Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has drawn the battle line between him and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum over the position they took at a press conference on Tuesday distancing themselves from his Rainbow Coalition political contraption, describing them as “smart like the 419” but politically lazy.
Accusing them of “carrying propaganda of illiteracy” on the issue, the former Rivers State governor punctured the arguments of the governors for their unwillingness to work with him in order not to jeopardise the chances of President Bola Tinubu in 2027, noting that the chairman of the Forum, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, and his counterparts in the South East lost the presidential election woefully in 2023 whereas they were able to secure between one and three senatorial seats in an election held the same day.
Joining issues with the APC governors in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, Wike said he never entered an alliance with the APC to that effect despite serving as a minister in the Tinubu administration.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that the APC Governors’ Forum had in a communique after their meeting at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, maintained that they would neither participate in, support nor endorse any political arrangement capable of weakening the APC or creating competing interests within the ruling party.
Uzodimma, who read the communique, said, “The APC Governors Forum unanimously resolved that its members will 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. All levels of the party’s campaign architecture will align with the expectations of Mr President and the strategic objectives of the party.”
Asked to react to the position of the governors and its implication for his coalition, Wike said he believed it was important to respond to the governors’ position so Nigerians could understand the political thinking behind their declaration.
He said, “This is my first time of interfacing with you and thank you for the opportunity. “When we heard of this Progressive Governors Forum press conference, some people were saying they don’t need to reply and, ‘What’s there to reply to them?’ I said no, you have to reply and let people understand what you agree and your vision and thinking.
“I had to, you know, align myself with the second option of letting Nigerians know. With all due respect to you, when I see the people who had that press conference, they are smart like the 419. They are smart like the 419, but they are politically lazy; it’s unfortunate. All he said is neither here nor there.”
The term “419” means fraud in Nigeria because it comes directly from Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act, which deals with obtaining property or money by false pretences.
Denying ever approaching the APC Governors’ Forum to negotiate an alliance for the Rainbow Coalition, Wike contended that “There’s no day I went to the Governors’ Forum to align with Rainbow Coalition. There’s no day. I’ve also read that, talking about alliance with parties, I’ve never one day gone to APC Forum to have an alliance.”
The FCT minister said his political position during the 2023 presidential election had never been hidden, particularly his decision, alongside the other members of the then G5 governors, to support President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “When in 2023 we said we were going to support Tinubu, people like Hope never knew that it would affect the President’s election.
“They are carrying propaganda of illiteracy or this and that. But let me just say so. First of all, we will check out the background of persons or leadership.”
Wike was referring to Uzodimma, who he said had supported former Senate President Ahmed Lawan during the APC presidential primary election in 2022. Noting that “During the APC primaries, Hope supported Ahmed Lawan and made him President of one.”
He compared Uzodimma’s position with that of the G5 governors, who supported Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
“Now, when the G5 came out to support the President, is there any time we held meeting with their Governors’ Progressive Forum or with their party?” Wike asked.
“We met with Mr. President and told Mr. President we are going to support you, and I have never hidden that. Mr. President, as far as the President is concerned, we are going to support you.”
According to the former governor, the G5 governors supported Tinubu partly because of their belief that it was the turn of the South to produce the president after eight years of a northern presidency under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“One, because of my belief that it is the turn of the South to produce the Presidency, what I’ve been doing for eight years, and so it would be unfair if the position goes back to the North,” he said.
“So, we did that, but they didn’t know that the G5 coalition would affect the Presidency.”
Picking on Uzodimma, Wike taunted him for not being able to deliver his Imo State to Tinubu in 2023 despite being a member of APC, noting that he recorded less than 10% of votes cast.
“Let me take Hope from his own state, Imo State. He was the Governor of Imo State. He was Governor and of APC stock. Mr. President didn’t get 10% in his state, but he took two Senators and the Labour Party took one Senator in Imo State,” while for the presidential election, the Labour Party scored about 360,000 votes while the APC recorded about 66,000.
“Now, is he saying that the people of Imo State were not confused or they were confused? As a sitting governor, you have a President in your party, under your party. You couldn’t give him 10% of the total votes. The Labour Party scored 360,000. APC scored 66,000.”
Wike did not also spare the Ebonyi State governor whom he noted was able to secure the three senatorial seats for the APC, but Tinubu lost the presidential election.
“Now, in Ebonyi, the same thing happened. The President lost woefully, but he got the Senators,” he said.
Puncturing the APC governors’ argument, Wike said the voting pattern showed that voters could make different choices in simultaneous elections rather than automatically voting for candidates of the same political party.
He noted that “An election that was held the same day. In that case, what happened? What happened was that the electorate knew how to vote for the President of the Labour Party, and they voted for APC as their national assembly candidates.”
Challenging Uzodimma and other APC leaders to explain the voting patterns recorded in 2023 instead of dismissing the possibility of political realignment ahead of the 2027 elections, the FCT minister said, “Hope is telling us that there’s something to it, and Nigeria should really come and check what really happened. You know, you don’t just come out and say things you cannot.”
