Indications emerged on Tuesday that some aggrieved governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are exploring discreet contacts with former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
A source close to one of the governors said the move was being considered as a counter-force to the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The development, according to political sources familiar with the emerging realignments, is part of efforts by some APC governors unhappy with Wike’s growing influence and the activities of the coalition in their states to build alternative political relationships outside the ruling party.
The sources said the governors’ concerns had intensified following reports that aggrieved APC leaders and politicians who lost out in the party’s primaries were increasingly gravitating towards Wike’s cross-party coalition.
According to one of the sources privy to the alleged move, the governors’ fears had been heightened by the fact that the 2027 governorship election is scheduled for February 6, 2027, three weeks after the January 16 presidential election.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said: “The governors are not entertaining any fears that Tinubu will win his re-election. However, their fears are rooted in the claims by Wike that the President had already ceded nine states to his coalition in the governorship election.
“Such claims may appear as mere political bragging, but no one should dismiss them as cheap talk because, in politics, you can’t take anything for granted, especially when it concerns elections.
“The governors are not unmindful of the fact that Tinubu will not be seeking another election after 2027 and that it would cost him practically nothing to cede some states, as Wike claimed.
“With the fluid nature of Nigerian politics, it would take these Wike-aligned coalition politicians nothing to defect to the APC after winning the 2027 governorship elections in their respective states.
“We have witnessed a rash of such defections by opposition governors to the ruling APC in Nigeria’s recent political history, so the threats are real. Recall that the incumbent governors of Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Enugu, Adamawa, Kano and Rivers had all defected from the opposition to the APC.”
Justifying the alleged move, sources said some APC governors believe that if Wike could mobilise politicians from different parties against their political interests while simultaneously backing Tinubu at the presidential level, they should also be free to explore relationships with other political blocs.
The governors are said to be particularly miffed by the Rainbow Coalition’s campaign message in their states urging the people to vote for Tinubu in the presidential election but vote PDP candidates in other federal and state elections.
According to the sources, Atiku and the ADC have consequently emerged as one of the options being examined by the aggrieved governors, particularly in states where the Rainbow Coalition is perceived to be threatening existing political structures.
The governors’ alleged moves could further intensify internal wrangling within the ruling APC, as they seek to use ADC structures and Atiku’s political network as a counterweight to Wike’s growing cross-party mobilisation.
Recent reports have documented increasing tensions between some APC governors and Wike, with the Minister specifically accusing Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, of opposing the coalition’s mobilisation drive.
Wike is also alleged to be scheming to project a prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader from the North-Central as a potential presidential candidate, with himself as running mate, ahead of the 2031 election.
Consequently, he is said to be mobilising the PDP leader, who once headed a federal legislative institution, to dislodge existing APC structures in the North-Central state.
The speculation is said to have triggered reactions from some top APC leaders in the Northwest and Northeast zones, who fear they could be sidelined in the party’s 2031 presidential calculations.
Wike, during a live television interview on Monday, also dismissed Governor Uzodimma’s senatorial ambition, stating that the South-East could not get either the position of Senate President or Vice President in the coming dispensation.
Efforts to get reactions from the APC leadership or the Progressive Governors Forum were not successful as of the time of filing this report. Also, the Atiku camp declined to confirm or deny the report.
