Tinubu’s Campaign Council: Wike, Adeleke, Soludo’s Appointment Stir Unease In APC

The inclusion of leading opposition politicians in President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign council has sparked grumbling within the All Progressives Congress (APC) and raised concerns among opposition candidates that the alliances could hurt their chances at the polls.

Naija News reports that some ruling-party members lamented that long-serving loyalists had been pushed aside in favour of politicians from rival parties.

Meanwhile, opposition candidates are questioning how their party leaders can work for Tinubu’s re-election without damaging their own prospects against APC candidates in the National Assembly and state House of Assembly elections.

The disquiet followed Tuesday’s release of the expanded Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, which named Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo; Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke; and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, as campaign coordinators.

Soludo, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), will coordinate the campaign in Anambra, while Adeleke, who won the governorship election on the Accord Party (A) platform, will oversee Osun.

Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader, was put in charge of Rivers State and the FCT.

Some senior APC members, who spoke to Sunday Punch on condition of anonymity, expressed displeasure at the decision to appoint opposition figures as state coordinators, warning it could weaken the party’s structures and dampen members’ enthusiasm ahead of the elections.

One source said the development unsettled party stakeholders in Osun, Rivers and Anambra states, where prominent members felt ignored despite their years of loyalty to the President and the party.

He claimed that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and former Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, was displeased with the choice of Adeleke as the President’s campaign coordinator in the state.

“This development is unsettling some of our members in the states. For example, the former governor of Osun State, Oyetola, who should ordinarily be the party’s leader in the state, is unhappy that the APC Presidential Campaign Council sidelined him and appointed the incumbent governor, who is a member of the Accord Party, as the state coordinator. Members of the party are also unhappy with the decision,” the source said.

The party chieftain noted that a similar scenario had played out in Rivers State, where Wike, rather than the governor, was made coordinator.

“Similarly, in Anambra State, party leaders who have worked for the President and the APC for years have expressed concerns over the arrangement with the state governor, Charles Soludo, who belongs to the All Progressives Grand Alliance,” he added.

According to the source, the grievance goes beyond the composition of the campaign council, as some members feel opposition politicians are being increasingly empowered at the expense of the party’s faithful.

“This is already causing disaffection and dampening the morale of our members. Some members are no longer willing to give their all because they feel the party does not believe in them.

“They believe the party’s campaign council has overlooked them and instead considered opposition leaders worthy of the appointments. This is causing discontent among party members. How the affected members will work together under this arrangement remains uncertain,” he said.

Another APC source cautioned that the arrangement could hurt the party’s grassroots mobilisation if aggrieved members chose to stay away from the campaign.

“There is no way some party members will not feel unhappy about this arrangement. Those who have worked for the party and hoped to be appointed to the campaign council will naturally be disappointed that opposition leaders, who are not even members of the APC, have been given positions they had hoped to occupy.

“This could dampen their morale. My concern is that I hope the President and other APC leaders will find a way to harmonise the arrangement to prevent it from affecting the President himself.

“If party members decide to remain onlookers rather than actively participate in the campaign, it could have serious consequences for the party,” the source warned.