Some state chapters of the All Progressives Congress have kicked against the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, with party leaders urging the former Rivers State governor to formally join the ruling party if he was truly committed to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election. Political Science
The remarks followed a fresh face-off between Wike and APC governors over the political system the FCT minister is putting in place for the 2027 general elections, The PUNCH reported.
Wike is with the Peoples Democratic Party, working under an APC-led federal government.
Tinubu, a major PDP leader who contested for the presidency in the opposition party, appointed the former Rivers governor minister of the FCT after the 2023 election.
Some APC state chapters welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and vowed to accept him if he crosses over to the ruling party, while others roundly condemned the coalition, arguing that a politician cannot support the APC at the presidential level and support candidates of other parties in the governorship and legislative elections. The Political Science
The development has underscored a widening rift in the president’s political camp about how to gather support for his 2027 re-election bid and, more crucially, who should control the political mechanisms through which such support is mobilised.
The latest conflict was sparked off by Zamfara State Governor and APC governor, Dauda Lawal, who asked Wike to choose between joining the APC or staying with the Rainbow Coalition.
The APC governors’ position has not altered, Lawal told Channels Television’s Inside Sources in an interview at the side-lines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
\”Our message is very, very clear: Pick a side. You can’t be on both sides. If you are in APC, come out and back APC. You are helping APC here, and other political parties elsewhere. This doesn’t make sense. “It’s not done anywhere,” Lawal remarked.
And that’s why we are maintaining our posture and very clear, the message is very clear,” the Zamfara governor added. He may talk, he can say what he wants to say, but our attitude has been very, very clear, APC all the way from head to toe.”
When asked if the governors were requesting Wike to join the APC, Lawal said, “Exactly. What does it mean?” Gov’t
He also said he will talk about Wike’s political position with President Tinubu.
“That’s something I’ll take up with the president when he gets back. So let’s delineate very, very clearly where this individual fits. It is either he is in the APC or he is not. It’s simple And I go with my brothers, the governors,” Lawal said.
Since then, the APC chapters across the country have given different levels of support to the demand.
Coalition meets resistance
APC Publicity Secretary, Jones Onwuasoanya said Wike should identify with the ruling party in clear terms as he was known to be having an ambiguous political position.
“Decency demands that a person who claims so much loyalty to the philosophies and programs of a political party should be in full alignment with that political party and not playing hide and seek with his loyalty to the party,” Onwuasoanya informed our correspondent.
“If Wike is serious about supporting President Tinubu, then he should join the APC and start campaigning for our party in all positions rather than being selective,” he continued. Politics
The APC spokesman in Imo state rejected the Rainbow Coalition as a political entity of minimal consequence in the state.
“From the perspective of the All Progressives Congress in Imo State, there is no Rainbow Coalition or whatever it is called. “We are the only recognised political platform in Imo State and Imolites are solidly with us,” he stated.
He said the party was confident of victory in 2027, stating “there is no political arrangement or structure outside the APC that poses any threat to our Party’s electoral chances.”
Likewise, APC Publicity Secretary, Murtala Usman, in Gombe, called on Wike to conclude his political transfer to the ruling party.
“I agree with those people advising him to join APC because APC does not need any rainbow coalition at this moment,” Usman stated.
He warned that such an arrangement could generate disarray among the ruling party.
“That rainbow coalition will create some confusion in the APC because it will be very difficult for the stakeholders in the APC, especially in some states, to handle,” he said.
Usman said the recent defection of some PDP governors to the APC had already posed challenges to some long serving members of the party. Political
“So Wike should just cross over to APC. “Let him be a full member, not a partial member, because he is doing the job of APC,” he stated.
Ondo kicks against selective support
The Ondo State APC also rejected the idea of a coalition that would endorse Tinubu for president, but support other parties’ candidates in future elections.
The arrangement was not acceptable for the chapter, the state party secretary, Alex Kalejaiye, stated.
We are unhappy that the coalition would only support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the general elections but field candidates for other positions’, he said. Political Science
He said APC’s aim was to deliver all its candidates not only the presidential candidate.
“We in Ondo State must give total support to the candidates of the ruling party, we are committed to mobilise votes for the President, three senatorial, nine representatives and 26 House of Assembly candidates. “That is not negotiable,” Kalejaiye said.
He cautioned that having voters mark different parties on the same ballot may confuse voters and perhaps muddle the election process.
The chapter, therefore, urged Wike to merge the coalition into APC.
So the APC could appeal to Barr. “That’s what I think. The head of the coalition, Nyesom Wike, to collapse his structures into the ruling party, so that we could present a common front before the elections,” he added.
Wike visits Jigawa
The party in Jigawa State said it welcomed the support of Wike to Tinubu and would be happy to have him if he decides to join the APC. Politics;
“We in the Jigawa APC welcome the contribution Wike is making in promoting the President and APC candidate for the 2027 election, Bola Tinubu,” stated the state APC Publicity Secretary, Bashir Kundu. If he (Nyesom Wike) wants to come to our side, we will absolutely welcome him, the APC.
Kundu further noted that the APC was itself a product of a coalition of political parties and can therefore accommodate politicians from varied political backgrounds.
He said the APC had its own structures and program and he was not worried that Wike would damage the electoral interests of the party.
“I am not aware of such plans but I am sure Wike will not do that kind of harm to the APC because the party has its own programme,” he added.
Reactions in Benue State were more complex, mirroring splits within the state APC.
James Orgunga, the organising secretary of one of the APC groups, hailed Wike’s support for Tinubu but said he would want the FCT minister to formally join the party. Politics
“Wike has already joined APC, because he is working for the president. We appreciate that but as a core party man, anybody working for the success of a candidate in my party should be praised,” Orgunga remarked.
“I do not believe in rainbow coalition and I believe that Wike will join our party.”
But Daniel Ihomun, the publicity secretary of another faction loyal to Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, saw things differently.
“He should not join APC, he should stay where he is because he has helped to destroy PDP for us,” Ihomun stated.
He said there was a Rainbow Coalition structure in Benue under what he called the “Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu” that was made up of members of the APC, PDP and Labour Party.
Worries of dual loyalty
In Rivers State, where Wike was governor and still is a big political figure, the row has an added depth.
The Emeka Beke-led wing of the APC supported the opposition of the Progressive Governors Forum to the coalition.
The faction’s Publicity Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, said Wike could not be loyal to the PDP and cooperate with the APC at the same time.
“The reality is that if you look at the background or the context of Nigeria elections and if you cast your mind to the fact that the level of political education in Nigeria is still way behind,” Nwauju added. Africans & the Diaspora
He said asking voters to vote for candidates of different political parties at different levels could cause confusion.
“You can’t confuse the electorate, believing that on the same election day you can order them to vote for candidate A in party A and candidate B in party B,” he said.
Therefore APC governors were right to demand Wike to join the party or keep away from its internal matters, Nwauju stated.
“I think the Progressive Governors Forum is on the right track with the advisory they’ve put out. Join the APC or just leave her alone. “You cannot stand [and] use your APC affiliation to re-build the PDP,” he warned.
He further asserted that Wike’s initiatives could assist in reviving the PDP and that was a problem for the ruling party.
Anambra State APC leader, Senator Emmanuel Anosike said Wike’s coalition was a slap on the party and its governors.
“It is an insult on the integrity and sensibility of the APC and its governors for Wike to say that,” Anosike added.
Wike, as a member of the PDP, he contended, had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the APC.
“The minister is not a member of the party, so he should stop meddling in the internal affairs of the party.” He added that the APC governors had enough political infrastructure to deliver Tinubu in 2027. Government
“The APC Governors Forum is led by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, and he is in total control of the party structures across the country through the members of the Forum and has demonstrated capacity having delivered Mr President at his first term election and still has all that it takes to do it again in 2027,” he stated.
He said that Wike’s engagement was an attempt to remain politically relevant and that the Anambra APC does not accept the Rainbow Coalition as another political body.
Kwara queries coalition strategy
The APC chairman in Kwara State, Sunday Fagbemi, asked how the electoral plan suggested by the Rainbow Coalition could be implemented.
“It is a grand deception and a confusing strategy,” Fagbemi said, especially as presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives elections are held at the same time.
What is the enlightenment level of the Nigerian voter? How do you tell someone that three out of five elections are held on the same day? The presidential, the senatorial, and the House of Representatives elections?he asked.
“Will you stand at the ballot box and tell a voter to vote one party for President and another for Senate?” he continued. But even if it was conceivable, do you want to fill the National Assembly with opposition groups to the President. How does that help the President in that regard?”
“APC members are meant to vote for the party’s candidates in the whole ballot,” Fagbemi stated.
“I think the party has been very clear on this, if you are an APC member, the election is five out of five, not even three out of five. We are trained as APC members, all of us must vote for the party and its candidates,” he said.
Coalition condemned by Plateau
The APC chairman in Plateau State, Rufus Bature, claimed the party was not aware of any structure of the Rainbow Coalition in the state.
“We know nothing about Rainbow Coalition in Plateau State. “I just came from a retreat in Maiduguri with the APC National Chairman and other members of the National Working Committee and Rainbow Coalition was totally condemned for every state,” Bature stated.
“If it is going to work in Rivers, that is their problem, but for other states, no one should go and do anything like Rainbow Coalition,” he added.
But Bature said Wike was free to defect to the APC.
“If he wants to come to the APC, he is free to come because we don’t stop anybody from coming to our party. But he cannot be APC in the day and PDP in the nite. We will not permit that,” he said.
Bature also said Wike’s coalition could be part of a political plan in the long run.
“I think he just wanted to build a structure for himself for the 2031 or 2035 election,” he added.
Asked if the alliance may constitute a threat, he said: “The coalition might be a threat, but we are not taking it for granted.
Nasarawa cries for unconditional support
The Nasarawa APC also rejected the collaboration, calling on Wike to join the ruling party.
The state Publicity Secretary, Augustine Ogaba, stated that while Wike’s support for Tinubu was commendable, it would be more meaningful if he becomes a recognised member of the APC. Politics
“We in APC are not in support of any coalition that is not recognised or supported by our party’s leadership,” he stated.
“FCT minister has his own coalition, but he has decided to support Mr President’s re-election in 2027. ‘I tell you we appreciate that quite, but we shall be happy if he joins our party,’ he said.
Some state chapters have reluctant to comment, saying the issue is too delicate or a concern for national officials to determine.
The APC spokesman in Osun, Kola Olabisi, said the issue of Wike joining the party was beyond the state chapter.
“The question of whether Wike should or should not join APC is beyond the state level. That will be decided at the top of the party. “That’s the national level of the party that makes the final decision on that,” he said.
Also, the Delta State APC Chairman, Solomon Arenyeka said that the state chapter was waiting for an official statement from the national leadership.
“It is the national that makes these policy statements and when they make a statement it goes down the line. “There has not been a national policy statement on it,” Arenyeka remarked.
APC chieftain Doubara Joseph challenged Wike to join the party if he was truly devoted to Tinubu in Bayelsa. Political
If Wike is indeed working for President Tinubu and believes in the President’s leadership, the simple thing for him to do is to join the APC. “You can’t work for the President and at the same time have another political platform,” Joseph stated.
But the Bayelsa APC Chairman, Warman Ogoriba, refused to comment.
Haruna Adiya, the APC chairman in Sokoto, similarly told Reuters his chapter had no member in the Rainbow Coalition and declined to take a larger position on whether the party approved or opposed the partnership.
Wike’s defence
Wike himself has always dismissed the allegation that his Rainbow Coalition is an APC structure or an effort to undermine the incumbent party.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said the coalition’s support was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential re-election and did not preclude other political parties from contesting governorship and legislative elections.
The minister stated that his attitude is in line with the political arrangement that prevailed before the 2023 presidential election when he and other members of the G5 supported Tinubu without formally joining the APC. Political Science
Wike also insisted that “politics is local” and that political actors should be free to determine their alliances at the state level.
His attitude is different from that of the APC governors who have said that support for Tinubu should not be divorced from support for APC candidates for other seats.
Wike, in a public appearance later, stated his immediate political interest was the re-election of Tinubu and dismissed claims that the partnership was meant to disrupt the APC.
David Umahi, Minister of Works and former Ebonyi State governor who defected from PDP to APC declared there was no Rainbow Coalition in Ebonyi State on the topic.
Wike has not notified me he has candidates here. And his candidate can’t damage our relationship . But his candidate is not in our relationship . There is no rainbow coalition in Ebonyi State,” Umahi said.
He urged political actors against hate speech and efforts to foment disorder during campaigns.
“Anyone that wants to campaign, come and campaign. But you don’t want to give hate speeches and you want to take those remarks and you want that we should lay a red carpet for you. No, we will not do it. “No one can create crisis in Ebonyi State,” Umahi added.
Sokoto, Niger, Bauchi on red alert
The Rainbow Coalition has no member in the Sokoto state party, chairman Haruna Adiya claimed.
“We do not have a problem with the Rainbow Coalition. “We have no member of the coalition in Sokoto State,” he stated.
APC spokesman Musa Sarkin-Kaji claimed the party has no formal link with Wike, but recognised that he has been associated with the ruling party in Niger State.
“The APC in Niger State has nothing to do with Wike, although we appreciate his relationship with our party. “And you know we are in a democracy, and everybody has the freedom of association,” he remarked.
In Bauchi, APC spokesman, Shehu Dauda, said the party does not believe in divided loyalties.
“We don’t believe in someone from another party saying they are with us, or members of our party saying they will not support any of our candidates. Whoever is with the APC should be with the APC and should not divide his loyalty”
While APC leaders have called on Wike to join the ruling party, some PDP leaders say the FCT minister is still in the opposition party.
Abia State PDP deputy governorship candidate, Abraham Amah, said Wike remained a member and national leader of the PDP.
“That’s the way it’s done. “You want that person to come into your party when you see somebody who is doing well, a politician who is doing well,” Amah said of the APC’s request, calling it political wooing.
“But one thing I know is that he is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and he is the national leader of the party,” he said.
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