2027: Group rejects Wike’s reason for promoting Rainbow Coalition

A group supporting the ruling All Progressives Congress has rejected the reasons given by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for promoting the Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.

The group, APC Grassroots organisation, said that Mr Wike’s intention was to undermine the ruling party, as he allegedly did to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2023 elections through the G-5 alliance.

Chairman of the organisation, Mukhtar Rabiu, made the allegations in a statement on Sunday, warning that the coalition could negatively affect President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

Mr Rabiu called on leaders of the APC to resist attempts to support Mr Wike’s coalition as a parallel campaign structure for Mr Tinubu, stating that the coalition could cause disunity within the APC, as it allegedly did in the PDP.

He said Mr Wike has “polarised the PDP governors, bought over the party leadership and attacked major PDP organs, leading to the destruction of the party. Just as he did with the PDP in the past, using lackeys from Kano and Edo states, the same script is being played all over again; this time in the APC.”

Mr Wike, a chieftain of the opposition PDP serving in the APC-led federal government, has been at odds with APC governors over his Rainbow Coalition, which he says is aimed at mobilising support for President Tinubu’s re-election.

The coalition, which initially emerged in Rivers State, where Mr Wike served as governor, has since expanded to other parts of the country.

However, APC governors, under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), have opposed the coalition, describing it as a political arrangement that could undermine the party and its candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.

The governors and other APC leaders also alleged that Mr Wike is using the coalition to support politicians who lost the party’s primaries and are now contesting elections on the PDP platform.

The Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, subsequently rejected the coalition, saying the governors would not support any political arrangement that could undermine the party and its candidates in the 2027 elections.

Mr Wike, while responding to the claim, accused the governors of opposing the coalition because they fear losing their elections. He also criticised their performance in their respective states.

The PDP, Mr Wike’s party, also weighed in on the dispute, backing his continued mobilisation for President Tinubu’s re-election despite the party’s decision to field Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate for the January 2027 election.

The APC South-east caucus also rejected the coalition and asked Mr Wike to apologise to the party’s governors over his comments about their political capacity and their opposition to his Rainbow Coalition.

The APC national leadership has not publicly taken a position on whether it supports Mr Wike’s coalition, leaving observers to wonder how the party will manage the dispute between the minister and the governors.

Faulting Wike’s G-5 alliance

The APC Grassroots Organisation also rejected claims that Mr Wike’s G-5 alliance contributed significantly to Mr Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.

Mr Rabiu said that if the members of the then G-5 were as politically influential as claimed, some of them would not have lost their subsequent elections.

“It is instructive to note that the only one among the now defunct G-5 that won elections democratically in the 2023 race was the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who broke ranks with Wike.

“In fact, Ikpeazu, Ortom and Ugwuanyi were reputed to have lost their polling units, wards and local governments. Even Wike allegedly lost his local government and Rivers State before the presentation of the controversial and highly disputed Rivers State presidential election result.

“Where then, is his self-acclaimed street credibility besides dishing out insults and making outrageous and wild claims,” he queried.

The G-5 was an alliance of five governors of the PDP that emerged in the aftermath of the party’s presidential primary in May 2022.

The group comprised Mr Wike, who was then the Governor of Rivers State, and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde. The governors of Benue, Abia and Enugu at the time, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi were also members.

Mr Wike had contested the PDP presidential primary but lost the ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The relationship between the two camps subsequently deteriorated, particularly after Atiku selected Ifeanyi Okowa, then Delta State Governor, as his running mate, rather than Mr Wike, who had also been considered for the position.

The dispute later expanded into the leadership of the PDP. Mr Wike and his allies demanded the resignation of the party’s National Chairman at the time, Iyorchia Ayu, arguing that it was unfair for the party’s presidential candidate and national chairman to come from the same region, the North.

The governors maintained that Mr Ayu, a northerner from Benue State, should resign and be replaced by a southerner because the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, was also from Adamawa State in the North. Their demand became the central issue around which the five governors organised themselves.

In September 2022, Mr Wike and his allies escalated their opposition by withdrawing from Atiku’s Presidential Campaign Council. They also stayed away from the inauguration of the council later that month, deepening the division within the PDP ahead of the 2023 election.

The five governors subsequently held a series of meetings across the country and became known as the G-5. In November 2022, the group formally operated under the name Integrity Group, with other PDP leaders joining its meetings.

The G-5 maintained its demand for Mr Ayu’s removal and declined to support Atiku’s presidential campaign unless its conditions were met. The governors continued to participate in their respective state-level political activities, but their refusal to support the PDP presidential campaign became a major feature of the party’s 2023 election campaign.

Mr Wike later defended the alliance, saying the five governors were united by a desire to protect what they considered the interests of the country and the party. He also rejected attempts to break up the group.

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The G-5’s actions became a major point of debate during the 2023 election. While supporters of Atiku’s campaign and some PDP figures blamed the governors for weakening the party’s presidential campaign, they (governors) maintained that their position was based on fairness, internal party democracy and the demand for power-sharing within the PDP.

APC’s existing structure

Mr Rabiu said the organisation welcomed Mr Wike’s support for Mr Tinubu’s second-term bid but argued that his coalition should not be treated as an alternative campaign structure.

“An individual or support group must not be allowed to function as a parallel party structure simply because they support the President.

“Wike’s admission that the coalition is not an APC structure signals a potential conflict of interest, particularly if it creates competing political interests in states where APC governors are expected to campaign for both Tinubu and other APC candidates.

“Support President Tinubu. But do not expect APC governors to surrender their governors, senators, House members, Assembly candidates or party structures to Wike’s faction of the PDP.”

The APC Grassroots Organisation argued that the party’s existing structures across the states are sufficient to support Mr Tinubu’s re-election campaign.

The group also questioned Mr Wike’s decision to support Kingsley Chinda, his preferred candidate for governor of Rivers State, to contest on the platform of the APC rather than the PDP, if the coalition has the capacity to win elections.

“The organisation also pointed to the APC’s control of 31 of the 36 states, arguing that the party already has an extensive network of governors and state structures around which Tinubu’s campaign can be organised.

“Why did Wike not field Chinda as the PDP candidate if truly he had any faith in his so-called Rainbow Coalition?” Mr Rabiu asked.