on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike, who said he would not be the one to help governors win elections in their states, noted that “politics is local and those having problems in their States should resolve them instead of using the re-election of the President to whip up sentiments.”
Wike pointed out that he never met with the APC before he and other members of the G5 supported the President in 2023, and that for 2027, his support is for the President only.
Aiming a dig at Governor Hope Uzodimma, the Minister said politics is no longer about coming from fourth position to be governor, but about genuinely mobilising support and winning elections from the polling units.
“In Imo State under Governor Hope Uzodinma, how did APC win two senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day with that of the President and APC had less than 15 percent in the presidential election? Was it rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?”
“Was it rainbow coalition that also made APC to win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu States where the President did not have ten percent of the votes? If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the Senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027 provided we all support the president genuinely this time?”
The Minister urged all stakeholders to put the presidential election first, saying, “after the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our States.”
“What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and States House of Assembly elections.
“Most importantly, rainbow coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is own way of mobilising support accross political parties for Mr President, who has done well to deserve a second term,” he said.