The faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has taken a swipe at governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that Wike’s rising profile is making them to panic.
The faction reaffirmed the Minister’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, declaring Wike as a political force capable of influencing the direction of the 2027 poll.
The APC governors have been at loggerheads with Wike over the latter’s “rainbow coalition,” made up of APC and PDP members in his Rivers State political base.
While publicly backing Tinubu’s re-election on the platform of the APC, Wike is also sponsoring Senator Sandy Onor as the presidential candidate of the PDP and canvasing support for PDP governorship candidates across many states.
Apparently miffed by what they might have considered the FCT Minister’s antics, the APC governors, under the aegis of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), have distanced themselves from the rainbow coalition.
Rising from a meeting recently, the PGF, chaired by the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, accused Wike of creating parallel political structures and divided loyalties ahead of the 2027 elections.
The governors vowed to resist the Minister’s “divisive politics.”
In response, Wike blasted the APC governors during a media chat hours later, stating they “lack capacity”.
His camp has also fired back at Governor Uzodimma and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who chairs the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), accusing the duo of leading a
desperate campaign against Wike.
In a reaction on Tuesday, the spokesman of the Wike-back PDP faction, Mohammed Jungudo, said the APC governors were wrong to view Wike as a threat, arguing that their major concern should be their governance records and performance in office.
Jungudo said Wike had the constitutional and democratic right to support any political candidate, insisting that his backing of Tinubu did not amount to an endorsement of the APC or abandonment of the PDP.
He accused the governors of attempting to restrict Wike from supporting or fielding candidates against them in 2027, describing the demand as evidence of anxiety over the prospect of strong PDP candidates.
According to the faction, elections are contests and every political party has the right to field candidates. It challenged the APC governors to defend their records before the electorate rather than seek to limit their opponents’ political activities.
The faction also questioned whether the governors were more interested in their own electoral fortunes than Tinubu’s re-election, saying those genuinely committed to the President’s victory should welcome every political force capable of mobilising support for him.
The Minister’s camp urged the governors to focus on governance and accountability, including the management of resources accruing to their states through the Federation Account and the funds due to local governments.
It described Wike as an “asset” to Tinubu’s political project,
citing his political organisation, mobilisation capacity and record of project delivery as governor and FCT Minister.
The opposition party said it would field credible candidates and remain in the electoral contest ahead of 2027, warning that attempts to sideline Wike would not alter the electorate’s ultimate verdict.