Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, declared on Monday, 21 September 2026, on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout that he would not support Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Imo State and chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, in any bid to become President of the Senate.

The remarks came as the two men clash over political arrangements ahead of the 2027 elections.

Also read: From G5 to Rainbow Coalition: Wike’s new political calculus

Nyesom Wike accused Hope Uzodimma of using his place among APC governors to influence who emerges as senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Hope Uzodimma’s second term as Imo governor is due to end in January 2028. Nyesom Wike said the governor could then seek a Senate seat and, from there, the presiding office.

“He wants to run for Senate President, and what he does is to say to his colleagues, let us be the ones, governors, to produce the senators and members of the House of Representatives,” Nyesom Wike said.

He argued that some governors backing that approach may not see what he called a personal agenda.

Nyesom Wike also said politicians denied APC tickets were already moving to other platforms. If those candidates win, he said, they would be under no duty to support Hope Uzodimma for the Senate presidency.

“Of course, life or death, I will never support Hope Uzodimma to become the Senate President of Nigeria. Everybody knows that. Nobody should ask me questions about it, it is not personal,” he said.

In another passage from the same appearance he was blunter still. “This man’s office will expire in January 2028. Now, he wants to leave his office to run for Senate. I will never support a character of Hope Uzodimma to be Senate President of Nigeria.”

The fight sits inside a wider argument over the Rainbow Coalition promoted by Nyesom Wike.

He has presented the platform as a way to mobilise support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu while leaving parties free to field their own candidates in governorship and legislative races.

The Progressive Governors Forum, chaired by Hope Uzodimma, has rejected arrangements that it believes could weaken the APC or harm its candidates in 2027.

Last week the forum said it would not back any alliance that might damage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election effort or the party’s prospects.

Nyesom Wike linked that resistance to National Assembly politics.

He said APC governors, during the party primaries, wanted lawmakers they could steer towards a preferred Senate President or Speaker.

Hope Uzodimma has been widely linked with a return to the Senate. He has not, in the coverage of Monday’s broadcast, issued a matching public reply to the personal attack.

There is also a procedural hurdle. In May the Senate changed its Standing Orders so that only senators with at least eight years of continuous service may contest for Senate President or Deputy Senate President.

Any future bid would have to clear that rule as well as the politics now on display.

Nyesom Wike further criticised the circumstances of Hope Uzodimma’s emergence as Imo governor and accused him of deepening an internal crisis, then answering it with what he called blackmail.

The exchange leaves the ruling party’s camp looking strained months before 2027. One leading minister has drawn a hard line against a sitting governor.