Is the public spat between the governors of the All Progressives Congress and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, an indication that the crisis that reduced the Peoples Democratic Party to a shadow of its former self, is now threatening to destabilise the ruling APC? Ejiofor Alike asks
When the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, vowed in August 2024 to put “fire” in any of the states governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if the governor of such a state tried to interfere in the affairs of the party in Rivers State, the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other leaders of the ruling party were excited by the minister’s role in the misfortune that befell the main opposition party.
Little did they know that the “fire” would later spread to the ruling party.
Wike made the threat after the PDP governors, who met in Taraba State on August 23, 2024, weighed in on the crisis rocking the party in Rivers State and called for a review of the party’s congress outcome to restore Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s leadership role in the state.
Fubara and other PDP governors had not defected to the APC and other parties when the meeting was held by the governors.
Wike had viewed the attempt by the PDP governors to make Fubara the leader of the party as an attempt to undermine his political authority in the state.
Traditionally, governors are the leaders of their political parties in their states but citing Lagos State where the governor is not the leader of the party, the FCT minister argued that his state should also be an exception.
Reacting to the governors’ communique, Wike had said: “I pity those governors because I will put fire in their states. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace – anything you see you take.”
As the greatest beneficiaries of the minister’s protracted battle with the PDP leaders, the APC had viewed his uncomplimentary language against the elected governors as the beauty of democracy.
However, it was not long before the battle was brought to the doorstep of the APC after the PDP’s crisis had pushed the party’s governors to the APC and other parties.
It all began in January 2026 when the minister warned the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, to “leave Rivers State alone,” accusing unnamed APC leaders of receiving some funds from the N600 billion left in the state’s coffers at the end of the state of emergency.
Before Wike’s warning, the APC National Vice Chairman (South-south), Victor Gaidom, had described Fubara as “the so-called governor” during the minister’s visit to Khana/Gokana LGA.
Basiru had described Gaidom’s remarks as “unfortunate,” insisting that Fubara’s position as governor should command respect, in spite of political affiliations.
In response, an angry Wike warned the APC leader, that the state was a “no-go area,” stating that he could not blame anyone if his hands got burnt for meddling in the politics of the state.
The cold war between the FCT minister and the APC leaders blew open early this month when the minister publicly accused the governors of Imo and Kwara states, Senator Hope Uzodimma and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, respectively, of working against him despite what he described as the political support he had extended to them in the past.
The minister accused AbdulRazaq of championing a campaign against him, for supporting political candidates against those preferred by the governor in Kwara State.
But Wike argued that he only provided political accommodation to aggrieved APC members who defected to the PDP, so that they would not join the political coalition opposed to President Bola Tinubu.
He also referred to his strained relationship with Uzodimma, saying the Imo State governor was aware of the support he had received from him in the past.
Analysts believe that taking on these two governors, who represent the soul of APC, is an indication that only President Tinubu is insulated from the minister’s political war against his perceived opponents.
The minister’s Rainbow Coalition is sponsoring several governorship and National Assembly candidates in many states.
The APC governors view Rainbow Coalition as an anti-APC coalition, which could hurt their reelection bids, frustrate their efforts to install successors and weaken the ruling party.
Reacting to Wike’s Rainbow Coalition after a closed-door meeting of the APC governors held at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja last Wednesday, the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) had declared that they would not support any candidate at any level that is not a member of the APC.
Responding to the APC governors’ communique, Wike described the governors of the ruling party as “politically lazy”, a description analysts also considered as derogatory.
The minister argued that the governors were unaware of his political discussions with President Tinubu, insisting that he had personally informed the president about the “Rainbow Coalition” he was building ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike, who spoke on ARISE NEWS Channel, said: “When I see the people who were at that press conference, they are smart…but they are politically lazy. Very unfortunate.”
He added that “there is nothing that I have done that I have never told Mr. President,” stressing that if the governors “know what I know, they won’t come out to say that.”
The FCT minister had clarified that he only promised to support Tinubu’s reelection, adding that he never promised anyone that the PDP was not going to field candidates in governorship and National Assembly elections.
Wike further disclosed that some APC governors were unhappy with his appointment as FCT minister.
In what political analysts described as a veiled attempt to break the rank of APC leaders and create divided loyalty in the party, the minister reportedly argued that politicians facing difficulties in their states should resolve them locally rather than using Tinubu’s presidential bid to settle their own political disputes.
The FCT minister is believed to be strategising to use the PDP as a bargaining power to actualise his political ambition in 2031.
Currently, he is believed to be backing PDP governorship and National Assembly candidates in several states, including Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Benue, Kwara, Gombe, Cross River and Ogun.
Analysts say despite supporting Tinubu’s reelection bid, his political strategy amounts to fighting the APC and their governors.
Many consider it ironic that the PDP governors joined the APC due to the crisis that engulfed the main opposition party only for the same crisis to spread to APC, after it had consumed the PDP.
It is increasingly obvious that the governors and the minister are fighting a battle for personal survival.
The question is: Having wrestled power from the PDP governors, can the FCT minister also win the war with the APC governors?
Nigerians are waiting for the answer to this question as political events unfold ahead of the 2027 general election.
For Afrobeat musician, David Adeleke, a.k.a Davido, the dispute between the governors and the minister is a “movie loading.”