PORT HARCOURT — In a rare admission of political vulnerability, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has characterized the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a significant threat to his long-standing control over Rivers State.
Speaking during a high-profile media chat over the weekend, the former Rivers Governor noted that the unprecedented level of federal empowerment and strategic political appointments granted to the state by President Bola Tinubu has fundamentally altered the local political landscape. Wike argued that these federal incentives have made it increasingly difficult to sustain a counter-narrative against the ruling party at the center, despite his continued formal membership in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The APC is now a threat to me in Rivers,” Wike stated. “The President has given our people what they never had before in terms of appointments and projects. When a party at the center empowers your people like this, it becomes a challenge to preach anything else.”
The Minister’s comments come at a time of extreme volatility in Rivers politics. Since December 2025, his estranged protégé, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has defected to the APC and secured formal recognition from the Presidency as the undisputed leader of the party in the state. This shift has effectively stripped Wike of his influence over the formal APC structure, forcing him to rely on a non-partisan “Rainbow Coalition” to maintain his grassroots machinery.
The friction has also sparked a bitter public feud with the APC’s national leadership. Earlier this month, APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru formally called for Wike’s resignation from the cabinet, accusing the Minister of meddling in the internal affairs of a party he has refused to join. In response, Wike warned the party’s national secretariat to stay out of Rivers, declaring the state a “no-go area” for external interference.
As of Sunday, January 25, 2026, political analysts suggest that Wike’s admission of the “APC threat” is a strategic acknowledgement of the shifting power dynamics. With the Presidency openly backing Governor Fubara and the APC national leadership demanding his formal defection or exit, Wike faces an increasingly narrow path to maintaining his “godfather” status in the oil-rich state ahead of the 2027 election cycle.
