Several state chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the Rainbow Coalition associated with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, with party officials urging him to formally join the ruling party if he intends to support President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The disagreement has intensified following growing differences between Wike and APC governors over the political structure being promoted ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), although he currently serves as a minister in the APC-led Federal Government and has publicly expressed support for Tinubu’s bid for another term.
The issue came into sharper focus after Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal asked Wike to clarify his political allegiance.
Speaking to Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Lawal said APC governors wanted Wike to choose between joining the APC and remaining with the Rainbow Coalition.
Lawal said the governors’ position was that Wike could not support APC at the presidential level while simultaneously backing candidates from other political parties.
He added that he intended to discuss the matter with Tinubu when the President returns from his working vacation.
APC chapters weigh in
The disagreement has also spread to state-level party structures.
In Imo State, APC Publicity Secretary Jones Onwuasoanya said Wike should formally identify with the APC if his support for Tinubu was genuine.
Onwuasoanya argued that Wike should not selectively support the APC at the presidential level while backing candidates from other parties in governorship and legislative contests.
The Imo APC spokesman also said the party chapter did not recognise the Rainbow Coalition as a political structure operating in the state.
Similar opposition to the coalition has emerged from other APC structures. Earlier in September, APC leaders in the South-East publicly backed the position of the Progressive Governors Forum against political arrangements they said could weaken the party and its candidates.
The controversy centres on the structure of the Rainbow Coalition and its stated support for Tinubu at the presidential level while allowing political actors to maintain or support candidates outside the APC in other contests.
Wike has defended the arrangement and maintained that supporting Tinubu does not require him to abandon the PDP or prevent other parties from participating in governorship and legislative elections.
The dispute has therefore become part of the wider political debate over how support for Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign will be organised and how such support will interact with APC candidates contesting other positions.
