President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with President Emmanuel Macron for a private dinner at the Élysée Palace in Paris, France.
The dinner was disclosed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on X on Friday.
Onanuga stated that the meeting reflected the enduring relationship between Nigeria and France and their shared commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Tinubu is holidaying in France, where he is expected to step in amid the escalating standoff between All Progressives Congress governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the run-up to the 2027 elections.
A senior presidential aide who is familiar with the situation and spoke exclusively to The PUNCH on condition of anonymity, since he was not authorized to comment on the matter, said Tinubu was expected to engage the parties in an effort to settle their differences.
The source added that the intervention would likely happen abroad before the week ends.
Wike, a leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party who serves as the FCT minister in the APC-led Federal Government, has been promoting the Rainbow Coalition in Rivers State in support of Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike, who has been at odds with some APC governors, alleged during a recent media chat that Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his Imo counterpart Hope Uzodimma were behind his recent political challenges.
According to Wike, the governors’ opposition stemmed from the growing national reach of his Rainbow Coalition, which he said was giving a platform to politicians seeking to challenge APC candidates in governorship and senatorial elections.
In what appeared to be a response to Wike, Uzodimma, who chairs the APC Progressive Governors’ Forum, said after the forum’s meeting in Abuja on Monday night that APC governors would not back any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election or weakening the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
Uzodimma stressed that the governors’ campaign commitment was solely to APC candidates at all levels.
Wike, however, defended the coalition, maintaining that the alliance was meant to support Tinubu’s re-election.
