The growing disagreement between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress has taken a new turn, with the APC Presidential Campaign Council asking President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
PCC spokesperson, Ima Niboro, said the dispute over Wike’s proposed “Rainbow Coalition” should be resolved before it spreads further into states and local government areas ahead of the 2027 elections.
Niboro described the disagreement as a quarrel among political allies, saying both sides still support Tinubu’s return in 2027 despite their differences over how to pursue that objective.
“The quarrel we are talking about is a quarrel that is trickling down to states and local government areas,” he said.
He therefore urged the politicians to stop their public exchanges and return to grassroots mobilisation.
“Stop talking, go and work,” Niboro said, urging political leaders to leave television studios and engage directly with voters in their communities.
The intervention followed Wike’s criticism of APC governors after the Progressive Governors Forum rejected his proposed Rainbow Coalition.
Wike had described the governors as “politically lazy” and questioned their opposition to his political arrangement.
The APC governors, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, had said they would not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the APC, affecting its candidates or undermining Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Wike, however, said his support for Tinubu did not mean he had abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party or that other parties should stop fielding candidates for legislative and other elections.
He also insisted that he had never approached the APC Governors Forum seeking an alliance, saying his Rainbow Coalition was not an APC structure.
Niboro said the disagreement was not necessarily a direct challenge to Tinubu but argued that, as the leader of the political project, the President had an interest in resolving the dispute.
He recalled similar internal disagreements in the former Peoples Democratic Party, saying large political parties could develop internal divisions that eventually weaken them if such disputes were not properly managed.
The PCC spokesman expressed confidence in Tinubu’s political experience to manage the competing interests within the ruling political camp.
He urged Wike and the APC governors to focus on their political bases and work towards the 2027 elections rather than continuing the public exchange.