The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike’s campaign for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 has exposed divisions among Peoples Democratic Party stakeholders, with several state chapters rejecting the Rainbow Coalition while political blocs in other states rally behind the President.
The PDP chapters in Imo, Oyo, Edo and Bauchi have distanced themselves from the coalition, insisting that their candidates will contest under the party’s platform rather than withdraw in favour of candidates from other parties. Similar positions have emerged in Jigawa, Yobe and Niger, where party officials either denied the coalition’s presence or said there was no known arrangement involving their chapters.
However, political blocs in Rivers, Kwara and Benue have expressed support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition, illustrating the growing divide between those backing the President at the national level and those insisting that such support should not extend to the APC’s candidates in legislative and governorship contests.
Wike, a PDP chieftain serving in the APC-led Federal Government, has continued to promote the Rainbow Coalition as a platform for mobilising support for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections. The initiative has also generated friction between the minister and some APC governors over whether support for the President should translate into support for the ruling party’s candidates at other levels.
While Wike maintains that he can support Tinubu for President without endorsing APC candidates across the board, several PDP chapters have rejected any arrangement that could weaken their electoral chances.
The dispute has also exposed differences within the APC and among allied political groups, with some blocs pledging support for Tinubu while maintaining that they have not agreed to withdraw candidates contesting against the ruling party.
The contrasting positions underscore the challenge of building a broad presidential support base without deepening divisions among the political parties and stakeholders expected to participate in the 2027 elections.
Wike recently alleged that the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, were behind some of the political challenges he was facing.
He attributed their opposition to the growing influence of the Rainbow Coalition and its support for politicians challenging APC candidates in governorship and senatorial elections.
Uzodimma, who chairs the APC Progressive Governors’ Forum, has maintained that APC governors would not support any arrangement capable of undermining President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid or weakening the party ahead of the 2027 elections. He has insisted that the governors would campaign for APC candidates at all levels.
Wike, however, has argued that his support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition does not require him to back APC candidates in other elections, maintaining that he is free to support candidates of his choice.
The position has continued to fuel tensions between the minister and some APC governors.
In his recent remarks on the coalition, Wike challenged those opposed to the arrangement to confront him directly with their grievances.
He also insisted that the coalition had come to stay, pledging to deliver Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory to Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
As part of the coalition’s political strategy, some PDP candidates in Rivers State have stepped down in favour of APC candidates, while others have withdrawn to make way for contenders from different parties.
A similar arrangement was recorded in the FCT on October 13, when three PDP candidates—Gomna Stephen Gashe, who represents the Abaji/Gwagwalada/Kwali/Kuje Federal Constituency; Ahmed Dogara Jacob, the candidate for the Municipal/Bwari Federal Constituency; and senatorial candidate Angulu Bako—withdrew from their respective races.
The withdrawals paved the way for APC candidates Danladi Chiya in Abaji/Gwagwalada/Kwali/Kuje, Shekwogaza Gabaya in Municipal/Bwari and Philip Aduda in the senatorial contest.
However, several PDP state chapters have maintained that their candidates will not step down in favour of contenders from other parties.
Imo, Oyo chapters
The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has ruled out any possibility of its candidates stepping down for contenders from other parties in the 2027 elections, insisting that they will contest on the party’s platform.
The party’s spokesperson, Lancelot Obiaku, said all its candidates remained committed to the electoral contest.
“Our candidates are going into the election to contest on their own merit, and none is stepping down as of today,” Obiaku said.
“Apart from the presidential race, all our candidates are fully in the election. We have presented quality candidates who are known and loved by the people. None of them will step down for anyone at this point.”
Similarly, the PDP governorship candidate in Oyo State, Hazeem Gbolarumi, ruled out any arrangement that would require the party’s candidates to withdraw in favour of APC or other party candidates.
“None of the party’s candidates in Oyo is ready to step down for any of the parties, as far as I am concerned, including candidates vying for the State House of Assembly,” he told our correspondent.
“We’re not going to do so because we are winning the whole. We’re talking about local politics, not national politics here. We know ourselves, and our people know us. So, nobody can mount pressure on us to step down for anybody. That is just the position.”
The Bauchi State chapter of the PDP also denied the existence of the Rainbow Coalition in the state, insisting that it remained focused on securing electoral victories for its candidates.
The party’s secretary, Nazif Likita, said the chapter was concentrating on mobilising support for its candidates at all levels.
“We don’t have any Rainbow Coalition in Bauchi. We remain focused on mobilising support for PDP candidates at all levels and securing votes in the forthcoming elections,” he told PUNCH.
In Niger State, findings by one of our correspondents indicated that there was no known arrangement between the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition.
The party’s 2027 governorship candidate, Dr Muhammad Nami, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, was previously an APC senatorial candidate before defecting to the PDP, where he subsequently emerged as its governorship candidate.
In Kaduna State, a PDP chieftain and the party’s candidate for Zonkwa State Constituency, Danjuma Sarki, claimed that some APC members and supporters were aligning with the opposition party ahead of the elections.
Sarki dismissed suggestions that PDP members were defecting to the APC, insisting that no member of the party in the state had resigned or stepped down in favour of an APC candidate.
“Rather, we have been having APC members and supporters who are coming to declare their support and join in supporting PDP candidates,” he said.
A PDP chieftain in Yobe State, Musa Ibrahim, also said the Wike-backed coalition was not active in the state.
He said the faction associated with the FCT minister had yet to establish a visible political presence in Yobe, warning against assuming that the coalition’s activities in other states extended to his state.
“The Wike Rainbow Coalition is not active in Yobe State. The situation here is different, and it is important to understand that the coalition’s activities elsewhere do not necessarily mean that it has a presence in every state,” Ibrahim said.
He added that claims about the coalition’s activities in Yobe should be backed by evidence of actual political engagement in the state.
Edo PDP kicks
The Edo State chapter of the PDP has also ruled out abandoning its presidential candidate in favour of President Bola Tinubu, pledging to support its candidates across all elective positions.
The state Publicity Secretary, Bob-Manuel Umoru, said the party was prepared to mobilise human and material resources to secure victory for its presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.
“We have no alliance with any party. The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party is clear about its position and remains firmly committed to the success of our party and all our candidates in the 2027 General Elections,” Umoru said.
He added that the party would not allow divided loyalties or personal ambitions to undermine its electoral objectives.
“For the Edo PDP, there is no contradiction between supporting our presidential candidate and supporting our senatorial and House of Representatives candidates. These elections are part of the same democratic process, and our commitment to our party must be consistent at every level,” he said.
“The Edo PDP will not abandon its presidential candidate to support President Bola Tinubu of the APC at the expense of our own candidates.”
Umoru said the party would resist political arrangements that could jeopardise its candidates’ chances, insisting that its party structures across the state would fully support its presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.
In Jigawa State, PUNCH findings indicated that no PDP member had stepped down for an APC candidate and that the Rainbow Coalition was not active in the state.
The PDP’s state Publicity Secretary, Umar Kyari, dismissed claims of a coalition arrangement involving the party.
“There is nothing like Wike’s Rainbow Coalition in the Jigawa PDP. No aspirant has stepped down for the APC. We don’t have such an arrangement,” he said.
“Our members are not aggrieved to the extent of joining any coalition to contest under the APC. All our aspirants are intact and working for the PDP.”
Kyari said the party remained united in the state and would contest the elections on its own platform.
In Lagos State, the governorship candidate aligned with the Turaki-led faction of the PDP, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, also ruled out stepping down for any rival.
Pearse described PDP aspirants backing Wike as “pseudo” members of the opposition party, arguing that their reported withdrawals in the FCT were consistent with the minister’s declared support for Tinubu’s re-election.
“Given the fact that Mr Wike had publicly declared his determination to work for the re-election of President Tinubu in 2027, it is not surprising that his candidates would step down for Tinubu’s candidates,” he said.
He added, “It’s Wike’s pseudo PDP candidates that are stepping down for their APC allies. No true member of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, will so much as consider supporting an APC surrogate who wants to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.”
Pearse said the Turaki-led faction would offer Nigerians an alternative in the 2027 elections, insisting that its candidates would not withdraw in favour of the APC or any other party.
He also named former President Goodluck Jonathan as the faction’s presidential candidate and himself as its governorship candidate in Lagos. These were Pearse’s stated positions.
Party loyalty persists
The All Progressives Congress in Imo State has insisted that it will support only candidates running on its platform, dismissing any suggestion that it would ask its candidates to step down for contenders from other parties.
The state APC spokesperson, Dr Jones Onwuasoanya, said several opposition candidates had approached the ruling party to express interest in working with it ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The only coalition we have in Imo State is the ‘Broom Coalition’, and all our votes will go only to candidates sponsored by our party, the APC,” he said.
“Already, many candidates from the NDC, PDP, APGA, APP, ADC and other parties have approached us, expressing interest in dumping their parties to work with us.”
Onwuasoanya added that the APC remained confident in its candidates and had no plans to withdraw any of them from the elections.
In Delta State, however, the APC said it was unaware of any candidates being fielded by the Wike-backed coalition to contest against its candidates.
The state APC Publicity Secretary, Valentine Onojeghuo, said the party had no information about any arrangement in which the coalition supported President Bola Tinubu’s re-election while backing candidates challenging the APC in the state.
“We are not aware of the Rainbow Coalition supporting President Tinubu and fielding candidates against the APC in the state. We are not aware of any such candidate. Did you notice or see any candidates?” he asked.
Kwara, Benue blocs
While some PDP chapters have rejected arrangements that could see their candidates support the APC, political blocs in Kwara and Benue states have declared support for Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Sunday described the state as a stronghold of support for the President, claiming that the APC commanded 70 per cent support while the PDP accounted for 30 per cent.
He made the claim while receiving the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, at the Government House in Ilorin.
AbdulRazaq argued that support for Tinubu cut across the two major parties, partly because of Wike’s backing of the President.
“With 70% APC and 30% PDP both backing President Tinubu, Kwara will be one of the easiest states to secure, as the two main political forces are voting for the same goal,” he said.
In Benue State, a faction of the APC led by Austin Agada and loyal to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, has emerged as a political bloc opposed to Governor Hyacinth Alia’s re-election bid.
The faction’s publicity secretary, Dan-Morgan Ihomun, said the group was working with other parties, including the Labour Party, APGA and the PDP, to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
“We have a group called Benue Strategic Alliance for Tinubu 2027. This group comprises other political parties that are working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in the forthcoming presidential election,” Ihomun said.
He clarified, however, that no candidates from the allied opposition parties had stepped down in favour of APC contenders for National Assembly or state legislative seats.
“For now, we don’t have any candidate from other political parties who has stepped down for National and State Assembly candidates. I don’t know if it will happen later,” he said.
“But our coalition is for President Bola Tinubu, and we’re working with other parties that do not have presidential candidates in the forthcoming election.”
Rivers coalition
In Rivers State, The PUNCH’s findings indicated that the Rainbow Coalition had produced three governorship candidates for the 2027 elections: Kingsley Chinda of the APC, Sunny Ejekwu of the PDP and Chima Boms of the Labour Party.
However, the governorship candidate of the National Democratic Coalition, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, said he was not concerned about the coalition, insisting that Rivers voters would determine the state’s political future.
Speaking at a recent media parley in Buguma, his hometown in Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Lulu-Briggs said he was confident that voters would make an informed choice.
“I’m not bothered about any coalition. I have ultimate confidence in the capacity of Rivers people to make an informed decision,” he said.
“The people will protect their votes and ensure that their votes count.”
Drawing a biblical analogy, he added, “If I may reference that time in the Bible when Goliath was beating his chest and asking, ‘Where is that man in Israel?’ David came, and Goliath fell. So, I’m not bothered about any coalition.”
Meanwhile, a faction of the Labour Party in Rivers State said it did not consider the Rainbow Coalition a threat to its political interests.
Favour Reuben, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party in the South-South and a member of the Julius Abure faction, said the party’s national leadership did not recognise the coalition.
He acknowledged that a faction of the party in Rivers had claimed to be part of the arrangement but maintained that the Labour Party had not officially joined it.
“The structure of the Labour Party as it is today, the main Labour Party is not with the Rainbow Coalition because we distanced ourselves,” Reuben said.
He added that the party would consider adopting a candidate it believed could develop Rivers State ahead of the elections.
“So I can authoritatively say the Labour Party has not officially joined the coalition. Secondly, we don’t have candidates that are ready for election now because they were deceived,” he said.
Reuben argued that political parties remained distinct from coalitions and that support expressed by political blocs did not necessarily translate into votes for candidates backed by the arrangement.
“The Labour Party will sit down and adopt a candidate, either to be in the coalition or to adopt a candidate we feel will develop Rivers State. It is not a matter of congregating people; at the end of the day, there is no development,” he said.
(Source: Punch with modified headline)
