The Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Dayo Adeyeye, has said the political differences between former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and some APC governors over support for President Bola Tinubu can be managed without rupturing their relationship.
Adeyeye, who also chairs the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), a support group mobilising for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, said the major point of convergence among the political actors was their support for the President, arguing that disagreements over candidates at the state level should not be allowed to undermine that common ground.
Speaking on the controversy over Wike’s continued membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while serving as a minister in the APC-led Federal Government during an interview on Arise television monitored by Nigerian Tribune, Adeyeye said Wike had never claimed to have defected to the APC and had consistently maintained that he remained a PDP member while supporting Tinubu at the presidential level.
He noted that the arrangement had a precedent in the 2023 election, when Wike and other members of the then G-5 governors supported Tinubu’s presidential bid without abandoning the PDP.
According to him, Wike’s position was that he could support Tinubu for the presidency while retaining the freedom to support candidates of his choice in governorship, senatorial and other state-level contests.
Adeyeye said the APC governors, on the other hand, were concerned that it was difficult to reconcile support for the President with backing opposition candidates against the APC in their respective states.
“From Wike’s point of view, yes, he is supporting the President. At no point did he cross over to the APC and at no point did he pledge to become a member of the party. He has always maintained his position as a PDP person, but that being a PDP person, he will give his support to the President,” he said.
Adeyeye said the President had also demonstrated an understanding of the arrangement by appointing Wike as a minister and maintaining a cordial relationship with him, stressing that Tinubu had not made defection to the APC a condition for Wike’s continued service in his administration.
He said what was required was dialogue that would enable the various political interests to coexist, rather than allowing differences over state-level contests to destroy their shared support for Tinubu.
“We have to find a way to bring the two sides together. We are united by one important factor, which is the support of President Bola Tinubu. That is paramount to me personally, and I think it is paramount to all of them,” Adeyeye said.
The former senator also defended the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, saying the measures had helped strengthen the country’s fiscal position despite the hardship being experienced by many Nigerians.
Adeyeye acknowledged that Nigerians were facing increased costs of food, transportation and other necessities but argued that the impact of the reforms differed across social groups.
He cited regular salary payments, increased revenues to states, improved payment of workers’ entitlements and the intervention of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as areas where he said some Nigerians had experienced improvements.