Rivers, Kwara, Gombe, Cross River: APC states threatened by Wike’s Rainbow Coalition ahead of 2027

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Photo collage of Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma; FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike; and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

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Powerful blocs within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, are increasingly concerned about the spread of the National Rainbow Coalition, backed by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, across states controlled by the ruling party.

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The coalition, which Wike insists is primarily aimed at securing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, has nevertheless thrown up alliances involving opposition parties and politicians opposed to APC candidates at state and National Assembly levels.

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The development has raised particular concerns in Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River, where coalition-backed candidates and political realignments are challenging existing APC structures.

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APC governors and their allies are worried that the arrangement could create confusion among voters and weaken the party’s candidates in elections taking place alongside the presidential poll.

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Wike, however, has maintained that his political objective is to support Tinubu while working with politicians across party lines.

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Speaking during a media chat in Port Harcourt, Wike specifically accused Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, and Kwara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, of campaigning against him.

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“Take, for example, Kwara; he has been the one championing this campaign against me. Yes, I have confronted him too. I don’t talk about what I cannot defend,” Wike said.

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He accused AbdulRazaq of alleging that he was sponsoring candidates against the governor’s preferred choices in Kwara while arguing that he had provided a political platform for aggrieved APC members who could otherwise have joined groups opposed to Tinubu.

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The concerns among APC leaders are particularly pronounced in states where politicians who have fallen out with the ruling party are now working with the Rainbow Coalition.

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Rivers

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Rivers presents one of the most complicated fronts for the APC, with the coalition drawing members from the PDP, APC, Labour Party and other political groups.

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The coalition emerged in January 2026 during the political crisis involving Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Its political significance increased after Fubara joined the APC.

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The coalition has since generated uncertainty over the governorship race, particularly after it backed former PDP Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, for governor.

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Chinda, who had been a PDP lawmaker, appeared before the APC screening committee after his defection, although the circumstances surrounding his move remain the subject of litigation.

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The choice of Chinda has also reportedly generated disquiet among some coalition members from the riverine areas, who argue that a candidate from the area should have been preferred.

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The coalition subsequently picked Major Jack, the current Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as Chinda’s running mate.

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The arrangement has created a situation in which Rivers voters could face different candidates representing parties that are simultaneously claiming membership of the same coalition.

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Kwara

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Kwara has emerged as another major battleground between the APC structure and politicians aligned with Wike’s coalition.

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The conflict intensified after a group of aggrieved APC members joined forces with former Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Wike-backed PDP structure in the state.

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Senator Saliu Mustapha, who contested the APC governorship primary and later faced a battle over his return to the Senate, subsequently resigned from the APC and joined the PDP.

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He was given the PDP ticket for Kwara Central, setting up a contest with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

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Another APC chieftain, Kolo Jiya, also left the party and joined the PDP, while two members of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Olushola Odetundun and Saba Yisa Gideon, defected to the PDP.

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The aggrieved APC members subsequently came together under the Otoge Progressives, T.O.P., and formally launched the Kwara chapter of the National Rainbow Coalition on August 26, 2026.

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The coalition says its arrangement allows politicians to support Tinubu for president while retaining the freedom to support different parties in other elections.

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Gombe

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In Gombe, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has moved to the PDP with the backing of the Rainbow Coalition.

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The development has created another unusual political alignment, with the coalition seeking to support Tinubu at the presidential level while simultaneously working against APC structures at the state level.

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The situation illustrates the central dilemma confronting APC leaders: politicians can support the president while campaigning against candidates of the party on whose platform he is seeking re-election.

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Cross River

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Cross River is another state where the coalition is challenging APC structures.

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The PDP has an active governorship candidate, Arthur Jarvis, while the party also has candidates contesting senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats.

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About 500 APC members recently defected to the PDP in the state, according to the report.

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Why APC governors are worried

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The central concern among APC figures is that the Rainbow Coalition’s multi-party structure could undermine President Tinubu’s re-election.

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Beyond this, the governors argued that ahead of the 2027 elections, Wike’s arraignment could weaken the APC and that they won’t support or endorse candidates who are not members of the party in the 2027 elections.

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Speaking with journalists at the end of APC Governors Forum meeting on Monday night in Abuja, Imo state governor and secretary of the Tinubu Campaign Council, Hope Uzodimma, said, “The APC Governors Forum unanimously resolved that its members will not participate in, support or endorse any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining the re-election of Mr President, weakening the APC or adversely affecting any candidate of the party at all levels.

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“In other words, the forum has no intention to support any candidate at any level that is not an APC candidate because our candidates who are contesting the election are being sponsored by our party.”

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He added that the APC’s campaign activities at all levels would focus exclusively on the party’s candidates and align with Mr Tinubu’s agenda.

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“The governors’ campaign commitment is exclusively to all APC candidates. All levels of the party campaign architecture will align with the expectations of Mr President and the strategic objectives of the party.”

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Wike has remained defiant

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Wike, however, maintained that the Rainbow Coalition was created to mobilise support for President Tinubu’s re-election and had nothing to do with the APC or its candidates in other elections.

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In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the FCT minister insisted his support for 2027 was specifically for Tinubu and did not amount to a commitment that the PDP would not field candidates in other elections.

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“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 States House of Assembly elections,” Wike said.

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He also dismissed the suggestion that the Rainbow Coalition was an arrangement with the APC, describing it as a platform for members of different political parties supporting Tinubu’s re-election.

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

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Wike further challenged Uzodimma over APC’s performance in the 2023 elections in Imo and other South-East states, questioning how the party won legislative seats despite recording a much lower share of the presidential vote.

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“Was it Rainbow Coalition that also made APC to win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states where the president did not have ten per cent of the votes?” he asked.

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