…Reaffirms Support For Tinubu’s Re-election

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has reacted to the claims made by the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), saying his rainbow coalition that is already gaining recognition across different states, would not create any confusion.

New Telegraph had earlier reported that the APC Governors, under the leadership og Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, on Monday, after their closed-door meeting in Abuja, accused Wike of breeding confusion that will affect Tinubu’s electoral gains during the 2027 presidential election.

In a swift response to the concern raised by the APC Governors, Wike’s spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, on Tuesday said the allegations of the APC Governors were misplaced, as the Minister has never hidden his agenda of ensuring victory for President Bola Tinubu at the 2027 polls.

He also noted that the Minister, from the outset, made it clear that the Rainbow Coalition was designed to achieve what his G5 Governors’ alliance achieved in 2023 by working for the victory of Tinubu in their various states.

In a statement the spokesperson signed, ” Wike pointed out that he never met with the All Progressives Congress (APC) before himself and other members of the G5 supported the President in 2023, and that for 2027, his support is for the president only.

” The Minister said politics is no longer about coming from fourth position to be governor; it is about genuinely mobilising support and winning elections from the polling units.

He also asked, “In Imo State, under Governor Hope Uzodinma, how did APC win two Senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day as that of the President, and APC had less than 15 per cent in the presidential election? Was it a rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?

“Was it a rainbow coalition that also made APC win the National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu States, where the President did not have ten per cent of the votes?

“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the Senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027, provided we all support the president genuinely this time?

” The Minister urged all stakeholders to put the presidential election first, saying, ‘ After the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our States.”

“What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.

“Most importantly, the rainbow coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is its own way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well to deserve a second term,” he said.