Former Rivers state governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, may be on the brink of formally quitting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), with insiders indicating that the timing of his defection has already been fixed.
According to reports, a very close ally of the minister disclosed that Wike’s eventual move to the APC is no longer a matter of speculation but of strategy and timing.
The source said Wike, who was appointed FCT minister by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023 after openly working against his own party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is expected to cross over officially close to the 2027 general election. “The Minister will soon officially defect to the APC and all his allies within and outside Rivers State will join him. It will be like a carnival — big and colourful”, he said.
According to source, the delayed defection is deliberate. “He will not go now. He will wait until it is close to the election. By then, the PDP would have been thoroughly weakened and cannot pose any serious challenge to President Tinubu.”
The source further claimed that prominent Nigerians were still being mobilised to strengthen the APC ahead of 2027, with the aim of leaving opposition parties with “weak presidential candidates.”
He also alleged that the two dominant PDP governors, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, are both positioning for the party’s presidential ticket — a development he said would worsen internal divisions. “Seyi will not concede to Bala Mohammed. That will bring another crisis,” he said, adding that Makinde has long enjoyed a close relationship with Wike.
The ally also linked the lingering Rivers crisis and impeachment threats against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, to unresolved political agreements. “The Assembly is more determined than ever. This matter is now beyond Wike”, he said.
He claimed that reconciliation efforts brokered by Wike last year collapsed after Fubara allegedly failed to honour commitments, including engaging the Assembly’s leadership and settling outstanding allowances.
He further alleged that when a state of emergency was declared last year, President Tinubu directed the sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), to work with Wike, and that it was under that arrangement that lawmakers’ entitlements and projects were settled.
The account, as reported, adds a new layer to growing political calculations ahead of 2027, with Wike’s long-anticipated formal alignment with the APC now said to be only a matter of time.
