By Annette Ikponmwonba | September 21, 2026
Key Points
· Political analyst Jide Ojo says the disagreement between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and APC governors is a political strategy ahead of 2027, not a sign of a Tinubu-Wike rift
· Wike maintains his Rainbow Coalition is meant to mobilize support for Tinubu’s re-election, not an alliance with the APC, and he remains a PDP stakeholder
· The APC Governors’ Forum has rejected Wike’s position, saying it won’t support arrangements that weaken the party or its candidates
· Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has called the confrontation unnecessary, urging politicians to focus on issues affecting Nigerians instead
· Ojo believes Tinubu is more likely to broker a truce than choose between Wike and the APC governors
· Ojo cites Wike’s 2023 vote delivery in Rivers State compared to Imo State’s Hope Uzodimma as evidence of Wike’s political weight
Main Story
Political scientist and public affairs analyst Jide Ojo has described the growing disagreement between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress as a political strategy ahead of the 2027 general election, rather than a sign that Wike’s relationship with President Bola Tinubu has broken down.
Speaking with Naija News, Ojo said the disagreement should be understood as part of the broader competition for political influence and control ahead of the elections. He expressed disappointment at the position taken by some APC governors in the ongoing controversy, arguing that Wike has demonstrated significant political relevance and strategic influence within the current political arrangement.
According to Ojo, the controversy surrounding Wike’s proposed Rainbow Coalition should be viewed within the context of the minister’s declared support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid. Wike has consistently maintained that his political support for Tinubu does not mean he has abandoned the PDP, of which he remains a stakeholder, arguing that the Rainbow Coalition is primarily designed to mobilize support for Tinubu specifically, while political parties remain free to field their own candidates for governorship, National Assembly and other elections. That position has, however, been rejected by the APC Governors’ Forum, which said it would not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the APC or adversely affecting its candidates at any level.
The Issues
At the heart of this dispute is a fundamental tension between personal political mobilization and party structural loyalty. Wike’s argument, that backing a presidential candidate doesn’t obligate him to support every candidate from that candidate’s party, challenges the conventional expectation of straightforward party-line politics, and the APC governors’ pushback reflects their concern that this kind of selective support could undermine their own electoral prospects at state and legislative levels.
Ojo’s broader point about the instability of Nigerian political alliances adds important context here. He noted that many prominent APC members today were once part of opposition parties, underscoring how fluid party loyalty tends to be in Nigerian politics. This history suggests that Wike’s current arrangement, supporting a president from outside his own party while remaining a PDP stakeholder, isn’t as unusual as it might first appear, even if it remains controversial.
There’s also a deeper question about how political value is measured. Ojo’s comparison between Wike’s vote delivery for Tinubu in Rivers State during the 2023 election and Hope Uzodimma’s performance in Imo State directly challenges the assumption that formal party structure automatically translates into electoral mobilization power. This framing puts pressure on APC governors positioning themselves as key 2027 mobilizers to demonstrate they can actually match or exceed the kind of vote delivery Wike provided as a nominally opposition figure.
What’s Being Said
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu weighed in on the dispute in a video posted to his Facebook page, describing the confrontation as unnecessary and urging politicians involved to shift focus toward issues directly affecting Nigerians. “I’m surprised that Wike is fighting with APC governors. It’s not necessary. What is necessary today is to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians and move the country forward. We should go back to production and stabilise our electricity,” Kalu said.
Ojo was direct in assessing Tinubu’s likely approach to the standoff, arguing that the President would be more interested in preventing a serious rupture than in taking sides. He suggested Tinubu is more likely to try to broker a truce between Wike and the APC governors than to sacrifice either side at this stage of the political cycle, while acknowledging that further escalation would place the President in a delicate position, given that APC governors and party structures remain central to his 2027 campaign.
On the question of Wike’s political style, Ojo was candid about his own reservations, stating plainly that he does not subscribe to the FCT Minister’s approach to politics, citing accusations of anti-party activities and his decision to remain a PDP stakeholder while serving in an APC-led government. Despite this, Ojo maintained that disagreement with Wike’s methods should not lead political actors to underestimate his influence, arguing that Wike has understood the peculiar nature of Nigerian politics and successfully used the system to protect his interests.
What’s Next
Attention will likely remain on whether the disagreement between Wike and the APC Governors’ Forum escalates further or whether it is quietly managed through political mediation before it develops into a more serious rupture within the party’s coalition heading into 2027.
Ojo also suggested that the current political calculations could shift entirely after the 2027 election, indicating that whatever arrangement holds between Wike, Tinubu and the APC governors now may not necessarily persist once the immediate electoral cycle concludes.
Bottom Line
Ojo’s analysis suggests the Wike versus APC governors dispute is less about personal loyalty to Tinubu and more about positioning for post-2027 political influence, with the President likely to prioritize party unity and quiet mediation over publicly choosing between his most vocal ally and his party’s own governors.
