Powerful factions within the All Progressives Congress (APC) are raising the alarm over the National Rainbow Coalition linked to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, warning that the arrangement risks damaging the party’s candidates and President Bola Tinubu’s re-election prospects in 2027.
Wike, a leading figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has repeatedly insisted that the coalition remains firmly committed to Tinubu’s return to office. He maintains that criticism directed at him stems purely from his decision to back the President.
Yet senior APC figures and sources close to several state governors argue that the coalition’s plan to field candidates on other party platforms could confuse voters and fracture support on election day. The unease is particularly sharp in Rivers, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River states.
Speaking during a media chat in Port Harcourt last week, Wike directly accused Imo State Governor and Progressives Governors Forum Chairman Hope Uzodimma, as well as Kwara State Governor and Nigeria Governors’ Forum Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, of leading the campaign against him.
“Take for example, Kwara, he has been the one championing this campaign against me everywhere. Yes, I have confronted him too. I don’t talk about what I cannot defend,” Wike said.
The minister claimed AbdulRazaq had accused him of supporting candidates opposed to the governor’s preferred choices in Kwara. Wike countered that the governor should instead thank him for offering a political home to aggrieved APC members who defected to the PDP rather than joining anti-Tinubu groups.
He also referenced past friction with Uzodimma, noting that the Imo governor had previously withheld support despite assistance Wike said he had provided.
Despite the public sparring, Wike stressed that his overriding priority remains securing Tinubu’s re-election. He challenged his critics to list any concrete support they had given him during his own political battles.
A senior source close to APC governors told Vanguard that the coalition risks confusing voters and ultimately reducing Tinubu’s vote tally. Sources close to the President confirmed that Tinubu has been briefed on the potential damage across several states, with governors raising the matter during a recent meeting in Abuja.
The coalition is reportedly fielding candidates under the PDP for National Assembly seats that will be contested alongside the presidential election. APC figures fear this could produce a split-ticket outcome in which voters back Tinubu at the top of the ballot while supporting opposition candidates lower down—particularly in rural areas where party loyalty often runs uniformly across all races.
Critics warn that supporters could be quietly encouraged to vote PDP for legislative seats while publicly professing loyalty to Tinubu, a strategy they say would harm both the President and APC National Assembly hopefuls. They point to past elections as cautionary tales: in Oyo State in 2023, the PDP lost National Assembly seats even as voters backed Tinubu; similarly, in the South-West in 2003, supporters of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo helped him win while the Alliance for Democracy suffered heavy losses at other levels. Then-Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu was among the few who weathered that wave.
The situation has also heightened concern about Atiku Abubakar’s strategy under the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Atiku continues to urge voters to support the ADC at every level, with particular focus on the North-West and North-East. An APC source cautioned that Tinubu could be left vulnerable without strong performances in the North-Central and South-East: “This will hurt Tinubu badly if he does not get maximum votes from North-Central and South-East.”
In Kwara, the alliance between Wike and former Senate President Bukola Saraki—long a rival of Governor AbdulRazaq—has intensified questions about how a coalition claiming to support Tinubu can simultaneously work against the ruling party’s candidates. Similar alignments are said to be forming in Gombe, Cross River, Zamfara and elsewhere. In Cross River, elements linked to the PDP, Labour Party, the Obi movement and the ADC have reportedly joined forces against Governor Bassey Otu.
The developments have unsettled some APC governors, who are pressing party leadership for urgent intervention. They fear an unusual voting pattern in which Tinubu wins presidential support while APC candidates at other levels are rejected.
“The rainbow coalition poses more dangers to the president’s re-election and needs to be addressed urgently,” one source warned.