State governors elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, September 14, warned against the creation of parallel political structures capable of undermining president Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, in a position widely seen as a direct response to the Rainbow Coalition championed by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and Imo state governor, senator Hope Uzodimma, who Wike had recently accused of sponsoring political attacks against him, made the declaration on behalf of the governors during a closed-door meeting at the Imo state governor’s lodge in Abuja.
The warning comes amid mounting tensions within the APC over the coalition, with some powerful blocs in the party opposed to the arrangement over concerns that it could split votes and undermine Tinubu’s chances in the 2027 presidential election.
The governors also expressed concerns that coalition candidates contesting under different party platforms could create confusion among voters, particularly at the grassroots, with the tensions already playing out in states including Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River states.
Uzodimma said the forum would not support any arrangement capable of creating confusion, divided loyalty or competing interests within the APC.
He said the primary focus of the forum was to support official APC candidates at all levels rather than candidates or interests outside the party.
“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 the president, weakening the APC, or adversely affecting any candidate of the party at all levels.
“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.
“The governors’ campaign commitment is exclusively to all APC candidates. All levels of the party campaign architecture will align with the expectations of president Tinubu and the strategic objectives of the party,” Uzodimma said.
The PGF also pledged that APC governors would take charge of president Tinubu’s re-election campaign across their respective states.
The warning against parallel political structures is likely to be interpreted in some quarters as an indirect message to Wike, who remains a registered member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but has maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is focused on securing Tinubu’s re-election.
The development comes amid growing political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the Rainbow Coalition expanding its activities across several states and prompting governors, lawmakers and grassroots politicians to reassess their political positions.
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