- Progressive Governors Sound Alarm Over Parallel Alliance, Brand Platform Threat to Tinubu
- Insiders Defend Coalition as Buffer Against ADC, Claim President Backs Move
- 2027 Senate Presidency Feud and 2031 Succession Calculations Fuel Bitter Proxy War
An open insurrection is gathering steam inside the ruling All Progressives Congress, where a swelling rank of federal lawmakers, former ministers, and party chieftains are ditching state party structures to seek political refuge in the “Rainbow Coalition” driven by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The realignment has blown open an ugly proxy war between the party’s powerful subnational governors and Villa-backed loyalists who now regard Wike’s cross-party outfit as an approved safety valve to deliver President Bola Tinubu’s second term while systematically clipping the wings of sitting state chief executives.
The friction erupted after the Progressive Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, came out swinging on Monday, openly warning that the minister’s shadow coalition poses a mortal danger to Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Party chieftains close to the arrangement, however, argue that the governors brought this crisis upon themselves through high-handed primary selections.
Rather than watch frozen-out heavyweights defect en masse to the African Democratic Congress, insiders insist Wike’s PDP structure provides a secure holding pen where aggrieved politicians can contest legislative seats while committing their ground machinery to Tinubu’s presidential return.
“Wike has the support of the President on his Rainbow Coalition,” a national leader of the APC conceded under condition of anonymity. “It is an alternative platform for aggrieved APC members who may want to join the ADC. If you join PDP, which is led by Wike, you are not a threat; it is an extension of the APC. Wike is taking care of the national leaders, he is generous, and he is delivering projects. Don’t be surprised if the number of APC governors reduces in 2027”.
Another senior party officer took direct aim at the state executives, saying the governors’ refusal to manage post-primary rancour had backfired.
“The victory of Mr President in next year’s election is sacrosanct and remains our major concern,” the official said. “Whatever Wike and the APC governors are doing is of lesser concern because people who felt cheated by their governors in the primaries have joined Wike. The ultimate goal is for Tinubu to win a second term”.
The parallel structure has already established firm footholds across 10 states: Kwara, Osun, Katsina, Ondo, Ogun, Gombe, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, and Jigawa.
In Kwara State, the battle lines are stark.
Prominent party figures, including Dr Tajudeen Olesin and leaders of the Otoge Progressives, have abandoned the state chapter alongside Kwara Central Senator Saliu Mustapha and two members of the state Assembly, Saba Gideon and Olushola Odetundun.
“Our President has never for once complained about Wike’s Rainbow Coalition,” Olesin said. “Some governors approached Wike that they should not field candidates in their states, including Kwara. Is that democracy? In PDP, we have agreed that we don’t have a presidential candidate; we are supporting Tinubu. If we give him our votes and the APC brings its votes, that will amount to bloc votes”.
The exodus is mirrored elsewhere. In Osun, Osun Central Senator Olubuyi Fadeyi crossed to the PDP to claim a return ticket under Wike’s wing after losing out in the APC.
In Katsina, two House of Representatives members, Shehu Tafoki and Shehu Dalhatu, dumped the ruling party, while Ondo witnessed the departure of former chieftain Idowu Mafimisebi and senatorial aspirant Matthew Oyerinmade.
The coalition has similarly snapped up former Ogun legislative aspirant Mustapha Owolabi, alongside heavyweight figures including former Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami and former Gombe South Senator Anthony Yaro.
Behind the floor defections lies an even messier sub-plot: a proxy war over future power distribution.
Olesin alleged that Governor Uzodinma and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq are resisting Wike because of personal ambitions for the 2027 Senate Presidency.
According to him, Uzodinma plans to resign his governorship to his deputy ahead of the 2028 end of his tenure, run for Senate, and challenge for the Senate Presidency—a plan he claims Wike is actively checking by backing the return of incumbent Godswill Akpabio.
Kwara State authorities hit back immediately. Special Adviser on Party Affairs to Governor AbdulRazaq, Mashood Alaka, warned that the FCT minister is playing a double game aimed at planting anchors for a 2031 presidential run.
“The whole coalition thing is to mislead the APC into believing he is for them,” Alaka said. “Everybody knows he has his own ambitions and is trying to get some of the governors to his side in 2027 ahead of 2031, so that he can be well-positioned to contest for the presidency”.
Wike’s media camp swiftly poured cold water on the claim.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to the minister, Lere Olayinka, dismissed the 2031 accusation as political ignorance, noting that an eight-year Tinubu tenure closes out the southern presidency until power rotates back north.
“By 2031, the South would have finished its eight years, so how can the presidency remain in the South? This should show you that they don’t know what they are talking about,” Olayinka said, adding that legislative leadership contests will be determined on the floor of the 11th National Assembly by numerical strength, not backroom agitation.
Calls and messages to Uzodinma’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguike Nwachukwu, and Imo Information Commissioner Declan Emelumba seeking reaction were not answered before press time.
With the 2027 timetable drawing nearer, the governing party finds itself entangled in a strange and volatile equilibrium: a ruling structure whose subnational pillars are fighting for survival against an opposition Trojan horse carrying the President’s own re-election banner.
