Politricks: APC governors, Wike, and Tinubu’s uncomfortable alliance

Politics, especially Nigerian politics, has never been short of irony. But the latest altercation between the Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) offers a particularly revealing example of what might be called “politricks” – the art of political alliances that are united at one level and fiercely competitive at another.

Politrick is an informal term coined from “politics” and “trick” that means political trickery, dishonesty, or manipulative behaviour in politics. The term highlights the deceptive, sly, or gamesmanship aspects of governance and campaigning rather than honest public service. It is often used in everyday speech to describe corrupt or self-serving political systems. Wike encapsulated this definition of politrick when he described the All Progressives Congress governors, led by Hope Uzodimma, as “people who are smart like the 419ners, but they are politically lazy.”

Tinubu

The qualification of a person or people as 419ners mean that they obtain power through false pretence for private gain. They often deceive people in the process of obtaining such power. Wike singled out Hope Uzodimma, Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, as the typical example of the 419-smart and politically lazy politician. He garnished his example with the explanation that Uzodimma did not support Tinubu’s ambition during the APC presidential primary election in 2023, and could not deliver up to 10 per cent of the Imo State votes to President Tinubu of APC in the 2023 presidential election, yet Hope won two of the Senatorial seats for APC, while the Labour Party took the remaining one, in an election held on the same day. He took another swipe at Ebonyi State, where the APC could not deliver up to 20 per cent votes to President Tinubu, yet cleared the whole of the Senatorial seats.

The allegation against the APC Governors of being 419-smart and politically lazy was further driven home by Wike when he referred to how the APC governors deceived his Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, and made him part away with money, yet he didn’t get a second term. Wike appears very correct here. Fubara seemed to get a breath of fresh air when he was lured into APC by APC Governors and the National leadership of APC. They symbolically made him the 001 of APC in Rivers State and the automatic candidate of APC for the gubernatorial election in 2027.

Wike kicked against this arrangement and defeated the National leadership of APC and the APC governors to deny Fubara a second term. Wike even posted his surrogate, Hon Kingsley Chinda, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC to challenge incumbent Governor Fubara, the 001 of the APC, for the gubernatorial ticket, and the APC apparatus of power eventually and cowardly supported Wike’s choice for Rivers State governor under APC. Question is: if APC indulged Wike in Rivers State because of Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, what made them think Wike will stop at Rivers State? Having concluded that APC governors are not politically smart but lazy, he believed he could project his power to other states and he did, even throughout Nigeria. I once noted on this column that Wike’s game plan was not to join APC but keep PDP in abeyance for 2027 presidential election, and beyond that reinvigorate PDP and attempt to take over political power in Nigeria.

The APC governors are missing the point, which is, will Wike support any presidential candidate who is willing to trade Wike’s interest for his own interest or the interest of his party? The answer lies in the history of Wike’s political trajectory from 1998 till date as he rose from being a Local Government Chairman to being the Federal Capital Territory Minister.

Wike has been known to be fiercely loyal to only the politician who is his source of power at the time his loyalty is tested. He was loyal to Gov Peter Odili when he was the local government chairman under Odili as the Governor of Rivers State. Afterwards, he dumped Odili for Gov Chibuike Amaechi, whom he became fiercely loyal to as Chief of Staff. After that, he dumped Amaechi for President Goodluck Jonathan, whom he became fiercely loyal to as Minister. When he became governor, he became loyal to himself, and dumped Goodluck Jonathan who lost his presidential bid.

In 2023, Wike and the other G5 politicians were regarded as important actors in the political realignment that helped Tinubu to be declared President instead of Atiku. The G5’s refusal to support Atiku was a significant blow to the PDP presidential campaign. Contrary to the public posturing of Wike that he supported Tinubu to ensure that power moved to South, he supported Tinubu because he lost the position of the vice presidential candidate under Atiku Abubakar. If he wanted power to move to the South in 2023, why did he agree to contest for the post of President with other Northern candidates and vowed to support any candidate who emerged from the convention. He would have sworn to support only the Southern candidate who emerged from the convention. Then why did he lobby extensively to be a Vice President for a Northerner in 2023. This in itself is politrick, and being 419-smart.

However, nobody can describe Wike as being politically lazy like the APC governors. He is politically savvy and proactive. He understands when to strike and when to refrain. He understands his source of power and is fiercely loyal to it. Even with his husky voice, he sounds convincing in his argument, even when the substance is quite not in his favour. Is he not appearing convincing that he supported Tinubu of APC to ensure power moved to the South, while being a member of PDP, to becloud the anti-party toga of such act, even when he didn’t support Tinubu for that reason? The reasons he gave against APC governors appear very plausible even when the reasons are unconnected to the issues at stake.

The issue at stake is very simple. As the 2027 elections approach, Wike has been promoting what he calls the Rainbow Coalition, a political arrangement intended to mobilise support for President Tinubu’s re-election across party lines in 2027. The arrangement has, however, generated concern within the APC as most members insist that some of the political activities associated with that mobilisation could hurt APC candidates in governorship, National Assembly and state assembly contests. The Progressive Governors Forum, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, said that APC governors will not support any political arrangement that could weaken the party, damage its candidates, or undermine Tinubu’s re-election effort.

On August 21, 2023, Tinubu swore Wike into his cabinet as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Wike therefore became an opposition PDP politician serving in the cabinet of an APC president, an arrangement that illustrated just how flexible Nigeria’s political boundaries can become when interests converge. Wike has never really presented his relationship with Tinubu as a conventional party alliance. His argument has consistently been that supporting Tinubu for president does not require him to abandon the PDP or prevent the PDP from contesting elections at other levels. That distinction has become the centre of a new political confrontation.

Now, some of the same political forces that welcomed Wike’s contribution to Tinubu’s emergence are uncomfortable with the independent political machinery he is building around the president. The only reason for their disapproval is the possibility of losing their personal political relevance in their respective home states. Unfortunately for them, equity does not aid the indolent.

It is not rocket science that Tinubu would have preferred Wike to join APC after the 2023 election. But trust Wike to have convinced Tinubu that it would be in Tinubu’s best political interest if he remains in PDP and prevent any other politician of note from using PDP to confront Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election. Then, they didn’t foresee ADC coming. Of course Tinubu fell for it because why would he prepare for the general election when he can win it at the primary election stage. Tinubu even projected the strategy outside PDP to annihilate all other strong opposition parties so he can emerge the only viable candidate in 2027. When you hear Tinubu saying he takes pleasure in seeing the opposition scatter, this is the source. When you hear Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, saying that they prefer politicians remaining in their parties, and scattering their parties to them joining APC, that is the origin of it.

Wike’s true intention of not joining APC is to avoid playing second fiddle in APC, and he succeeded. He is No 1 in PDP, and Tinubu is No 1 in APC. The two can enter into contract as partners. If Wike entered APC, he would have been a servant to Tinubu, but now he is an associate. Tinubu would have to allow Wike’s candidates succeed at other levels for him to succeed at the federal level. Of course, Tinubu will choose this option. Recall, he chose Wike instead of Fubara. Tinubu and the APC Governors can only hope to deal with Wike during the second term of Tinubu which may never come.

When the chips are down, the APC would not know whether they used Wike or Wike used them. The truth is that both of them are 419-smart and politricians with Wike having the upper hand, because whereas APC Governors are politically lazy, Wike appears politically savvy.

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