Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, APC govs backing Tinubu in different ways — Fayose - Vanguard News

Former Ekiti State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Ayo Fayose, has said the controversy over the Rainbow Coalition being championed by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, would not hurt President Bola Tinubu’s chances in the 2027 presidential election.

Fayose said Wike and the APC governors were backing Tinubu in different ways, arguing that what mattered ultimately was whether the coalition could deliver votes for the president, particularly in Rivers State.

He spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday amid renewed controversy over the Rainbow Coalition after APC governors warned against political arrangements capable of weakening the party’s candidates at various levels.

The APC governors, led by Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, said on Monday that they would not support any alliance capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election bid or APC candidates.

Wike, however, reiterated on Tuesday that the Rainbow Coalition was a platform for politicians from different parties to support Tinubu’s re-election, insisting that it had nothing to do with the APC’s internal structure.

Reacting to the controversy, Fayose said: “I sincerely don’t want to join issues on these two sides.

“These are issues of simply everybody exercising their interest in the system. And everything I tell you again, is not about an NDC having an incursion as a result of what they are doing or ADC. No.

“If Rainbow works for Wike in Rivers, and it can bring results, that’s all the president wants.

“If Rainbow works and can give him numbers, you understand? So be it. The government says in our state, after all, Wike will not come to their states. Wike will not come there and vote.

“He will not come there and form a coalition rainbow. And don’t let us deceive ourselves. Even in Nigeria.

“It’s only that rainbow is in a particular state. Where the handler says, I can handle the rainbow. If the rainbow is to carry everybody along, guarantee everybody’s interest, ensure that, okay, if rainbow produces this, produces that, he will get this, you will get that.

“As a man, who could flip an election, for a governorship candidate of people, and the PDP also could. If they have the capacity, and that they have done it, then he has capacity to do it in some states. The question is that, has he gone to any other state, to preach rainbow? No.”

Fayose said the disagreement between Wike and the APC governors should not be interpreted as a threat to Tinubu’s re-election, arguing that political interests and individual egos were responsible for much of the controversy.

“Everything works together for good, for the president. Without controversy, you can’t get far. Controversy in itself will help the election.

“This controversy has nothing to do with the winning of the president. In fact, it makes it much better. Nigerians know who Wike is and the institution, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and they are both saying different things in different ways.

“Nigerian Governors’ Forum say we are not doing coalition, Wike says do what you have to do in your state. Whatever you feel comfortable with. If you are comfortable without a coalition, go ahead.

“The method that works for A might not work for B. And this is not even playing to the hands of the opposition, because the two of them are united behind the president. And don’t forget, these are men of strength in our country.

“You should expect this. The moment there is interest, power struggle, interest, you should expect all this. This has taken nothing out of the system.

“That is the truth. This has taken nothing out of the system. So in my understanding, they all say the same thing in different ways.

“But don’t forget, everybody has his own ego. Every one of us, including myself.”

Fayose also addressed the difficulty of asking voters to support different political parties for different elective positions under a Rainbow Coalition arrangement, saying the strategy could work differently from one state to another.

He maintained that Wike had not publicly presented himself as supporting candidates beyond the presidency while seeking to retain his influence within the PDP.

“Wike has not put it out there that he is supporting people beyond the presidency because he still wants to keep the PDP. Wike has not hidden his position; neither have I hidden my position,” Fayose said.

The former Ekiti governor further argued that the political calculations surrounding 2027 should be viewed within the context of Nigeria’s traditional practice of rotating political power.

“The oppositions know they are going nowhere. The reality is that power is coming to the south for eight years. Tinubu is the shortest point of power going to the north,” he said.

“Rotational presidency is not in our constitution but it is a norm nobody can shy away. If Obi becomes president, the north knows he will come back again after four years that the pressure from people wants him to continue,” Fayose added.

His comments came as the Rainbow Coalition controversy intensified following the rejection of the arrangement by APC governors.

The governors’ position has created a distinction between supporting Tinubu’s presidential bid and backing candidates outside the APC at governorship, National Assembly and state Assembly levels.

Uzodimma said the governors’ campaign commitment remained exclusively to APC candidates.

Wike, meanwhile, has maintained that the coalition is designed to mobilise support for Tinubu across party lines and does not amount to a parallel APC structure.

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