The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is said to be contemplating a series of measures aimed at curbing what it describes as the “excesses and disruptive conduct” of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The alleged move, which multiple party sources said is being initiated at the level of the APC national leadership, is meant to restrain the minister from causing disharmony within the party, especially in Rivers State.
Wike has been at loggerheads with the APC leadership over the party’s open support for the 2027 re-election of the incumbent Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Also, the party’s leadership and some key high-ranking stakeholders in the Bola Tinubu government, including Vice President Kashim Shettima and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had weighed in on the pro-Fubara project.
Wike, who is Governor Fubara’s immediate predecessor, had singlehandedly mobilised the necessary logistics that ensured Fubara’s emergence as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his eventual win of the 2023 election.
However, cracks began to emerge in the relationship between Fubara and his political godfather, Wike, barely five months into the governor’s tenure, over issues of power sharing and control of state resources.
The disagreement degenerated into moves by Wike to have the governor impeached, and the acrimony was sustained up to March 2025, leading to the imposition of emergency rule on Rivers State and the suspension of the governor and the Rivers Assembly members for six months.
However, the political dynamics in Rivers changed following the lifting of the emergency rule, with the governor shifting his loyalties and recalibrating his political realignments towards President Tinubu.
The realignments culminated in Fubara’s defection from the PDP to the APC on December 9, 2025, a move, described as “a successful political ambush”, that was said to have caught the minister unawares.
The moves by the APC leadership to “cage” the FCT minister, THE WHISTLER investigation revealed, are being coordinated by an influential APC governor from one of the states in the Southeast.
The governor, who holds a prominent position in the league of the APC governors, is said to have been piqued by moves allegedly inspired by the minister to raise a political counterforce in his state, with one of his PDP allies from the governor’s state as the arrowhead.
THE WHISTLER investigation further revealed that the move “to cut the minister to size” may involve the mobilisation of all the APC governors, the ministers, the leadership of the party, and key stakeholders in government who are said to have had enough of him.
The party leaders, including Vice President Shettima, are said to have deplored the minister’s public conduct, especially his recent open verbal attack on the APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru.
Wike’s attack on the party scribe stemmed from the open declaration of support for Fubara’s re-election and his recognition as the leader of the APC in Rivers State by top party leaders, including the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda and key government officials.
Part of the strategy, it was also gathered, is for the stakeholders to present a resolution to President Tinubu, stating reasons why they can no longer accommodate the minister in the APC-led administration.
“As a matter of fact, they are going to ask the President to choose between Wike and the leadership of the APC, a demand that could put the President in a dilemma,” a source who is in the know of the development confided in THE WHISTLER.
The aggrieved party leaders and stakeholders, it was learnt, are waiting for the return of the President to the country from his end-of-the-year vacation abroad to table their demands.
However, the minister, who is said to be aware of the plot, appears undeterred, as he has been touring local government areas in Rivers State, canvassing support for the President’s re-election.
He has vowed to frustrate any move by the ruling party to give Governor Fubara a return ticket on the APC platform, arguing that there is a subsisting agreement that the governor will not be seeking re-election.
According to him, the President was in the know of the said agreement, which he has continued to insist must be respected, maintaining that “agreement is agreement.”
Part of the agreement, he said, was for him to nominate Governor Fubara’s successor, a role he has insisted on playing.
But one of the APC leaders, who craved anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said, “The minister must be living in the past.”
“Minister Wike is talking about an agreement he had with Governor Fubara of the PDP. But what we have today is Governor Fubara of the APC, so there is a difference between the two,” the source said.
There could be stormy days ahead as all await the return of President Tinubu to the country anytime soon.
