Wike: I Will Never Support Uzodinma for Senate President in 2027

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that he will not support Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, for the position of Senate President in 2027.

Wike accused Uzodinma, who is also Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), of using his position among APC governors to advance his personal political ambition.

The FCT minister made the remarks on TVC News’ Journalists’ Hangout on Monday while discussing the growing disagreement between him and some APC governors over his Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.

Wike said politicians who were denied tickets during the APC’s nomination process had found alternative platforms to contest the 2027 elections.

According to him, Uzodinma was aware that such candidates, if elected on other platforms, might not support his reported ambition to become Senate President.

“Now, the other people who they have removed and not given ticket have found an alternative to run. And he knows that if they run and they win, it means that they are not going to support him to be the Senate President and that knowing fully well that they are running under Wike’s support of PDP, they will not support them.

“Of course, life or death, I will never support Hope Uzodinma to become the Senate President of Nigeria. Everybody knows that. Nobody should ask me questions about it, it is not personal,” Wike said.

The former Rivers State governor was responding to questions about the political disagreement surrounding the Rainbow Coalition, which has increasingly brought him into confrontation with Uzodinma and other APC governors.

Wike accused Uzodinma of creating internal political problems and lacking the capacity to resolve them.

“You cause internal problem for yourself and you do not have the capacity to solve the problem and all you do is to resort to blackmail,” he said.

He also questioned Uzodinma’s political trajectory, recalling the governor’s emergence as governor of Imo State.

“Hope Uzodinma, who I’ve always said and I tell people. Maybe, to God be the glory, he became a governor by taking 4th position. To the glory of God, he became a governor and that is how this country will open her eyes and say what is going on,” Wike said.

Wike said Uzodinma’s second term as Imo governor was approaching its end and alleged that the governor was seeking election to the Senate in 2027 with the ultimate objective of becoming Senate President.

“He wants to run for Senate president, and what he does is to say to his colleagues, let us be the ones (governors) who will produce the senators and members of the House of reps and some of the senators.

“Of course, some of the governors are not experienced. So they buy it, thinking that he is trying to make them powerful. Not knowing that he has his own interest and agenda to become Senate President,” he said.

The FCT minister further alleged that politicians who were denied tickets by the APC leadership or their respective state governors had turned to alternative platforms, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with support from his political structure.

He argued that candidates who won their elections through such alternative platforms would not be bound to support Uzodinma’s reported bid for the Senate presidency.

The disagreement is unfolding amid the activities of the Rainbow Coalition, a political arrangement championed by Wike that brings together politicians across party lines.

Vanguard had reported that the coalition had expanded its activities across Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River states, with some politicians who had fallen out with APC structures aligning with the arrangement ahead of the 2027 elections.

Wike has repeatedly maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is primarily aimed at mobilising support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election and does not constitute an APC structure.

He has also argued that the PDP should remain free to field candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.

The position has brought Wike into disagreement with some APC governors under the Progressive Governors Forum, who have opposed political arrangements they believe could weaken the party or affect its candidates.

The latest comments by Wike further highlight the political disagreements emerging among party leaders and politicians ahead of the 2027 general elections.