Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has urged Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike to either formally join the All Progressives Congress (APC) or leave the Rainbow Coalition, saying one cannot back President Bola Tinubu’s re-election while supporting candidates from other parties.
Lawal made the remarks in an interview with Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday. He said the position of APC governors on cross‑party platforms such as Wike’s remains unchanged.
“Our message is very, very clear: be on one side. You can’t be in two sides. If you’re in APC, please come out and support APC. Not you’re supporting APC here and you’re supporting other political parties somewhere else. It doesn’t make sense,” Lawal said. “APC all the way from head to toe.”
When asked whether governors were asking Wike to formally join the APC, Lawal responded: “Exactly. What’s the essence?” He added that he would raise the matter with President Tinubu when the president returns, insisting Wike’s political allegiance must be clearly defined ahead of the 2027 elections.
The disagreement centers on Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, a cross‑party platform through which the minister has mobilised support for Tinubu’s re‑election while maintaining that political parties should remain free to field candidates in governorship and legislative contests. Wike has said his backing of Tinubu does not equate to endorsing APC candidates elsewhere and has defended the coalition as a vehicle to gather support for the president across party lines.
APC governors, however, have said they will not accept any arrangement that could weaken the party or its candidates ahead of 2027. They object to a platform that would support Tinubu for president while backing non‑APC candidates at other levels.
Responding to Wike’s earlier description of some APC governors as “lazy,” Lawal said the minister knew whom he was referring to but defended his own record. “As for me, you can’t say that in Zamfara State. The difference is very, very clear. I invite anybody to come and see what we’re doing in Zamfara State,” he said.
