With politicking and gamesmanship ahead of the 2027 presidential election entering high gear, events in the political space are unfolding faster than many observers, commentators, and analysts can keep up with. As we race towards 2027 and political actors manœuvre and meander through treacherous and perilous power plays, politicians are now locked in a cutthroat power tussle and contest for supremacy that could make or mar their political careers.
On Thursday, Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, was disqualified as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial candidate for Imo West. A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ruled against his candidacy on Thursday and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove him as the rightful winner of the primary election that produced him. The court ruled that former governor Rochas Okorocha, not Uzodinma, won the election, and ordered the electoral umpire to replace the former with the latter as the APC senatorial candidate for Imo West.
On the same day, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rejected a petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, who sought a review of his exclusion from the list of candidates.
The development is not entirely a result of an objective verdict and dispassionate decision or a personal oversight, but the fallout of a chain of political intrigues and manoeuvring that have culminated in a power struggle and vicious fight for political survival. At the centre of this is another political heavyweight, Nyesom Wike. In politics, interests are impermanent, and alliances are always shifting. Adebutu and Uzodinma are on the other side of the political divide from Wike.
While Wike and Uzodinma have scores to settle and have been embroiled in a cold war over what the former deemed the latter’s meddling in the affairs of Rivers State at the height of Wike’s messy feud with Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, Adebutu was a victim of brutal political manoeuvring and shifting alliances in the Peoples Democratic Party. At the height of the PDP leadership tussle, Adebutu pitched his tent with the Aminu Turaki-led faction of the party at the time, opposing the Wike-backed Abdulrahman Mohammed faction of the party. The Turaki faction had pronounced itself as the lawful and rightfully constituted leadership of the party after the Ibadan convention early in the year.
The Wike faction of the party led by Abdulrahman Mohammed laid claim to the leadership of the party and challenged the Turaki faction in court. In April, the Supreme Court decision nullified the parallel Ibadan convention and dismissed appeals from the Turaki surrounding the disputed convention, leaving Wike and the Mohammed-led leadership to declare an end to formal division, asserting that the NWC backed by their structure is recognised. After the apex court ruling on the matter and Wike’s aggressive consolidation of power, Adebutu remained in PDP even though leading figures like governor Seyi Makinde and governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi left the party. He, however, did not align or pledge allegiance to the Wike-backed leadership of the party whose actions and authority are now recognised by INEC.
But Adebutu’s political travails are not only spurred by the ramifications of the PDP leadership tussle. There is a hand of the ruling party, which Wike, despite posturing as a member of the PDP, is now working for. Adebutu is a formidable figure in Ogun politics. He contested the last gubernatorial election in the state, and the poll was neck and neck. There are some who claimed he won the election, but he was rigged out. This time around, the incumbent governor, Dapo Abiodun, will not be seeking re-election after serving two terms. The APC has fielded Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as its Ogun governorship candidate to succeed Abiodun. Even though Yayi is not a cub politician, the prevailing consensus is that it will be difficult for him to defeat Adebutu in an open, free and fair contest; hence, stopping Adebutu from participating in the election became the only way to eliminate the threat.
For Uzodinma, it does not take a genius to know that Wike’s imprint is on the trail of his ordeal. Both politicians have been at loggerheads over the form, shape and manner in which the support for Tinubu should take. Uzodinma has been quite vocal about his opposition to Wike’s rainbow movement, a broad coalition of different parties and politicians, working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu. Speaking earlier at a rally, Uzodinma made it known that there was no rainbow coalition in Imo State. But their cold war predates the rainbow coalition movement. Both men became political adversaries when Uzodinma sided with Fubara and cleared the way for him to join the ruling party during his political crisis in Rivers.
While Uzodinma could challenge the ruling of the High Court that voided his candidacy, it remains to be seen if Adebutu will seek legal redress to reverse INEC’s exclusion of his name from the 2027 gubernatorial candidates list. Whatever decision they make, it appears the startling shadow of Wike will continue to loom large over their political ambitions.
