By Abdul Jelil Adebayo
The issue between FCT Minister Nyeson Wike and the APC governors is getting more interesting as the day goes by.
It is an interesting time as the general election is less than four months away. Already some people jump into the fray without knowing where the train is going and others based on sentiment for either Wike or the governors, with open bias.
Meanwhile, the “Rainbow Coalition” is a cross-party political movement assembled by Minister Nyesom Wike in Rivers State.
It unites members from various political parties into a single support base dedicated to backing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, rather than operating strictly through formal party lines like the APC.
Those in favour of the governors believe they are owners and should be left with their supposed plan in ensuring the victory of not only Mr President but all other party candidates on the ballot. And no meddlesome interloper should be allowed minding the fact that an outsider should not cry more than the bereaved.
The APC Governors Forum didn’t hide its disdain for the Rainbow Coalition as it unanimously resolved that its members would not participate in, support or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining the re-election of Mr 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.”
While on the other hand are those clapping for Wike that what he is doing is not interfering in APC matter, but strictly his support for the re-election of Mr President.
They also submitted that he did not tell those against his modus operandi that he will support and campaign for APC candidates. His interest is in Mr President getting reelected, pure and simple.
Wike is one General who never receives fire without returning it.
According to a renowned journalist, Lasisi Olagunju , he described Wike as a survivalist tenant in the APC’s house of power, which is currently confronting a constellation of APC forces supposedly “jealous” of his Rainbow Coalition in Rivers, in Kwara, Imo, Gombe and elsewhere.
According to him, Wike’s Rainbow Coalition is now sailing through similarly hostile political waters, with APC governors determined to stop it before it reaches the electoral battlefield.
In his response to the APC governors forum, Wike replied with caustic indignation
“They are politically lazy. When you have your local problems, don’t use Mr President as your excuse. The governor of Kwara, so unfortunate—anytime he sees a snake, it is Wike. Anytime he sees a reptile, it is Wike. Any day he doesn’t eat, it is Wike. I have never seen people devote more time to gossip than to the work they have been given.
He has three serving senators; he changed all of them. He has House of Representatives members; he changed all of them… When I start… I have been on my own. They are looking for trouble where there is no trouble…”
But Olagunju described the feud as in ‘The Farmer and the Viper’, Aesop, the writer tells the story of a farmer who found a snake frozen, stiff and almost dead from the winter cold. Moved by pity, the farmer picked it up, tucked it inside his coat and carried it home. Warmed by the farmer’s body, the snake came back to life. The moment it recovered its strength, it sank its fangs into the breast that had saved it.
As the poison spread through him, the dying farmer said: “I have only myself to blame. I knew it was a snake when I picked it up.”
That is the APC’s story with Nyesom Wike. The slave-catching party brought him into its warm house because it needed his sulphuric acid to dissolve the PDP’s flesh and bone.
Now warm, secure and powerful, Wike has announced that his loyalty is to President Bola Tinubu, not to the APC, its governors or its candidates.
The governors are unhappy. They may protest, but the snake has committed no offence against its nature. It has merely done what snakes do.
Either of the divide appears logical but the truth is that the war has been underground since Wike was appointed Minister of FCT. Some felt the position has always been for the North, specifically the North East and others felt he is garrulous and overshadowed his principal especially by his monthly media briefing.
But what eventually broke the camel’s back was the outcome of the primaries in the APC states.
Most governors, especially those crying loud now are those who denied the supposed favourites the tickets in their various states.
For instance, in Imo state where Hope Uzodinma held sway, he is contesting for the Senate and wants to be the Senate President when his tenure as governor has not ended.
Wike however vowed that he wouldn’t support him in his quest to be number three person politically in the country. He said he will fight him to finish.
Since his faction of the PDP is recognized by INEC, every aggrieved APC member that lost out by the ‘overbearing of the governors’ can come and be given the ticket on the PDP platform.
It is this that has broken the carmel’s back. With this arrangement of harvesting APC members that couldn’t make it at the party primaries, the governors believe action of Wike would destroy the APC hegemony.
The governors are insisting that Wike’s interference would affect the chances of the APC having a majority in the National Assembly and the state’s Houses of Assembly.
But the position of Wike is that it is better to have the aggrieved APC candidates in PDP than allowing them into the opposition, the ADC and NDC. He explained that their being in PDP will help the President as they would automatically vote for Bola Tinubu.
This is what is playing out in Imo, Kwara, Gombe, Ogun, and Benue states among others.
By the way, the senatorial contest in Kogi Central will be interesting. Natasha the enfant terrible is in Wike’s PDP faction. The immediate former governor of the state, Yahaya Bello in APC is the godfather of the governor, Usman Ododo, who is very close to Wike.
For Wike it will be choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. But this is a topic for another day.
As for the Wike and the governors, the President is likely to caution the two parties to focus on their lanes.
Wike is insisting that most of these governors can’t deliver their states to Tinubu and the role of Rainbow Coalition would deny the opposition the advantage they would get if the governors are left alone to deliver, which is not feasible as some of these governors cannot deliver their states despite their shouting.
He didn’t hide the fact that some of these governors can’t win their state convincingly and the reason for the Rainbow Coalition to bridge the gap.
They are hiding behind the name of Tinubu to win in their states, not for Tinubu but for themselves and their protégés
He said some politicians were more concerned about being seen as those working for the President.
The Minister therefore accused some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors of working against him ahead of the 2027 general elections, while he is reaffirming his support for President Bola Tinubu.
Wike specifically named the governors of Kwara and Imo states, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Hope Uzodinma, respectively as some that were more concerned about being seen as those working for the President.
“You see, the problem with people, they want them to be seen, that they are the people working for the President. I don’t do that,” he said.
He accused the Kwara governor of championing what he described as a campaign against him, particularly over allegations that he was sponsoring political candidates in the state.
Wike said the removal of three senators and some members of the House of Representatives from the APC had created a political dilemma for the governor, arguing that those affected could seek alternative platforms ahead of 2027.
“Now, these senators you removed, you have no place for them. Therefore, do you prefer them to go to ADC or to go to NDC?” he asked.
He argued that politicians who moved to opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) or the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would work against President Tinubu, whereas those who aligned with him would support the President.
“Now, if they come to me, obviously, they will vote for Mr President,” Wike said.
The FCT minister also rejected claims that he was planting candidates across states, saying some governors had approached him to prevent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from fielding candidates in their states.
“I said, ‘Ah, in any case, did I reach any agreement that, look, now that we are supporting Mr President, PDP will not have any candidate anywhere?” he said.
Despite the political disagreements, Wike said his priority remained supporting President Tinubu’s re-election bid, arguing that failing to do so could expose him to political retaliation if the President lost in 2027.
“But you see, in politics, I’m not a threat. My concern is, I will support Mr. President. If you watch what’s happening today and look at it, peradventure anything happens and Mr President fails today, I will be the first politician that Atiku, Obi will hunt for his head.
“I will be the first politician. I challenge anybody. So, I won’t make that mistake, to be sleeping to see the President lose his election. No,” he said.
The APC apparently thought appointment and presidential favour would make Wike forget the instincts that made him Wike. But office does not alter nature; it merely gives nature a larger room in which to operate.
Abdul is Abuja based journalist and wrote in via abduljelil2001@gmail.com
