AbdulRazaq must be ‘super governor’ to survive Kwara APC crisis — Wike

…says governor should appreciate aggrieved politicians for backing Tinubu from PDP

…accuses AbdulRazaq of blackmailing him over Kwara political realignment

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq would need to be a “super governor” to survive the political crisis triggered by the displacement of several prominent members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Wike made the remarks while reacting to the political realignment in Kwara State, which has seen several aggrieved APC politicians move to opposition platforms while maintaining their support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The FCT Minister accused AbdulRazaq of blackmailing him over the emergence of the Kwara Rainbow Coalition and alleged that the governor had been campaigning against him over his involvement in the state’s political developments.

“Take for example Kwara, he has been the one championing this campaign against me everywhere, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and I have confronted him about it,” Wike said.

He argued that the governor created the conditions for the crisis by displacing three senators and members of the House of Representatives.

“You removed three senators; you removed members of the House of Representatives, you must be a super governor to survive it,” he said.

Wike said the governor should have anticipated the political consequences of sidelining prominent politicians and developed a strategy to manage competing interests within the party.

“Strategically, if you try to remove all these people, you have a crisis in your hands, and you have to be very, very careful,” he said.

His comments come amid the emergence of the Kwara Rainbow Coalition, a multiparty political arrangement involving aggrieved political interests in the state and backing President Tinubu for re-election in 2027.

The coalition includes The Otoge Progressives (TOP), comprising politicians who became estranged from the Kwara APC following disagreements over the party’s internal politics and candidate selection process.

One of the major developments arising from the crisis was the defection of Kwara Central Senator Saliu Mustapha from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he subsequently secured the party’s senatorial ticket.

Wike said AbdulRazaq should appreciate that the politicians who left the APC moved to a PDP faction supporting Tinubu rather than joining parties opposed to the President.

“These senators you removed, you have no place for them. Therefore, did you prefer them to go to ADC or to go to NDC, which is opposing Mr President fervently?” he asked.

“They now came to PDP and they said since you are supporting Mr President and I still want to support Mr President, let me have the ticket from the PDP.”

He accused AbdulRazaq of subsequently portraying the political realignment as an attempt by him to sponsor candidates in Kwara.

“Instead of you to appreciate us that we didn’t allow them to go to ADC or NDC, that they came to Wike faction which is supporting Mr President, you are now saying I am the one sponsoring candidates in your state,” Wike said.

The minister also dismissed the governor’s alleged attempt to link his involvement in Kwara politics to former Senate President Bukola Saraki.

“The Governor of Kwara State now takes this propaganda to their own level, saying that Wike is now sponsoring a candidate in Kwara because I am supporting Saraki. I don’t understand the basis,” he said.

Wike maintained that his support for Tinubu did not mean that the PDP would abandon its candidates in states controlled by the APC.

“Did I have any agreement that now that we are supporting Mr President, PDP will not have any candidate anywhere?” he asked.

He advised AbdulRazaq to focus on managing the internal political fallout rather than attributing the crisis to external actors.

“You have to be strategically minded as a governor to say, what strategy am I going to apply in order not to have crisis?” Wike said.