This is even as growing number of aggrieved members and former party leaders align with the Rainbow Coalition led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The move by some of the aggrieved governors is reportedly aimed at countering the growing influence of the “Rainbow Coalition”—a cross-party political alliance championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to sources familiar with the matter, some of the APC governors are increasingly uncomfortable with Wike’s activities, fearing that his coalition is encroaching on their local political structures by absorbing aggrieved APC members and politicians who lost out in party primaries.
The governors’ anxieties have been further heightened by the election timetable, which schedules the 2027 governorship election for February 6, three weeks after the January 16 presidential poll.
“The governors are not entertaining any fears that President Bola Tinubu will win re-election,” said a source close to one of the governors, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “However, their fears are rooted in claims by Wike that the President has already ceded nine states to his coalition in the governorship election.”
The source added that while such claims might sound like political posturing, the governors cannot afford to dismiss them.
“President Tinubu will not be seeking another term after 2027, and it would cost him practically nothing to cede some states, as Wike claimed. Given the fluid nature of Nigerian politics, politicians who win governorship seats on Wike’s platform could easily defect to the APC post-election. We have seen this pattern with opposition governors in Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Enugu, Adamawa, Kano, and Rivers,” the source explained.
The primary point of friction for the governors is the Rainbow Coalition’s campaign strategy, which urges electors to vote for President Tinubu in the presidential ballot while backing opposition candidates, primarily from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in state and legislative elections.
In response, some APC governors argue that if Wike can mobilize opposing structures at the state level while supporting Tinubu nationally, they should similarly be free to build relationships with alternative political blocs like Atiku’s ADC to protect their local interests.
The realignment has also drawn interest in the North-Central, North-West, and North-East geopolitical zones.
Another source suggest Wike is scheming to position a prominent North-Central PDP leader—a former head of a federal legislative house—for a top role in 2031, with himself as a prospective running mate. This has sparked concerns among northern APC leaders who fear being sidelined in future presidential calculations.
In a live television interview on Monday, Wike further stoked internal party tensions by dismissing the senatorial ambition of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, asserting that the South-East would not produce either the Senate President or the Vice President in the next political cycle.
Wike has previously accused both Uzodimma and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of working against his coalition’s mobilization efforts.
Dr. Ayeni Ishola, a political analyst warned that the ruling APC and the Presidency must handle the crisis with utmost care, saying the Wike’s antics may make the party to lose many parliamentary seats in the forthcoming polls.
‘’You can’t rule out anything in politics, the fear of the APC governors is very genuine and if the situation is not properly handled, the ruling party may leave to regret it,’’ he said.
An official of the party, who sought anonymity, said the issue of Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, would soon be sorted as soon as the party’s chairman return from vacation.
