The All Progressives Congress (APC) has handed key roles in President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign to three politicians outside its fold.
The rulling party has named Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Nyesom Wike, coordinator for Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party is leading the President’s re-election as coordinator for Osun State while Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, has been appointed as his state coordinator.
The appointments highlight the unusual political alliances taking shape ahead of the 2027 general election, with the ruling party relying on prominent opposition figures to mobilise support for Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Wike, the Minister of the FCT and a leading PDP figure, has been assigned responsibility for coordinating Tinubu’s campaign in Rivers and the FCT, despite remaining outside the APC.
The Rivers appointment is particularly striking because Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is in the APC, is the only APC governor excluded from coordinating the campaign in his state under the expanded council’s arrangement that assigns the party’s governors state-level campaign roles.
The contrast raises questions about the balance of political influence in Rivers, where Wike and Fubara have been locked in a prolonged political battle.
Wike’s appointment suggests that the APC’s campaign structure is accommodating his political network despite the presence of an APC governor in the state.
Adeleke’s appointment as Osun State coordinator presents another unusual arrangement. The governor, who secured re-election under the Accord Party, is being entrusted with mobilising support for Tinubu despite not belonging to the ruling party.
The Star learnt that Adeleke had sought to join the APC before the governorship election but was blocked from doing so by party leaders led by Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola. His inclusion in the campaign council therefore raises questions about how the party intends to manage its relationship with the governor and its own political interests in Osun ahead of 2027.
Governor Soludo, who won a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in November 2025, has also been named Tinubu’s campaign coordinator in the state.
The appointments feature in the APC’s expanded presidential campaign council, which is scheduled to be inaugurated by Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.
The revised council also reshuffles several top positions.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq have been appointed deputy vice-chairmen I, II and III, respectively.
Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni becomes deputy director-general I for the North, while Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin takes the second position for the region.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu have been named deputy director-generals I and II for the South, respectively.
The revised list assigns all 32 APC governors campaign coordinator roles in their respective states, with the exception of Fubara in Rivers. The party’s governorship candidates in Oyo, Bauchi and Abia states — Sharafadeen Alli, Mohammed Abubakar and Chijioke Chukwu —have also been named coordinators for their states.
The council includes 14 advisers, among them former APC National Chairman Bisi Akande, former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, former Cross River South senator Florence Ita-Giwa, former APC National Secretary Iyiola Omisore, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume and former coordinating Minister of the Economy Wale Edun.
The APC initially announced its campaign council on August 22, naming former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari as director-general.
The revised list makes substantial changes to the council’s leadership and expands the network of political figures tasked with supporting Tinubu’s re-election.
The campaign comes as the Independent National Electoral Commission’s revised timetable sets January 14, 2027, as the end of the campaign period for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Tinubu is expected to face opposition from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and Peter Obi, the flagbearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, among other contenders.
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