BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – As political gladiators draw early battle lines for the 2027 general elections, internal revolt may be rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as multiple state chapters have officially rejected the “Rainbow Coalition” political machine being engineered by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike.
Competent sources claimed that party leaders, while flatly rejecting the “Rainbow Coalition” proposition, are insisting that the former Rivers State governor cannot orchestrate President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign and at the same time keep one foot in the opposition enclave.
Consequently, they are drawing a sharp line in the sand, demanding that the FCT Minister formally defect to the APC if his support for the President’s 2027 re-election bid is sincere and genuine.
As expected, the backlash is already triggering a high-stakes showdown between Wike and APC governors, who are not pretending in their fierce opposition of attempts to build a parallel political structure ahead of the next general election with the argument that as a prominent member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the FCT Minister’s moves may easily proved detrimental to APC’s nationwide electoral performance and fortunes come 2027.
Insider sources said though some APC state chapters, especially in the South-South geo-political Zone, seem to welcome Wike’s support for Tinubu, their preference is that he defects to the ruling party, even as those out-rightly opposing the coalition, argued that it could be confusing for the electorate where a politician is simultaneously supporting the APC at the presidential level and candidates of other parties in governorship and legislative elections.
The sources hinted that the move exposes a deepening rift inside the President’s political circle and at the heart of the battle is a high-stakes scramble over his 2027 re-election campaign, specifically, who calls the shots and controls the powerful machinery driving it.
This simmering tension further exploded when Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal drew a battle line by delivering a direct ultimatum to Nyesom Wike, demanding that he should choose between jumping ship to the APC or sticking with the Rainbow Coalition.
On the sidelines of the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, Governor Lawal confirmed that the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) will not alter its stance. Speaking to Channels Television at the event, the Zamfara Chief Executive declared that the governors’ position is fixed, adding: “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.”
According to him, “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.”
On whether the governors are urging the FCT Minister to join the APC, Lawal responded directly: “Exactly. What’s the essence?”, maintaining that he is determined 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.
Coalition Faces Resistance
Going by Governor Lawal’s position, which is already receiving varying degrees of support from APC chapters across the country, the most vocal voice is coming from Imo State where there has been no love lost between Governor Hope Uzodimma and the FCT Minister.
Leading the charge, Imo State APC Publicity Secretary, Jones Onwuasoanya, accused Wike of attempting to maintain an ambiguous political position and urged him to formally identify with the ruling party.
Onwuasoanya stated that, “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”, adding: “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.”
Dismissing the Rainbow Coalition as a political structure with little relevance in State, the Imo APC Spokesman said: “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.”
Onwuasoanya, who boasted that the party was confident of victory in 2027, further said: “There is no political arrangement or structure outside the APC that poses any threat to our Party’s electoral chances.”
Towing the same line, the APC Publicity Secretary in Gombe State, Murtala Usman, urged the FCT Minister to complete his political transition to the ruling party, saying: “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 cautioned that the contentious ‘Rainbow Coalition’ arrangement could create confusion within the ruling party, maintaining that: “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.”
While acknowledging that the defection of PDP governors to the APC has triggered a severe backlash, and left many long-standing party members stranded in political turbulence, the Publicity Scribe said, “Wike should switch to APC completely. Since he is doing the work of APC, let him be a full member, not a partial member.”
Meanwhile, high-level Party insiders hinted that cracks are widening within the ruling APC as grassroots resistance builds against Nyesom Wike’s ambitious “Rainbow Coalition.”
According to them, influential actors in pivotal states, including Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara, Plateau, Ondo, Delta, Anambra, and Osun, not comfortable with the arrangement, are actively pushing back against top-down directives.
This is as a cold reception continues to brew in the North, with states like Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger, and Sokoto showing deeply temperate and cautious reactions to the alliance.
The clear message from the trenches is that, politics is local and insiders stress that state-level political actors must be left alone to dictate their own alliances, warning that forcing a centralized agenda could fracture the party from the ground up.
