How Samuel Anyanwu, Fubara, Tinubu‘s re- election and the 2027 battle for political influence turned two former allies against each other, writes ANSELEM EMENAKO
The bitter exchange between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma is the latest manifestation of a political rivalry that predates the 2027 election and the Rainbow Coalition. Once allies, the two men have increasingly found themselves on opposite sides of contests over political influence, succession and party structures surrounding President Bola Tinubu. Wike publicly honoured Uzodimma in May 2023 with the Grand Service Star of Rivers State; three years later, their alliance has given way to an increasingly open political confrontation.
The Samuel Anyanwu Factor
One of the issues believed by political insiders to have contributed to the breakdown was the 2023 Imo governorship election and Wike’s relationship with Senator Samuel Anyanwu. Anyanwu and Wike have a longstanding political relationship dating back many years, and Anyanwu publicly described Wike as his friend who aided his emergence as PDP national secretary in 2023.
Anyanwu went on to become the PDP governorship candidate in Imo, while Uzodimma sought a second term on the APC platform. Uzodimma won the November 2023 election with 540,308 votes, while Anyanwu polled 71,503. The result kept Uzodimma in control of Imo and ended the immediate possibility of an Anyanwu-led PDP administration in the state.
But political sources have consistently alleged that Wike wanted Anyanwu to emerge as governor and was interested in shaping the political succession in the South-East state. The claim has not been independently established, but it has become an important part of the political narrative surrounding the present dispute.
The allegation has assumed greater significance as Uzodimma approaches the end of his governorship and prepares to move to the Senate. He has already secured the APC ticket for Imo West Senatorial District, while some political circles speculate that Anyanwu remains part of Wike’s calculations to succeed Uzodimma as governor in 2027.
Before now, Wike was also alleged to have been offended by Uzodimma’s role in bringing Siminalayi Fubara into the APC from the PDP and by the support the Imo governor gave Fubara during his political feud with Wike. The development was viewed in some political circles as a major escalation in the disagreement between the two former allies.
The Rainbow Coalition Opens The Old Wound
The dispute has now moved into the open through Wike’s Rainbow Coalition. Wike says politicians from different parties can support Tinubu for president in 2027 without joining the APC or supporting APC candidates in governorship and National Assembly elections.
That position has put him at odds with Uzodimma and other APC governors. At their meeting in Abuja on Monday, the governors said they would not support any arrangement capable of weakening the APC or its candidates. Uzodimma, as chairman of the APC Governors Forum, said their campaign commitment was to APC candidates at all levels.
The PUNCH, in a report published at 6:24 a.m. on September 16, 2026, described the disagreement as a growing clash between Wike’s Rainbow Coalition and the APC governors. The newspaper reported that the conflict was also being shaped by political calculations surrounding the 2031 presidency.
Wike has maintained that his support is specifically for Tinubu and does not prevent the PDP from fielding candidates in other elections. He has also accused Uzodimma and Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of being behind some of his political troubles, while Uzodimma has maintained that the APC governors are committed to the party’s candidates.
The political problem is straightforward: Wike’s coalition could support Tinubu for president while backing PDP candidates against APC candidates in Senate, House of Representatives and governorship contests. For APC governors seeking to protect their own political structures, such an arrangement presents a direct conflict of interest.
The concern is heightened by the movement of politicians who lost APC primaries to other parties. INNONEWS learnt that some politicians aligned with Wike’s faction of the PDP are perceived opponents of APC governors in states including Imo, Kwara and Gombe.
Chuka Offiah-Nwankwo, an Anambra APC chieftain, told INNONEWS in Awka that the hostility towards Wike could be counterproductive for Tinubu. His position is that Wike remains politically useful to the President because he demonstrated in 2023 that he could mobilise outside the APC structure while helping Tinubu win the presidency at that time.
Offiah-Nwankwo also pointed to the 2023 voting pattern as evidence that Nigerians can distinguish between presidential and National Assembly elections. Wike has made a similar argument, asking why voters in Imo could vote APC candidates for the Senate while voting for another party at the presidential level in 2023.
Tinubu’s Difficult Choice
The dispute has consequently placed President Tinubu in a difficult political position. Uzodimma controls an important bloc of APC governors and occupies a senior position in the party’s campaign structure, while Wike has built a cross-party network that operates outside the formal APC structure.
An Owerri-based political analyst, Cosmas Iwenobi, described the situation as a dilemma for the President. According to him, both Wike and Uzodimma are useful political assets to Tinubu, making it difficult for the President to simply choose one camp and discard the other.
“Accommodating both men may itself create another problem. Wike’s political network is not necessarily designed to strengthen every APC candidate, while Uzodimma’s responsibility as an APC governor is to protect the party’s candidates and structures,” Iwenobi said.
He continued: “There is also a longer-term dimension. Uzodimma is preparing for a political life beyond the Imo governorship, while Wike remains one of the most influential politicians operating outside the APC. Political speculation has linked both men to calculations around the 2031 succession, although claims about specific presidential or vice-presidential ambitions remain speculative.”
The Senate has also entered the calculations. Uzodimma has secured the APC ticket for Imo West, and there has been speculation about his interest in the Senate presidency. In May 2026, the Senate briefly changed its rules concerning eligibility for presiding offices before reversing the amendment, although there is no established evidence that the change was specifically designed to favour or frustrate Uzodimma.
INNONEWS gathered that the stakes have now moved beyond a disagreement between two politicians. Wike wants the freedom to build a coalition around Tinubu without surrendering his influence over other elections, while Uzodimma and the APC governors want presidential support to translate into stronger APC structures.
The resulting triangle is difficult for Tinubu to manage: Wike needs Tinubu, Uzodimma needs the APC structure, and Tinubu needs both political networks. The Rainbow Coalition may therefore have brought into the open a conflict that has been building quietly for some time.
