PDP Faction Says Wike's Coalition is Bad for Democracy

A group in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kabiru Turaki, a former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, has asked party members to ignore the Rainbow Coalition being pushed by Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They believe this coalition is meant to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign.

The faction claims that opposition parties should provide Nigerians with a real choice instead of praising the current government. They see the coalition as a serious danger to electoral democracy. They warn that it might lead Nigeria to an electoral monarchy.

Ini Ememobong, the spokesperson for the faction, made this known in a statement on Tuesday. He said, "The paramount duty of the opposition is to provide an alternative to the incumbent, not to massage their ego. If opposition parties are to ally, they will do so among themselves, not with the governing party."

He continued, "This political anomaly, styled and championed as a ‘rainbow coalition,’ is the greatest threat to electoral democracy and the fastest way of railroading the country into an electoral monarchy."

Ememobong also slammed Wike for asking PDP members to merge their political structures to back Tinubu’s re-election. He called this move shameful. He stated, "The news attributed to Minister Nyesom Wike that PDP candidates should collapse their structures and support the re-election of President Bola Tinubu is nothing new, except for the fact that his message is not directed at real PDP members. The message is meant for people who, like him, pretend to be in the opposition but work for the governing party."

He added, "The true and principled members of the Peoples Democratic Party are not part of the shameless, self-serving support for the APC-led federal government and its destructive policies."

The faction’s spokesperson urged party loyalists to remain committed to the PDP. They are waiting for a judgment from the Court of Appeal that will help them regain control of the party. He said, "We urge all true and faithful members of the Peoples Democratic Party to remain steadfast as we await the judiciary’s decision, hopeful that it will return our party to its true owners. Our case at the Court of Appeal has been heard, and we await judgement. We know that the entire judiciary is conscious that justice delayed is justice denied."

Ememobong also warned Nigerians to be careful of those pretending to be party members. He said, "Nigerians should be wary of elite accommodation and state capture masquerading as broad-based political collaboration. The election next year provides a great opportunity to vote out these insensitive and irresponsible political actors."

Wike, who is part of the opposition PDP but works in the APC-led federal government, has clashed with APC governors over his Rainbow Coalition. He says it aims to gather support for Tinubu’s re-election. This coalition started in Rivers State, where Wike was governor from 2015 to 2023, and has now spread to other areas of Nigeria.

The PDP group loyal to Wike, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, has continued to back Wike’s efforts to support Tinubu’s re-election, despite the party choosing Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate for the 16 January 2027 election. But the APC governors do not support this coalition. They think it could harm the party and its candidates as the 2027 elections approach.

The governors and other APC leaders believe Wike is using the coalition to help politicians who lost primaries in the ruling party but are now running on the PDP platform. The APC Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, said it will not back any political arrangement that could weaken the party or its candidates in the upcoming elections.

Wike accused the governors of opposing the coalition because they are scared of losing their elections. He also criticized how they are performing in their states. He specifically mentioned Governors Uzodimma, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State as his opponents, saying they are acting for selfish reasons.

The APC South-East caucus and other groups in the party also rejected the coalition. They asked Wike to apologize to the party’s governors for his comments about their political skills and their opposition to the Rainbow Coalition.