Wike Rejects Uzodinma’s Senate Presidency Bid — See What the Imo Governor Did
Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodinma, has declined to respond to comments made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who publicly opposed his reported ambition to seek the Senate presidency following the 2027 general elections.
The FCT minister had openly declared on Monday, September 21, during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, that he would not offer any support to Governor Uzodinma in any bid for the leadership of the Senate.
Minister Wike made the remarks while addressing his ongoing disagreement with certain governors belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding his proposed Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 polls.
During the television broadcast, Wike linked the rift directly to political strategy and calculations regarding the future leadership of the National Assembly. He alleged that several APC governors were attempting to control and influence which individuals secure nominations for the Senate and the House of Representatives, with the ultimate objective of determining who becomes the next Senate President and Speaker of the House.
According to Wike, the primary interest of these governors is to produce lawmakers who will remain loyal and support their preferred candidates for the top leadership positions within the National Assembly.
Speaking on the ongoing party processes, Wike stated: “APC, in their ongoing party primaries, the governors, in their own wisdom, believe that they should be able now to put senators or House of Reps members who they will dictate to who will become the next Senate President or the Speaker.”
The minister subsequently connected these legislative primary maneuvers directly to Governor Uzodinma’s reported interest in returning to the Nigerian Senate after concluding his second term as the governor of Imo State.
Expressing his firm opposition to the reported legislative ambition of the Imo governor, Wike explicitly stated that he would never offer his backing to Uzodinma for the top legislative post.
“I will never support a character of Hope Uzodinma to be Senate President of Nigeria. Everybody knows that,” Wike stated during the television interview.
Uzodinma Declines to Engage
Despite the direct public opposition expressed by the FCT minister, Governor Uzodinma has chosen not to engage Wike over the comments.
Speaking on behalf of the Imo State governor, the Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Public Orientation, Declan Emelumba, confirmed that Uzodinma would not be issuing a reaction to the statements made by the minister.
Emelumba explained that the governor deliberately chose not to respond to the opposition voiced by Wike due to underlying circumstances.
The commissioner noted that Governor Uzodinma did not wish “to react to the comment as credited to Wike for obvious reasons.”
The deliberate decision by the Imo State governor to refrain from commenting was made public after Wike explicitly ruled out supporting Uzodinma’s reported ambitions for the Senate leadership, introducing another point of political friction between the two prominent leaders.
National Assembly Calculations and the Rainbow Coalition
Elaborating on the dispute surrounding his proposed political initiative, Wike argued that the opposition by certain APC governors toward his Rainbow Coalition stems from their individual political objectives for the upcoming National Assembly.
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The minister explained that political aspirants who are denied tickets during the APC primaries but subsequently decide to run on alternative party platforms could potentially win their elections. In such scenarios, Wike noted, those victorious candidates would be unlikely to back the leadership candidates favoured by the governors after the 2027 elections.
Detailing this concern, Wike remarked: “The fear now is that if they run and they win, it means they are not going to support him to be the Senate President.”
Throughout his remarks, Wike maintained that the core objective of his Rainbow Coalition is to mobilize support for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027. He asserted that this coalition effort does not restrict or prevent political parties from fielding their own candidates for governorship positions or seats in the legislative houses.
To illustrate his strategy, Wike referenced the political actions taken by the G5 governors group during the 2023 presidential election campaign. He pointed out that politicians can align to support a specific presidential candidate while simultaneously supporting candidates from their respective political parties in other electoral contests.
“In 2023, the G5 leadership said we were going to support Mr President. But we never said that all our candidates in other elections will fail,” Wike explained.
In addition to addressing the National Assembly dynamics, Wike firmly dismissed circulating reports alleging that President Tinubu had agreed to cede nine states to him or the Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Rejecting those claims, Wike questioned the validity of such reports, stating: “Which are those nine states? Tell us that they said the President agreed with me that he is conceding nine states.”
The FCT minister maintained that all of his political engagements and activities are centered on gathering support for President Tinubu based strictly on the performance and achievements recorded by the current administration.
“Mr President is showing his report card. We are telling Nigerians what he has been doing and why he should be re-elected,” Wike emphasized during the broadcast.
Broader Political Disagreements Within the APC
This public exchange follows actions taken by the Progressive Governors’ Forum under the leadership of Governor Uzodinma as its chairman.
Just days before Wike’s televised statements, the Progressive Governors’ Forum formally declared that its members would not endorse or align with any political arrangements that could potentially undermine the APC or compromise the chances of its candidates in the 2027 general elections.
The governors belonging to the ruling party further affirmed their collective stance that they would not support any political framework that could jeopardize President Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
Following that collective declaration, Uzodinma has emerged as one of the prominent voices among the APC governors in opposing external or internal political arrangements that could negatively affect the ruling party’s candidates during the upcoming electoral cycle.
The recent divergence of views between Wike and Uzodinma underscores a broader political disagreement over how the campaign for President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid should interact with individual electoral contests for governorship seats and positions within the National Assembly.
At present, while Wike has explicitly publicly rejected Uzodinma’s reported bid for the Senate presidency, the Imo State governor has maintained his stance to refrain from issuing a direct response to the FCT minister’s comments.