APC Chairmen Push Back Against Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, Seek Formal Defection

Several state chapters of the All Progressives Congress are resisting Nyesom Wike’s cross-party political arrangement ahead of the 2027 elections, with party officials arguing that his support for President Bola Tinubu should be accompanied by formal membership of the ruling party. The political disagreement over the role of Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike in President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign has widened, with APC officials in several states rejecting the minister’s Rainbow Coalition and calling on him to join the ruling party. The controversy centres on whether politicians outside the APC can mobilise support for Tinubu’s presidential bid while simultaneously supporting candidates from other parties in governorship and legislative contests. Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, has repeatedly said his principal objective is to help Tinubu secure another presidential term. He has also defended the coalition as a cross-party political arrangement rather than an APC structure. Channels Television reported that Wike rejected claims that the coalition was created to weaken the ruling party. However, the APC Governors’ Forum has taken a different position. APC governors demand party-wide support The Progressive Governors’ Forum, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, said in September that APC governors would not support political arrangements that could weaken the party or affect its candidates in the 2027 elections. According to Premium Times, the governors resolved not to support or endorse alliances that could undermine Tinubu’s re-election or any APC candidate at any level. Uzodimma said the governors’ campaign commitment would remain focused on APC candidates. The position was followed by a direct challenge from Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal. Speaking to Channels Television, Lawal said Wike needed to clarify his political allegiance and choose between joining the APC and maintaining the Rainbow Coalition. He said the APC governors' position was that support for the party should extend across the ballot. That position has now been echoed by APC officials in several states.

State chapters reject the coalition

In Imo, APC publicity secretary Jones Onwuasoanya said Wike should formally join the party if his support for Tinubu was genuine. The Imo chapter's position reflects a broader argument among APC officials that supporting the President while remaining in the PDP creates an unusual political arrangement, particularly when the coalition is associated with candidates outside the APC. Gombe APC publicity secretary Murtala Usman similarly called on Wike to complete what he described as his political transition by joining the ruling party. He argued that a separate coalition could create difficulties for APC stakeholders in states where competing political interests are already active. Ondo APC secretary Alex Kalejaiye also rejected a model under which Tinubu would receive support at the presidential level while other parties receive backing in state and legislative contests. The Ondo position is significant because it illustrates the central disagreement: APC officials are seeking a unified electoral structure, while Wike's position allows supporters to back Tinubu without necessarily abandoning their existing party affiliations. Not all APC chapters take the same position The reaction within the APC, however, is not completely uniform. In Jigawa, APC publicity secretary Bashir Kundu welcomed Wike's support for Tinubu and said the minister would be received if he chose to join the party. Other chapters have been more cautious. Osun APC spokesman Kola Olabisi said the question of Wike's possible defection was a matter for the national leadership rather than the state chapter. Delta APC chairman Solomon Arenyeka similarly said his chapter was waiting for a formal national position. In Benue, the issue has exposed competing views within the state party. One APC faction welcomed Wike's support for Tinubu while preferring that he formally join the APC. Another faction took the opposite view and argued that Wike should remain in the PDP. These differences are important because they show that the reported opposition to the Rainbow Coalition does not amount to a single, uniform position across every APC structure. South-East APC backs governors The disagreement has also spread into the South-East. APC leaders in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, together with the party's national vice-chairman for the zone, backed the Progressive Governors' Forum and rejected what they called the Rainbow Coalition. The leaders said APC candidates should receive party support from the presidential contest down to the State House of Assembly elections. They also criticised Wike over his comments about APC governors. Their intervention followed the Progressive Governors' Forum's earlier rejection of political arrangements that could affect the party's candidates. Wike maintains his position Wike has not indicated that he intends to leave the PDP for the APC. In a September statement reported by Premium Times, the FCT minister said his political priority was securing Tinubu's re-election. He also rejected suggestions that the Rainbow Coalition was established to destabilise existing political parties. Earlier, Wike argued that his position was consistent with the political arrangement that preceded the 2023 election, when members of the G5 group backed Tinubu despite remaining outside the APC. He has also maintained that political arrangements should reflect local circumstances and that supporting Tinubu at the presidential level does not automatically require supporters to abandon their political parties. That position is at the heart of the current disagreement. A widening dispute ahead of 2027 The emerging confrontation is therefore not simply about Wike's personal party membership. It also concerns control of political structures and how votes will be mobilised across Nigeria's multi-level elections in 2027. APC officials opposed to the coalition argue that presidential support cannot be separated from support for the party's other candidates. Wike and his allies, by contrast, maintain that a politician can support Tinubu for president while retaining the freedom to participate in other political contests. For now, the available evidence does not support describing the APC as unanimously opposed to Wike. Several state chapters have rejected the Rainbow Coalition or urged him to defect, while others have welcomed his support for Tinubu or declined to take a definitive position. What is clear is that the dispute has become a significant point of political friction within the broader camp supporting Tinubu's 2027 presidential bid. Wike remains the FCT minister and a PDP member in an APC-led federal government. The State House's current cabinet listing confirms his position as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Unless the competing positions are reconciled, the debate over whether support for Tinubu can operate independently of APC structures is likely to remain an issue as the 2027 election cycle develops.