Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has defended the appointment of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, as coordinator of the party’s presidential campaign in the state, describing the decision as an internal party affair and warning critics to refrain from inflammatory commentary.
The party’s Publicity Secretary in Rivers State, Chibuike Ikenga, said the national leadership of the APC made the decision in its wisdom and was not required to justify it to non-members. “Are they members of our party? Are they the ones to decide who would coordinate? Do they know the reason anybody was appointed coordinator?” Ikenga asked, in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, in Port Harcourt. “Why are they interested in what is happening in our party? It is the internal affairs of our party. Party leaders were fully briefed and knowledgeable of anybody they chose to make a coordinator.”
Ikenga rejected suggestions that the choice of Wike over Governor Siminalayi Fubara amounted to a slight against the governor or demonstrated a lack of confidence in his competence. “It is an insult to say that the governor is incompetent. The governor is a member of the Rainbow Coalition and APC,” he said. He stressed that Fubara remained politically relevant to the party’s structure, noting that the governor is associated with both the Rainbow Coalition and the APC.
The party spokesman cited the example of Osun State, where Governor Ademola Adeleke, a member of the Accord Party, is serving as coordinator of the presidential campaign structure. “In Osun State, is it not Governor Adeleke that is the coordinator? Is he an APC member?” Ikenga asked, arguing that campaign coordination could be determined by political considerations within a particular party or coalition rather than by formal party membership alone.
The appointment, announced as part of the APC’s revised Presidential Campaign Council list for the 2027 general elections, has generated considerable debate because of Wike’s political identity. Wike is a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party and has maintained a political relationship with the Tinubu administration despite his opposition party affiliation. Under the revised arrangement, he will coordinate the APC campaign in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory. Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, the National Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, will oversee Anambra, while Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, who won re-election on the Accord Party platform, will coordinate Osun.
The revised list, scheduled for inauguration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, has drawn mixed reactions from across the political spectrum. Some APC stakeholders in Ebonyi State have criticised the inclusion of opposition figures in leadership roles in the ruling party’s campaign structure, arguing that it could undermine the commitment of longstanding party loyalists. A media aide to the Ebonyi State APC chairman said the party had enough competent and committed members capable of handling the responsibilities assigned to the three politicians, and urged Tinubu to reconsider the decision unless they formally joined the APC. “Imagine Wike of PDP coordinating APC in Abuja and Rivers State. Imagine Soludo of APGA and Adeleke of Accord coordinating APC in Anambra and Osun when true members of the party, APC, from the respective states are there,” he said.
Wike has defended his appointment, saying he is coordinating the campaign in Rivers State because the situation there is peculiar, with Rivers the only state where the campaign is not being coordinated by the sitting APC governor. “Look, in an election, it takes a lot of leadership; there are a lot of things that are involved,” Wike said at his monthly media chat in Abuja on Tuesday. “You require somebody who has a buy-in.” He rejected the suggestion that Fubara had been sidelined. “No, he has not been pushed aside,” he said, adding that the governor would take part at every level, from the state to the national. “Fubara is fully a member, fully plays his part. If he is not a member, why do you think we are hosting meetings in his house? Do you know what it takes to host meetings of that calibre?” Wike explained that Fubara’s concern was to keep his political family intact.
The political context of the dispute is significant. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. President Tinubu is seeking a second term on the APC platform, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement are among the major challengers. Rivers State, as a key South-South battleground, will be one of the most closely watched states in the country. The APC’s decision to appoint a PDP chieftain to coordinate its campaign in the state reflects the party’s determination to build a broad coalition capable of delivering the President’s re-election, even as it navigates internal tensions and questions about the role of formal party membership in campaign structures. As Ikenga put it, the party leaders were fully briefed and the decision remains an internal affair, and those who are not members of the APC have no basis to question it.
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