— Insist on exclusive support for Tinubu, APC candidates
The All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum has drawn a clear political line against alliances or arrangements capable of weakening the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections, in what appears to be a direct response to the Rainbow Coalition being championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The governors, at the end of their meeting in Abuja on Monday night, declared that they would not participate in, support or endorse any political arrangement that could undermine President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid or adversely affect APC candidates at any level.
Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, who read the communiqué issued after the meeting, said the governors remained committed to the party’s official candidates and political structure.
Uzodimma said the forum had not entered into any formal agreement with individuals or opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
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.”
The Imo governor further said the position of the governors was unambiguous, stressing that they would not support candidates contesting against those sponsored by the APC.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the governors’ campaign commitment would be exclusively directed towards APC candidates, with the party’s campaign architecture expected to operate in line with President Tinubu’s re-election strategy and the objectives of the ruling party.
The development comes against the backdrop of Wike’s growing political mobilisation under the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party platform which the FCT minister has presented as a vehicle for supporting Tinubu’s re-election while allowing politicians from different parties to pursue their political interests.
Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, has maintained that the coalition is not an APC structure and does not amount to opposition to the President.
In a response to the APC governors’ position on Tuesday, the minister insisted that the Rainbow Coalition was designed to mobilise support for Tinubu among politicians across party lines.
Wike also criticised Governor Uzodimma over what he described as inadequate support for Tinubu, arguing that the coalition should not be equated with an attempt to undermine the APC or the President.
The latest confrontation underscores an emerging disagreement over whether support for Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid should necessarily translate into support for APC candidates contesting governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and other positions.
While Wike and his allies have promoted a broader political coalition cutting across party affiliations, the APC governors have now insisted that their loyalty must extend to the party’s candidates across the ballot.
The governors’ position is therefore expected to intensify political manoeuvring within the ruling party as preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum.
The controversy has also brought to the fore concerns within APC circles that cross-party alliances could create divided loyalties and produce voting patterns in which supporters back Tinubu for president but vote for candidates of other parties in legislative or governorship contests.
Wike, however, has continued to defend the Rainbow Coalition, maintaining that its central objective is to secure Tinubu’s return to the presidency.
The APC governors’ latest declaration effectively places the forum at odds with any political arrangement that could create a parallel campaign structure or undermine the electoral fortunes of the party’s candidates.
With the 2027 elections drawing closer, the competing political strategies are likely to shape alliances, candidate selection and campaign structures across the states, particularly in areas where the Rainbow Coalition is seeking to establish a foothold.
