Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has urged Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to join the All Progressives Congress if he intends to support President Bola Tinubu's re-election in the 2027 presidential election.
Lawal made the statement during an interview with Channels Television's Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
The governor said the position of APC governors regarding Wike's involvement in the Rainbow Coalition remained unchanged, arguing that the FCT minister should make his political allegiance clear ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to Lawal, Wike should not simultaneously support Tinubu's presidential bid while remaining associated with political parties that may field candidates against the APC in other elections.
He said the APC governors' message to Wike was straightforward: if he wants to support the President, he should openly align with the APC.
Lawal said political actors should make their positions clear rather than operating across what he described as two political sides. He added that he intended to discuss Wike's position with President Tinubu.
The governor's comments followed Wike's repeated clarification that his support for Tinubu's re-election does not amount to support for the APC as a political party.
In a statement issued earlier in September through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said he remained committed to mobilising support for Tinubu in 2027 while maintaining that the PDP could field candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
Wike also rejected suggestions that the Rainbow Coalition was an arrangement with the APC. He described it as a platform involving members of different political parties who support Tinubu's re-election based on their assessment of his administration.
The disagreement therefore centres partly on whether supporting a presidential candidate from another party is compatible with remaining a member of one's own political party.
Lawal's position reflects the stance of APC governors who have questioned Wike's continued membership of the PDP while he openly supports Tinubu's second-term bid. Earlier this week, APC figures also publicly urged Wike to formally join the ruling party if he wanted to work for the President's re-election.
Wike, however, has maintained that political support for a presidential candidate does not require him to abandon his party. He has also argued that political disputes concerning state-level contests should be handled separately from the question of Tinubu's re-election.
The disagreement comes as political parties and their allies intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections. The movement of politicians between parties and the emergence of cross-party alliances have become prominent features of the political landscape ahead of the election.
Lawal himself is now an APC governor. The Zamfara State Government has previously confirmed the state's APC stakeholders' support for Tinubu's re-election and Lawal's own second-term bid in 2027.
For now, Wike's stated position remains that he supports Tinubu's presidential re-election while retaining his PDP membership, whereas Lawal is calling for him to formally align with the APC if he wishes to continue supporting the President.
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