Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has questioned the purpose of the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Sule spoke on Tuesday during an interview with TVC while reacting to the growing disagreement between Wike and some governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The governor also expressed relief that his name was not among those listed by Wike as governors opposed to the political coalition.
“Thank God I’m not on that list. I feel relieved that I’m not on Wike’s list of APC governors fighting the Rainbow Coalition.
“Wike is one of the ministers in this administration, and if he says he wants to support President Tinubu from another party, remember he’s not an APC member.
“What’s the whole essence of an alliance? I think the Governors’ Forum message was misunderstood.”
The comments came shortly after Wike identified three APC governors he said were opposed to his political activities.
The minister named Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Wike made the disclosure on Monday during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout.
He maintained that several other APC governors were not opposed to his Rainbow Coalition.
According to him, the coalition is focused on mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 across political party lines.
The APC Governors’ Forum had earlier rejected any political arrangement that could weaken the ruling party or affect its candidates in the forthcoming elections.
At a meeting in Abuja, the governors said they would not participate in, support or endorse any alliance capable of undermining the APC or its candidates.
The position was announced by Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressive Governors’ Forum.
The governors’ position was interpreted as a direct response to the Rainbow Coalition, which Wike has been building across political lines in support of Tinubu.
The APC governors have maintained that supporting the President’s re-election should not translate into creating political structures that could work against the party at other levels of the election.
Wike, however, has consistently rejected the suggestion that his coalition is intended to weaken the APC.
He has argued that his political support is specifically for Tinubu’s second-term bid and does not amount to an agreement that other political parties should abandon their candidates in the 2027 governorship, National Assembly or state assembly elections.
In one of his recent responses to the APC governors, Wike said, “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 House of Assembly elections.”
The minister has also argued that political support for a presidential candidate can cut across party boundaries.
He cited the 2023 elections as an example, pointing out that voters were able to support different parties at the presidential and National Assembly levels during the same election.
Wike said the same pattern could occur in 2027, with politicians and voters supporting Tinubu for the presidency while maintaining their party affiliations for other positions.
He has therefore maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is not a substitute for the APC but a platform through which politicians from different parties can support the President.
On Monday, Wike again insisted that the coalition was not established to weaken the APC.
Speaking in Abuja after inspecting ongoing road projects in the Federal Capital Territory, the minister said securing Tinubu’s return to office remains his major political priority.
He also rejected claims that the coalition was created to destabilise existing political parties.
Unlike the three governors named by Wike, the Nasarawa governor said he was not part of the group the minister accused of fighting the coalition.
Sule also suggested that the position of the APC Governors’ Forum may have been misunderstood.
Wike remains a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite serving as a minister in the APC-led Federal Government.
His support for Tinubu dates back to the 2023 presidential election, when he was one of the G5 governors who refused to support the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The current Rainbow Coalition is an extension of that political position, with Wike seeking support for Tinubu from politicians across different parties.
