Wike’s ‘Rainbow Coalition’, threat to democracy – PDP faction

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Kabiru Turaki, has urged party members to disregard the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to campaign for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

The faction said opposition parties should offer Nigerians an alternative to the incumbent government rather than praise it.

It described the coalition as a major threat to electoral democracy, warning that it could push Nigeria towards an electoral monarchy.

The faction’s spokesperson, Ini Ememobong, stated this in a statement on Tuesday.

“The paramount duty of the opposition is to provide an alternative to the incumbent, not to massage their ego. If opposition parties are to ally, they will do so among themselves, not with the governing party.

“This political anomaly, styled and championed as a ‘rainbow coalition,’ is the greatest threat to electoral democracy and the fastest way of railroading the country into an electoral monarchy,” he said.

Mr Ememobong also criticised Mr Wike for urging PDP members to collapse their political structures in support of Mr Tinubu’s re-election, describing the move as shameful.

“The news attributed to Minister Nyesom Wike that PDP candidates should collapse their structures and support the re-election of President Bola Tinubu is nothing new, except for the fact that his message is not directed at real PDP members. The message is meant for people who, like him, pretend to be in the opposition but work for the governing party.

“The true and principled members of the Peoples Democratic Party are not part of the shameless, self-serving support for the APC-led federal government and its destructive policies,” he added.

The faction’s spokesperson urged party members to remain loyal to the PDP as the group awaits a Court of Appeal judgment in its bid to take over the party’s leadership.

“We urge all true and faithful members of the Peoples Democratic Party to remain steadfast as we await the judiciary’s decision, hopeful that it will return our party to its true owners. Our case at the Court of Appeal has been heard, and we await judgement. We know that the entire judiciary is conscious that justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.

Mr Ememobong also cautioned Nigerians against those pretending to be party members.

“Nigerians should be wary of elite accommodation and state capture masquerading as broad-based political collaboration. The election next year provides a great opportunity to vote out these insensitive and irresponsible political actors,” he added.

Wike’s coalition

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 from 2015 to 2023, has since expanded to other parts of the country.

The Abdulrahman Mohammed-led PDP loyal to the FCT Minister had supported his continued mobilisation for President Tinubu’s re-election despite the party’s decision to field Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate in the 16 January 2027 election

But the APC governors 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 was using the coalition to support politicians who lost the ruling party’s primaries and are now contesting elections on the PDP platform.

The APC Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, said it would not support any political arrangement that could undermine the party and its candidates in the 2027 elections.

Mr Wike, on the other hand, accused the governors of opposing the coalition because they feared losing their elections. He also criticised their performance in their respective states.

The FCT minister specifically named Governors Uzodimma, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State as opponents of the coalition, accusing them of acting for “selfish reasons”.

The APC South-East caucus and other mobilisation groups within the party also rejected the coalition. They asked Mr Wike to apologise to the party’s governors for his comments about their political capacity and their opposition to his Rainbow Coalition.