A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Farouk Aliyu, has described the language used by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, against some APC governors as being in “bad taste.”

Aliyu was reacting to Wike’s description of some governors as “419ners” and “lazy” amid the political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, the APC chieftain said members of the ruling party rejected Wike’s remarks.

SEE ALSO: 2027: PDP Drops Fresh Revelation on Wike’s Support for Tinubu

“The language Nyesom Wike used to describe governors as ‘419ners’ or ‘lazy’ is in bad taste. All members of the APC reject that comment,” Aliyu said.

Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, has remained active in the political developments ahead of the 2027 elections despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He was one of the five PDP governors who formed the G5 during the 2023 election period and openly supported President Bola Tinubu, the APC candidate, during the presidential election.

Following Tinubu’s emergence as president, Wike was appointed Minister of the FCT, a position he has held under the APC-led Federal Government while remaining a PDP member.

His political position ahead of 2027 has continued to attract attention, particularly over his support for Tinubu and his reported efforts to build a broader political coalition.

Wike has previously criticised APC governors who opposed his political moves, questioning their commitment to delivering electoral support for Tinubu.

However, Aliyu said the APC was willing to accommodate politicians from other parties who wanted to support the ruling party.

“However, as a party, the APC welcomes anyone, including Wike and others from different parties, who is willing to support the APC,” he said.

According to him, the party’s concern was to maintain a coordinated campaign structure ahead of the elections.

“But we want a unified campaign structure at the national level and across the states,” Aliyu added.

Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga has questioned Peter Obi’s promise to transform Nigeria, citing what he described as the former Anambra State governor’s record during his eight years in office.

Onanuga made the remarks on Thursday while reacting to the ongoing controversy over Obi’s administration and the financial liabilities allegedly left behind in Anambra State.

“The evidence is clear. If a small, homogenous state like Anambra could not be transformed despite $4.05 billion in spending and massive borrowing, how can the same manager promise to fix a complex federation of 36 states and the FCT?

SEE MORE: ‘This Is Serious’ — Keyamo Reacts as Anambra Govt Releases Fresh Debt Claims Against Peter Obi

“Mr. Obi’s eight years was an unmitigated failure, now masked by revisionism. He should desist from deceiving Nigerians with sanctimonious sermons. The desperation is even clearer in his reported four-year single-term pact with his running mate, in direct contradiction of the two-term, eight-year provision of the 1999 Constitution.”

The comments followed a fresh escalation of the dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial position he left behind when he handed over power on March 17, 2014.

The Anambra State Government, through Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation Law Mefor, recently released details of what it said were eight external loans linked to projects under Obi’s administration.

According to the state government, the loans had an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, valued at about N127.4 billion at the official exchange rate as of June 30, 2026.

The government said the original external borrowings amounted to about $123.77 million.

The state also said Obi’s administration spent about $4.05 billion over its eight years in office, a figure it said was equivalent to about N5.4 trillion at the current exchange rate.

It argued that the loans covered areas including malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agriculture.

The controversy intensified after Obi rejected the allegations and maintained that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears.

Obi also said he left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or debts owed to contractors for duly executed and certified projects.

He further disputed the state’s account of an alleged N2.13 billion ecological fund, saying the money had been left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.

Obi challenged anyone with evidence contradicting his account to produce it, saying he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if his claims were disproved.

The Anambra Government, however, disputed his explanation, saying the account Obi identified was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and that its records did not show the N2.13 billion he referenced.

The Presidency subsequently entered the dispute, with Onanuga challenging Obi to honour his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if the claims against his administration were established.

Obi’s media aide, Idris Zekeri Jnr, meanwhile, said a team of former officials who worked with Obi was preparing a detailed response to the Anambra Government’s claims.

African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has said neither he nor the party is part of any single-candidate coalition talks reportedly being led by Professor Pat Utomi ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Sowore disclosed this on Thursday in a public notice titled: “AAC PARTY IS NOT PART OF ANY SINGLE-CANDIDATE COALITION TALKS LED BY PROF.

SEE ALSO: 2027: Sowore Unveils Sweeping Agenda, Says AAC Will Transform Nigeria

Sowore said he had read a report in The Punch stating that a Political Commission led by Utomi intended to hold talks with several presidential candidates, including himself, with the objective of producing a single opposition presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

“For the avoidance of doubt, neither I nor the African Action Congress (@AACParty) is part of these talks, and we will not be joining any such coalition,” he said.

Sowore said the AAC’s position was “clear and principled,” maintaining that the party represented “a fundamentally different political and ideological direction.”

“Our revolutionary agenda is driven by ideological clarity, not political convenience, elite horse-trading or desperation for access to power,” he said.

According to him, the AAC could not enter into a coalition with the political establishment it had consistently opposed.

“We cannot enter into a coalition with the same political establishment we have consistently opposed. Many of the politicians now presenting themselves as an ‘alternative’ have, at different times, operated within the same political order, across the APC, PDP, Labour Party and other formations, that we know has failed Nigerians,” he said.

Sowore said the AAC’s opposition was not limited to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or the All Progressives Congress (APC), but extended to the broader political system and governing practices that he said had produced years of hardship and underdevelopment.

“Our opposition is not merely to Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT or the evil All Progressives Congress party @OfficialAPCNg. It is to the political system and governing practices that have produced decades of poverty, corruption, inequality, insecurity and underdevelopment,” he said.

He said the AAC was offering Nigerians a different path, which he described as “a revolutionary break from the old order.”

“The @aacparty is offering Nigerians a different path: a revolutionary break from the old order and a program founded on social and economic justice, equal rights, accountable government, and the redistribution of political and economic power to the Nigerian people,” Sowore said.

He said the party would not abandon its programme for what he described as an arrangement whose principal objective was simply to replace one set of establishment politicians with another.

“We will not abandon that program for an arrangement whose principal objective is simply to replace one set of establishment politicians with another,” he said.

Sowore further reaffirmed the AAC’s ideological position, saying the party was different from the political formations involved in the proposed coalition.

“The AAC is different. We know what we stand for, and we know the Nigeria we are fighting to build. We are not part of these coalition talks, and we will not be joining them.” he added