RismadarVoice Reporters
September 12, 2026
Tensions have reached a boiling point within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as influential governors and party blocs move to dismantle the “Rainbow Coalition” midwifed by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike.
Party leaders warn that the cross-party framework designed to support President Bola Tinubu while fielding rival opposition candidates at state and federal legislative levels poses an existential threat to the APC’s 2027 electoral prospects.
The escalating friction has pitted Wike against high-profile APC leaders, including Progressive Governors Forum Chairman Hope Uzodimma (Imo) and Nigeria Governors Forum Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara).
Wike has publicly accused AbdulRazaq of leading a targeted campaign against him after several aggrieved Kwara APC leaders defected to the Wike-aligned Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction to oppose the governor’s local candidates.
Strategists close to the APC Governors’ Forum have alerted the Presidency that the coalition’s split-ticket model will disproportionately harm the ruling party in rural and less-enlightened voting blocs.
They argue that voters instructed to support PDP or ADC candidates for National Assembly and state positions are likely to vote a straight opposition ticket, inadvertently slashing President Tinubu’s total vote tally.
Despite mounting backlash across key states including Rivers, Kwara, Cross River, and Gombe, Wike remains defiant.
Speaking during project inspections in Abuja, the minister dismissed opposition figures and insisted the coalition remains 100 per cent committed to delivering President Tinubu’s re-election while systematically destabilising the main opposition structures.
