NEWS
APC Governors Draw Battle Line Against Nysome Wike, as Gov. Hope Uzodinma Demands Party Discipline, Reads Riot Act Over Party Subversion
The political battle within Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to be entering a more confrontational phase, following a strong warning from the Progressive Governors’ Forum to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The position, delivered by Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Senator Hope Uzodinma, focused on concerns over Wike’s political activities and what the governors described as attempts to operate parallel political structures outside the established hierarchy of the ruling party. The remarks were reported on September 16, 2026.
At the centre of the disagreement is the emergence of what has been described as Wike’s “Rainbow Coalition”, a political arrangement involving actors across party lines. The development has generated questions within APC circles over the relationship between the minister’s political activities, his stated support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the interests of APC candidates and structures at the state level.
Uzodinma, speaking from the standpoint of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, argued that the APC operates through defined structures, rules and constitutional procedures.
According to him, political support for the President should not translate into the creation of alternative structures capable of competing with the party’s established machinery.
He stated, “The APC is a disciplined, ideologically grounded mass party governed by rules, structures, and constitutional order, not a personal estate for political mercenaries.”
The governor’s intervention has brought renewed attention to the increasingly complicated political relationship between Wike and the APC.
Although Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he has been an open supporter of President Tinubu since the 2023 presidential election and has maintained political relationships with figures across party lines.
The Progressive Governors’ Forum, however, appears concerned about the implications of such cross-party political arrangements for APC structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In his strongest warning, Uzodinma said, “Wike should be educated to subsume his ego, clownish politics, and uncanny brashness to the leadership of the APC, and he should be told that Nigeria is practicing party democracy under APC progressive ideology, driven by President Tinubu, the APC Governors, and the National Assembly under the leadership of the APC.”
The statement effectively places party structure and internal discipline at the centre of the dispute, with the governors insisting that political alliances must not undermine the authority of elected APC structures at the national and sub-national levels.
Uzodinma also challenged the perception that individual politicians could single-handedly determine electoral outcomes through personal influence or political networks.
He stressed that “politics is local, and no external godfather can substitute for genuine grassroots connection,” arguing that electoral contests ultimately involve voters, local party structures and political organisation at the grassroots.
The governor’s remarks also came amid wider political manoeuvring ahead of the 2027 elections, when alliances, defections and cross-party relationships are expected to become increasingly prominent across the country.
The Progressive Governors’ Forum further warned against what it sees as conflicting loyalties within the political space, particularly where individuals claim allegiance to the President while simultaneously supporting political arrangements that could work against candidates endorsed by the ruling party.
The dispute is particularly significant because Wike has remained an influential political figure despite his membership of the PDP, while serving in the Tinubu administration as FCT Minister. His political interventions have repeatedly attracted national attention and placed him at the intersection of competing party interests.
The latest confrontation therefore goes beyond an exchange between two politicians. It highlights the broader question of how cross-party alliances and individual political networks will interact with formal party structures as Nigeria approaches another major electoral cycle.
For the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the message is that party discipline and institutional structures must remain central to the APC’s political operations.
Uzodinma maintained that governors elected on the APC platform would not surrender their political responsibilities or local structures to external political influence.
The governor further warned that those unwilling to operate within collective party decisions and established leadership structures could face resistance from the party hierarchy.
The remarks have consequently added another layer to the evolving political contest involving Wike, the APC governors and the broader coalition surrounding President Tinubu.
Uzodinma’s concluding message was blunt, maintaining that Wike must align himself with the established political structure and discipline of the ruling party or “get out of the kitchen.”