APC Governors Reject Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, Pledge Exclusive Loyalty to Tinubu and Party Candidates
Abuja — The Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of state governors elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that it will not participate in, support, or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid or weakening the party’s candidates ahead of the 2027 general election.
The declaration was made by the forum’s Chairman and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, following a closed-door meeting held late Monday night at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. Reading a communique after the meeting, Uzodimma said the governors had unanimously resolved not to entertain any arrangement that creates confusion, divided loyalty, or competing interests within the party. He stressed that the forum’s campaign commitment remains exclusively tied to official APC candidates at every level of government, explaining that the party’s candidates are the ones being sponsored and backed by the APC’s structures. He added that although the party has already unveiled its national Presidential Campaign Council, governors would remain at the forefront of campaign efforts within their respective states.
Although the communique did not name any specific individual or initiative, the declaration is widely understood as a response to the “Rainbow Coalition,” a cross-party alliance initiative being championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, aimed at rallying support for Tinubu’s re-election bid across party lines. The PGF’s position also comes amid reported tension between Wike and both Kwara State Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman and Uzodimma himself, with some analysts suggesting that rivalry over political positioning ahead of the 2031 election cycle, including speculation over future vice-presidential ambitions, may be shaping the current friction.
Reacting to the governors’ resolution, Wike, speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme, dismissed the forum’s concerns and described the APC governors as politically lazy for opposing the Rainbow Coalition. He argued that his continued support for Tinubu did not amount to abandoning his own political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), nor did it suggest that other parties should be prevented from fielding candidates in the 2027 election.
Former Ekiti State Governor and PDP chieftain Ayo Fayose weighed in on the controversy as well, arguing during a separate appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today that the disagreement between Wike and the APC governors was unlikely to significantly hurt Tinubu’s re-election chances. According to Fayose, both Wike and the APC governors are ultimately working to support Tinubu, albeit through different approaches, with the outcome that matters most being whether either strategy can effectively deliver votes for the president, particularly in politically significant states like Rivers.
Beyond the immediate dispute over political alliances, the PGF communique also reaffirmed the governors’ confidence in Tinubu’s broader economic policies and reform agenda, signalling continued institutional backing for the administration even as internal disagreements over campaign strategy continue to play out publicly ahead of the 2027 general election.
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