Several state chapters of the All Progressives Congress have rejected the proposed “Rainbow Coalition” being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, urging him to formally join the ruling party if he is committed to President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

The position followed renewed disagreement between Wike and some APC governors over the political structure being assembled ahead of the 2027 general elections. Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party while serving as a minister in the APC-led Federal Government.

The controversy intensified after Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, asked Wike to choose between joining the APC and continuing with the Rainbow Coalition.

Lawal, speaking on Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the APC governors wanted Wike to make his political allegiance clear.

“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,” Lawal said.

The Zamfara governor said he intended to discuss Wike’s political position with President Tinubu, adding that the minister should either join the APC or remain outside its political structure.

The demand has attracted varying reactions from APC chapters across the country.

In Imo State, the APC Publicity Secretary, Jones Onwuasoanya, urged Wike to formally identify with the ruling party if his support for Tinubu was genuine.

He argued that Wike should not support the President at the presidential level while backing candidates of other parties in governorship and legislative elections.

Similarly, the Gombe State APC Publicity Secretary, Murtala Usman, said Wike should “switch to APC completely,” warning that the proposed coalition could create confusion within the ruling party.

In Ondo State, APC Secretary Alex Kalejaiye rejected selective support for the President, saying the party intended to mobilise votes for Tinubu as well as its candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives and state House of Assembly.

Kalejaiye therefore called on Wike to collapse his political structures into the APC to enable the party to present what he described as a common front in the 2027 elections.

However, the position was not uniform across all APC chapters.

The Jigawa State APC said it welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and would receive him if he decided to join the party.

The chapter also argued that the APC itself emerged from a coalition of political parties and could accommodate politicians from different backgrounds.

In Benue State, different APC factions expressed contrasting positions. While one faction welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu and preferred that he join the APC, another argued that he should remain in the PDP.

In Osun and Delta states, party officials said the matter was beyond the authority of their state chapters and should be determined by the national leadership of the APC.

In Rivers State, where Wike served as governor, an APC faction led by Emeka Beke backed the position of the Progressive Governors Forum against the coalition.

Its spokesman, Darlington Nwauju, argued that Wike could not simultaneously maintain allegiance to the PDP and operate within the political structure of the APC.

The Plateau State APC also said it did not recognise the Rainbow Coalition, although its chairman, Rufus Bature, said Wike would be free to join the APC if he wished.

The Nasarawa State APC similarly welcomed Wike’s support for Tinubu but said it would prefer him to become a formal member of the ruling party.

The Kwara State APC chairman, Sunday Fagbemi, meanwhile, questioned the practicality of asking voters to support different political parties in elections conducted on the same day.

He maintained that APC members were expected to support the party’s candidates across the ballot.

Wike, however, has defended the Rainbow Coalition, maintaining that its support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition does not prevent other political parties from fielding candidates for governorship and legislative election. 

His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, argued that the coalition’s position is similar to the arrangement in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election, when he and other members of the PDP’s G5 supported Tinubu without formally defecting to the APC.