A member of the House of Representatives and APC chieftain, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has urged the party’s governors to engage the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, through dialogue amid disagreements over his Rainbow Coalition.
Jibrin said Wike remains politically significant to the ruling party and should not be pushed away as preparations for the 2027 general elections intensify.
He also argued that Wike could attract interest from other political platforms, including the ADC and NDC, if his relationship with the APC deteriorates.
Speaking on Arise News, Jibrin said Wike had contributed significantly to efforts supporting President Bola Tinubu and should therefore be engaged through negotiation.
“Somebody like Wike will continue to be Wike in and out of office. He has qualities like the President. The President today, you take him out as the President, he would still continue to maintain his relevance.
“After all, he was out of office for 16, 17 years, and his relevance was intact. Wike is that sort of a person, so Wike will be in demand all the time,” he said.
Jibrin said the APC needed Wike’s political support, adding that the former Rivers State governor could remain relevant outside government.
“For the fact that we had Wike in 2023, there is no need for any renewal. Automatically, for goodness’ sake, APC needs Wike, and I just want to be a bit subtle; I would have said much more than he needs us,” he said.
He urged APC governors to negotiate with Wike instead of publicly confronting him, citing President Tinubu’s decision to work with the FCT minister.
“If the President of the country hadn’t negotiated with Wike and brought Wike on board today, there would have been a Rainbow Coalition in this country against APC. So, if the President will understand that, let me negotiate with this man because he has value, he has something to bring to the table, governors should follow suit,” Jibrin said.
The lawmaker said political circumstances differed from one state to another and therefore required separate approaches.
He criticised the decision by some APC governors to publicly challenge Wike, arguing that disagreements should instead be resolved through discussions.
“My relationship with them is intact. But I believe that the models they adopted by going to do the press conference just to hit hard on Wike, I believe that it’s wrong because all the states, their cases are peculiar; they’re different cases, and there’s nothing wrong with going into discussion with Wike,” he said.
Jibrin maintained that his intervention was motivated by his desire to protect the political support base around Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.
“Anything that I see can pose a danger to the re-election of the President, I will always intervene,” he said.
The comments come amid disagreements between Wike and some APC governors over his Rainbow Coalition, a cross party political platform through which he has been mobilising support for Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid.
