Recriminations about who did what, as well as, what becomes of their political relevance in the post-2027 election national politics seem to be the major bone of contention in the ongoing supremacy battle between the Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Senator Hope Uzodimma, and the founder of Nigeria’s Rainbow Coalition of political leaders. The issues seem to go deeper than the public can see, especially given that this is not the first time both men have fought on different sides of the aisle, LEO SOBECHI writes

Between Conspiracy And Combination
The saying that the friend of my enemy is my enemy came to life, when the incumbent Rivers State governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, fell out with the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA). In a veiled bid to get at his political rival and godfather of the 27 lawmakers, Uzodimma, acting as the Chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) moved in to support the embattled Fubara.

And, as the supremacy battle between Fubara and the 27 members of RSHA raged, the PGF, which comprise mainly anti-Wike governors, was said to have sold the idea of decampment from PDP to APC to the Rivers State governor. Fubara was convinced that joining APC would avail him of the necessary institutional partisan cover and PGF solidarity to be able to fight off Wike.

But, while the conspiracy against the FCT Minister was building, including the involvement of the National Assembly, Wike activated his close affinity with President Bola Tinubu and the Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to douse the attempt to use the instrument of legislation and constitutional stipulations to dislodge his 27 allies from both the House of Assembly and political relevance on account of their hasty defection to APC.

The declaration of a State of Emergency in March 18, 2025, was the culmination of the political quick-wittedness of Wike and the intervention of the presidency. With that saving grace, and latching on the attempt by the PGF elements loyal to Uzodimma to damage his political control of Rivers State, the FCT Minister was said to have opened up discussions with the presidency about the overall implications of the Rivers State political confusion on the president’s re-election plans.

In the course of those discussions, it was gathered that the FCT Minister and President Tinubu reviewed the 2023 presidential election, where the president’s clinching of Rivers State changed the overall outcome of the presidential ballot that redounded to the president’s triumph. The resolve to leave Rivers State under the firm control of the FCT Minister instead of the usual APC convention that cedes political leaders to state governors, was therefore reached in the presidency.

In addition to recalling to great effect Uzodimma’s alliance with some inner men of the Buhari’s presidency to impose former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, Wike was said to have picked holes in the numbers that emerged from Imo State after the Presidential and National Assembly election of February 16, 2023.

Presidential Campaign DG Schemes, 2031 Considerations
What becomes of Uzodimma, Wike and Akpabio after the 2027 general elections? That poser becomes consequential when viewed against the backdrop of the recent hostilities between the PGF and the FCT Minister over the place of the nationwide Rainbow Coalition in the electioneering plans for President Tinubu’s re-election.

Recall that in the buildup to the APC special convention and presidential primary, the PGF members loyal to Uzodimma was said to have adopted a stance that their support for Presidential Tinubu’s re-election is predicated to assurances of retention of Tinubu/Shettima presidential ballot.

North East political leaders were worried by the suggestion in some quarters that some underground moves were being made to substitute the Vice President with a candidate from the North West geopolitical.

Sources said that after a series meeting, the North East leaders adopted a wait-and-see stance, noting that their son, Senator Kashim Shettima, had maintained a level head and done nothing to disturb the Tinubu Presidency.

However, while the leaders expressed optimism that the VP would be retained, there were suggestions that attempt could be made to impeach the Vice President to pave the way for his replacement if pressures from the United States for religious balance in the country continue.

That suggestion gained credence when President Tinubu authorized outgoing state governors to seek the APC tickets for their senatorial districts so as to guarantee continued support for the party as well as ensure majority control of the Senate in the 11th National Assembly.

Further, with the possibility of more APC governors getting into the Red Chamber, the Chairman of PGF, Uzodimma, saw it as an opportunity to succeed Akpabio as chairman of National Assembly, given his qualification as a ranking Senator. Recalling how the Rivers State crisis between Fubara and Wike’s 27 lawmakers was tilted to Wike’s favour, Uzodimma and his North East backers believed that his chairmanship of the 11th National Assembly will be strategic both for Shettima’s political interest and his own relevance in the emerging dispensation.

While the Senate’s attempt to amend its standing rules was seen as a critical pushback by the Akpabio-led 10th NASS, the PGF chairman explored the possibility of emerging as the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Committee. That opening, which could enhance his scheming for the Senate Presidency, was also been sought for by other Senators including former governors Abdulaziz Yari, Adams Oshiomhole and Tanko Almakura.

However, some insiders within the presidency experimented with the idea of conscripting the FCT Minister, Wike, as President Tinubu’s campaign DG to arrest the scheming among Uzodimma, Oshiomhole, Al Makura and Yari. But, getting wind of the plot, Uzodimma mobilized the PGF to rebuff the idea, arguing that if indeed the President wanted Wike as DG, the former Rivers State governor should join APC and lead the campaign from the inside rather than as an outsider.

It was therefore in a bid to douse the disagreements among his lieutenants that President Tinubu retained the position of Chairman and appointed Yari as DG with Uzodimma as the secretary. After failing to be named the Director General of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign committee, Uzodimma and Wike renewed their silent supremacy battle.

First Wike taunted the PGF chairman for leading APC to a painful defeat in the Osun gubernatorial contest, claiming that if President Tinubu had wanted Osun to be won by APC, he would have been sent instead of Uzodimma.

To show capacity, the FCT Minister had expanded the Rainbow Coalition to propel support for President Tinubu’s reelection noting that he was serious about delivering the President for a second term, since according to him, if Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi wins the presidential election, they would aggressively come after him.

In addition to Governors Ademola Adeleke, (Osun), Chukwuma Soludo, (Anambra); Alex Otti, (Abia), Wike is working with leaders of the embattled PDP to rally support for Tinubu. They include, Sule Lamido, Dr Bukola Saraki, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, among others, with the belief that the Presidency would reciprocate by supporting them to preserve their political interest for the 2031 general election cycle, when clashing presidential ambitions could put APC in disarray.

Some of the states captured by the expanded Rainbow Coalition, which happen to be states currently controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) included, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kwara and Taraba.

It was gathered that peeved by that perceived attempt by Wike to revive his moribund G5, through which he supported President Tinubu’s election in 2023 under the auspices of Rainbow Coalition, the PGF Chairman, Uzodimma, mobilized his colleagues to fight off the underground scheme.

Addressing journalists after their closed-door meeting in Abuja, Tuesday, the PGF declared that APC governors would not participate in or support any political alliance capable of undermining the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or weakening the ruling party.

The PGF chairman, flanked by his counterparts from Kaduna State, (Uba Sani); Kwara State, (AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq), among others, disclosed that “we have unanimously agreed to work together to protect the interests of the party and its candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.”

Pushing back on the attack by the PGF, the FCT Minister reiterated his unflinching support for President Tinubu, noting that the support for Tinubu did not preclude PDP from fielding candidates for other elective positions.

He described the coalition as a platform for other political parties that are pleased with the good works of President Tinubu and are willingly supporting his reelection, even as he recalled that he never met with APC before himself and other G5 members supported the President in 2023.

Maintaining that a similar support has been assured to Tinubu in 2027 for just the presidential election, Wike said he won’t be the one to help people to win elections in their states, stressing, “politics is local and those having problems in their states should resolve them instead of using the reelection of the President to whip up sentiments.”

But, some chieftains of APC have cried out against the attempt to destabilise President Tinubu’s reelection campaigns, saying that the quarrels between supporters of the President are not helpful at this time.

For instance, one of the foundation members of APC, Osita Okechukwu, urged Tinubu to be wary of blacklegs in the APC, stressing that there are no doubt “a few pretender governors within the Governors’ Forum, that are not fully in support of the President’s second term.

Condemning the press briefing by the PGF, Okechukwu, who was once the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, stated: “In my over 48 years of participation in Nigerian party politics, I have never witnessed a situation where such an elementary political matter was pretentiously thrown open, instead of being addressed through the appropriate partisan political mechanism and channels.

“To the best of my knowledge, some of these PGF members have wittingly or unwittingly used their electorate and recklessly abandoned them, and now want Mr. President to dump Wike. May I ask the PGF, don’t you have access to Mr. President, and what is the proverbial caucus meant for? My summation is simple: Mr. President, beware of pretenders.”