A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Aliyu Farouk, has said President Bola Tinubu may not be pleased with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, over his recent criticism of governors elected on the platform of the ruling party.
Farouk stated this on Thursday while speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show monitored by The News Chronicle.
Wike had recently described some APC governors as “politically lazy” while defending his Rainbow Coalition, which he said was aimed at mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. His comments followed the rejection by the APC Governors’ Forum of any political alliance it said could weaken the party or undermine Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Reacting, Farouk said the APC was working towards establishing a unified campaign structure at the national and state levels, with governors expected to lead the party’s campaign activities in their respective states.
He said although the party could not prevent Wike from expressing his views, it was unhappy with his comments about APC governors.
“We do not want any situation where it becomes vote for APC, vote for PDP, or vote for any other party.
“As far as we are concerned, we want a unified APC campaign structure, which is exactly what we are setting up at the national level and across the states as well, and the governors are going to be in charge of the states.
“You know, so we cannot stop Wike from speaking the way he does or saying whatever he wants. But as a party, we resent that kind of comment.
“We are not happy with the way he called our governors, and I’m sure Mr President will not be happy either,” he said.
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Farouk also questioned Wike’s claim that he had held discussions or reached an arrangement with Tinubu concerning his political activities ahead of the 2027 elections.
“And if he said he had meetings or an arrangement with Mr President, well, we in the APC are not privy to that. I’m sure he’s not privy to what we are also discussing with Mr President,” he added.
He urged APC members to refrain from engaging Wike in public exchanges over the matter.
“I call on my, you know, party members not to join issues with them,” Farouk said.
Wike has maintained that his Rainbow Coalition is intended to support Tinubu at the presidential level while allowing opposition parties to field candidates against APC candidates in governorship and legislative elections.
