Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said he will not support Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma’s reported ambition to become President of the Senate in 2027, accusing the governor of using his position to advance his personal political interests.
Wike made the statement on TVC News’ Journalists’ Hangout on Monday amid an escalating political dispute between him and some APC governors over the Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.
The FCT minister said some politicians who had been denied tickets in the APC’s nomination process had turned to alternative platforms to contest the 2027 elections.
According to Wike, such candidates, if elected, would be unlikely to support Uzodinma’s reported Senate presidency ambition.
“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.
He was responding to questions about the political dispute surrounding the Rainbow Coalition, which has increasingly brought him into disagreement with Uzodinma, who chairs the Progressive Governors Forum.
Wike accused Uzodinma of creating an internal political crisis and lacking the capacity to resolve it.
“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.
The former Rivers State governor also referred to Uzodinma’s emergence as governor of Imo State, saying his political trajectory illustrated what he described as the unpredictability of Nigerian politics.
“Hope Uzodinma, who I’ve always said and I tell people. Maybe, to God be the glory, he became a governor by taking fourth 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 alleged that Uzodinma, whose second term as governor is due to end in 2027, was seeking election to the Senate with the ultimate ambition 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,” he said.
Wike claimed that some governors had embraced the arrangement without fully understanding Uzodinma’s alleged political interests.
“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 subsequently turned to alternative platforms, including the Peoples Democratic Party, with the support of his political structure.
He argued that candidates elected through such platforms would not be bound to support Uzodinma’s reported ambition to lead the Senate.
The disagreement is unfolding against the backdrop of the Rainbow Coalition, a political arrangement championed by Wike that brings together politicians across party lines.
The coalition has reportedly expanded into states including Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River, with politicians who have fallen out with APC structures aligning with the arrangement ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike has maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is primarily aimed at mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election and is not an APC structure. He has also argued that the PDP should remain free to field candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state Assembly elections.
The position has brought him into conflict with APC governors, who, through the Progressive Governors Forum, have warned against political arrangements they believe could weaken the party or affect its candidates.
