The Rainbow Coalition, FCT minister Nyesom Wike’s, political movement for the reelection of President BolaTinubu is facing rejection across states in Nigeria. Several state chapters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are instead asking the promoter, Nyesom Wike, to formally join the ruling party, if he is genuinely committed to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

This is coming on the heels of the confrontation between Wike and APC governors over the political structure he is building ahead of the 2027 general elections.

While he is a Peoples Democratic Party member serving in a federal government led by an APC president, Wike is allegedly, clandestinely, working for his own political interest in 2031.

While some APC state chapters welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and said they would receive him if he decided to defect to the ruling party, others opposed the coalition outright, arguing that a politician could not simultaneously support the APC at the presidential level and candidates of other parties in governorship and legislative elections.

The development has exposed a growing disagreement within the President’s political camp over how support for his 2027 re-election should be organised and, more importantly, who should control the political structures through which such support is mobilised.

The latest dispute was triggered by Zamfara State Governor and APC governor, Dauda Lawal, who told Wike to choose between joining the APC and remaining with the Rainbow Coalition.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Lawal said the position of the APC governors was unchanged.

“Our message is very, very clear: Be on one side. You can’t be on two sides. If you’re in APC, please come out and support APC. Not you’re supporting APC here, and you’re supporting other political parties somewhere else. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not done anywhere,” Lawal said.

The Zamfara governor added, “And that is why we maintain our stand, and it is very clear—the message is very clear. He can speak, he can say whatever he wants to say, but our position has been very, very clear: APC all the way from head to toe.”

Asked whether the governors were asking Wike to join the APC, Lawal responded, “Exactly. What’s the essence?”

He further disclosed that he intended to raise Wike’s political position with President Tinubu.

“It’s something that I will take up with the President when he comes back. So, let there be a very, very clear line where this guy belongs to. It’s either he’s in APC or he’s out. It’s simple. And I go with my brothers, the governors,” Lawal stated.

The demand has since received varying degrees of support from APC chapters across the country.

Coalition faces resistance

In Imo State, the APC Publicity Secretary, Jones Onwuasoanya, said Wike was attempting to maintain an ambiguous political position and urged him to formally identify with the ruling party.

“Decency demands that an individual who claims so much allegiance to the philosophies and programmes of a political party should fully align with that political party, rather than playing hide and seek with his loyalty to the party,” Onwuasoanya told The PUNCH.

He added, “If Wike is sincere about his support for President Tinubu, then he should join the APC and begin to campaign for our party across all positions rather than being selective.”

The Imo APC spokesman dismissed the Rainbow Coalition as a political structure with little relevance in the state.

“As long as the All Progressives Congress in Imo State is concerned, there is nothing like a Rainbow Coalition or whatever it might be called. The APC is the only viable political platform in Imo State and Imolites are fully aligned with us,” he said.

He maintained that the party was confident of victory in 2027, saying, “There is no political arrangement or structure outside the APC that poses any threat to our Party’s electoral chances.”

In Gombe, the APC Publicity Secretary, Murtala Usman, similarly urged Wike to complete his political transition to the ruling party.

“My opinion is the same as the people who are advising him to join APC because APC doesn’t need any rainbow coalition for now,” Usman said.

He warned that such an arrangement could create confusion within the ruling party.

“That rainbow coalition will cause some confusion in the APC because those who are stakeholders in the APC, particularly in some states, will find it very difficult to handle,” he stated.

Usman argued that recent defections of PDP governors to the APC had already created difficulties for some long-standing party members.

“So Wike should switch to APC completely. Since he is doing the work of APC, let him be a full member, not a partial member,” he said.

Ondo rejects selective support

The Ondo State APC also rejected the idea of a coalition that would support Tinubu for president while backing candidates from other parties in other elections.

The state party secretary, Alex Kalejaiye, said the arrangement was unacceptable to the chapter.

“We are disturbed that the coalition would only support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the general elections, but field candidates for other positions,” he said.

According to him, APC’s objective was to deliver all its candidates and not just the presidential candidate.

“To us in Ondo State, support for the candidates of the ruling party must be total; our party is committed to mobilising votes for the President, three senatorial, nine representatives, and 26 House of Assembly candidates. That is not negotiable,” Kalejaiye stressed.

He warned that supporting different parties on the same ballot could create confusion for voters and potentially complicate the electoral process.

The chapter therefore appealed to Wike to collapse the coalition into the APC.

“The APC could therefore appeal to Barr. Nyesom Wike, the leader of the coalition, to collapse his structures into the ruling party, so we could present a common front during the elections,” he said.

In Jigawa State, the party said it welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and would gladly receive him if he decided to join the APC.

The state APC Publicity Secretary, Bashir Kundu, said, “We in the Jigawa APC welcome the contribution Wike is making in promoting the President and APC candidate for the 2027 election, Bola Tinubu. We will certainly welcome Nyesom Wike if he decides to join our party, the APC.”

Kundu also argued that the APC itself emerged from a coalition of political parties and could therefore accommodate politicians from different political backgrounds.

He dismissed concerns that Wike could harm the APC’s electoral interests, saying the party had its own structures and programme.

“I am not aware of such plans, but I know for sure that Wike will not cause that kind of harm to the APC because the party has its own programme,” he said.

In Benue State, reactions were more complicated, reflecting existing divisions within the state APC.

James Orgunga, the organising secretary of one of the APC factions, praised Wike for supporting Tinubu but said he would prefer the FCT minister to formally join the party.

“Wike has joined APC already, because he is working for the president; we appreciate that, but as a core party man, anyone working for the success of a candidate in my party should be praised,” Orgunga said.

“But I do not subscribe to a rainbow coalition and am of the opinion that Wike join our party.”

However, Daniel Ihomun, the publicity secretary of another faction loyal to Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, offered a different view.

“He should not join APC; he should remain where he is because he has helped to destroy PDP for us,” Ihomun said.

He claimed that a Rainbow Coalition structure existed in Benue under what he described as the “Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu”, involving members of the APC, PDP and Labour Party.

Dual-loyalty concerns

In Rivers State, where Wike served as governor and remains a major political actor, the controversy has an additional dimension.

The factional APC led by Emeka Beke backed the Progressive Governors Forum’s opposition to the coalition.

The faction’s publicity secretary, Darlington Nwauju, said Wike could not simultaneously maintain loyalty to the PDP and work with the APC.

“The truth remains that if you look at the background or the context of Nigerian elections and if you cast your mind to the fact that the level of political education in Nigeria is still way behind,” Nwauju said.

He argued that asking voters to support candidates from different political parties at different levels could create confusion.

“You cannot confuse the electorate by thinking that you can order them into voting for candidate A in party A and candidate B in party B on the same election day,” he stated.

Nwauju said the APC governors were therefore justified in asking Wike to either join the party or stay away from its internal affairs.

“My belief is that the Progressive Governors Forum is in the right with the advisory that they have issued. Join the APC or leave her alone. You cannot stand [and] use your association with the APC to rebuild the PDP,” he said.

He further alleged that Wike’s activities could contribute to a revival of the PDP, describing that as a concern for the ruling party.

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The Anambra State APC chairman, Senator Emmanuel Anosike, described Wike’s coalition as an affront to the party and its governors.

“It amounts to an insult to the integrity and sensibility of the APC and its governors for Wike to make such comments,” Anosike said.

He argued that Wike, as a PDP member, had no basis for intervening in the internal affairs of the APC.

“The minister is not a member of the party, hence should stop meddling in the internal affairs of the party,” he stated, noting that the APC governors had sufficient political structures to deliver Tinubu in 2027.

“Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State is the leader of the APC Governors Forum, and he is in full control of the party structures across the country through the members of the Forum and has shown capacity having delivered Mr President at his first term election and still has all that it takes to do it again in 2027,” he said.

He described Wike’s intervention as an attempt to remain politically relevant, adding that the Anambra APC did not recognise the Rainbow Coalition as an alternative political structure.

Kwara questions coalition strategy

The Kwara State APC chairman, Sunday Fagbemi, questioned the practicality of the Rainbow Coalition’s proposed electoral strategy.

Fagbemi described it as “a grand deception and a confusing strategy”, particularly because presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives elections are held simultaneously.

“What is the level of enlightenment of Nigerian voters? How do you explain to someone that, out of the five elections, at least three—the presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives elections—will be conducted on the same day?” he asked.

He continued, “Will you stand by the ballot box and tell a voter to vote for one party for President and another party for Senate? Even if that were possible, do you want to populate the National Assembly with opposition parties to the President? What kind of support are you giving the President that way?”

Fagbemi said APC members were expected to vote for the party’s candidates across the ballot.

“I believe the party has been very clear about this: if you are an APC member, the election is five out of five, not even three out of five. As APC members, everyone should vote for the party and its candidates,” he stated.

Plateau condemns coalition

The Plateau State APC chairman, Rufus Bature, said the party had no knowledge of any Rainbow Coalition structure in the state.

“We don’t know anything about Rainbow Coalition in Plateau State. I’m just coming from a retreat in Maiduguri with the APC National Chairman and other members of the National Working Committee and Rainbow Coalition was condemned totally for every state,” Bature said.

“If it is going to work in Rivers, that is their problem, but for other states, nobody should go and do anything like Rainbow Coalition,” he added.

However, Bature said Wike remained free to join the APC.

“If he wants to join the APC, he is free to do that because we don’t stop people from joining our party. But he cannot be APC in the morning and PDP in the night. We won’t allow that,” he declared.

Bature also suggested that Wike’s coalition could be part of a longer-term political strategy.

“I think he just wanted to build structure for himself against the 2031 or 2035 election,” he said.

On whether the coalition could pose a threat, he said, “The coalition might be a threat, but we are not taking it for granted.”

Nasarawa seeks total support

The Nasarawa APC also rejected the coalition and urged Wike to join the ruling party.

The state Publicity Secretary, Augustine Ogaba, commended Wike for supporting Tinubu but said such support would be more meaningful if he became a recognised APC member.

“As APC members, we do not approve of any coalition that is not recognised or supported by our party’s leadership,” Ogaba said.

“The FCT minister has set up his own coalition but decided to support Mr President’s re-election in 2027. I will tell you that we quite appreciate that, but we will be happier if he joins our party,” he added.

Some state chapters have declined to take a position, stressing that the matter is too sensitive or should be decided by the national leadership.

In Osun, APC spokesman Kola Olabisi said the question of whether Wike should join the party was beyond the state chapter.

“The decision on whether Wike should join APC or not is beyond the state level. It will be decided at the highest level of the party. It is the national level of the party that has the final say on that,” he said.

The Delta State APC chairman, Solomon Arenyeka, similarly said the state chapter was awaiting a formal position from the national leadership.

“It is the national that makes such policy statements, and when they make a statement it goes down the line. The national has not made a policy statement on it,” Arenyeka said.

In Bayelsa, APC chieftain Doubara Joseph called on Wike to join the party if he was genuinely committed to Tinubu.

“If Wike is actually working for President Tinubu and believes in the President’s leadership, then the straightforward thing for him to do is to join the APC. You cannot claim to be working for the President while simultaneously sustaining another political platform,” Joseph said.

However, the Bayelsa APC chairman, Warman Ogoriba, declined to comment.

Sokoto APC chairman Haruna Adiya also said his chapter had no member in the Rainbow Coalition and declined to take a broader position on whether the party endorsed or opposed the alliance.

Wike’s defence

Wike, for his part, has consistently rejected the argument that his Rainbow Coalition is an APC structure or that it is intended to undermine the ruling party.

In a statement issued 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 prevent other political parties from contesting governorship and legislative elections.

The minister has argued that his position is consistent with the political arrangement that existed before the 2023 presidential election, when he and other members of the G5 supported Tinubu without formally joining the APC.

Wike also maintained that “politics is local” and that political actors should be allowed to determine their alliances at the state level.

His position is different from that of APC governors, who have argued that support for Tinubu must not be separated from support for APC candidates contesting other positions.

In a subsequent public appearance, Wike again said his immediate political concern was Tinubu’s re-election and rejected suggestions that the coalition was designed to destabilise the APC.

Speaking on the controversy, Minister of Works David Umahi, a former Ebonyi State governor who defected from the PDP to the APC, said there was no Rainbow Coalition in Ebonyi State.

“If Wike has candidates here, he has not told me. And his candidate cannot break our relationship, but his candidate is not part of our relationship. There is no rainbow coalition in Ebonyi State,” Umahi said.

He also warned political actors against hate speech and attempts to cause disorder during campaigns.

“Anybody that wants to campaign, come and campaign. But don’t dish out hate speeches and you want to take those speeches, and you want that we should lay a red carpet for you. We will not do that. Nobody can foment crisis in Ebonyi State,” Umahi added.

Sokoto, Niger, Bauchi cautious

In Sokoto, chairman Haruna Adiya said the state party had no member in the Rainbow Coalition.

“We have no issues with the Rainbow Coalition. We have no member of the coalition in Sokoto State,” he said.

In Niger State, APC spokesman Musa Sarkin-Kaji said the party had no formal relationship with Wike, although he acknowledged his association with the ruling party.

“The APC in Niger State has no business with Wike, although we appreciate his relationship with our party. And you know we are in a democracy, and everyone has the freedom of association,” he said.

In Bauchi, APC spokesman Shehu Dauda said the party did not believe in divided loyalty.

“We don’t believe in someone in another party claiming to be with us, or our party members claiming not to support any of our candidates. Whoever is with the APC should be with it and not divide their loyalty.”

Despite the calls from APC figures for Wike to join the ruling party, some PDP figures insist that the FCT minister remains a member of the opposition party.

In Abia State, PDP deputy governorship candidate Abraham Amah said Wike remained a PDP member and national leader.

“It is normal practice. When you see somebody who is doing well, a politician who is doing well, you want that person to become a member of your party,” Amah said, describing the APC’s invitation as political courting.

He added, “But one thing is certain: that he remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, and he is the national leader of the party.”