Former South-East spokesman to President Bola Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has warned that the political activities of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s Rainbow Coalition could affect the contest for governorship and National Assembly seats in the 2027 elections.

Onoh, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said the disagreement between Wike and APC governors over the coalition required the attention of the President and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress.

The Progressive Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, recently said its members would not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the APC or affecting its candidates in the 2027 elections.

Wike has maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is focused on mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election and is separate from the APC. He has also said he never promised that the Peoples Democratic Party would not field candidates for governorship and legislative elections in 2027.

Onoh, however, argued that the coalition’s involvement in other contests could give it influence beyond the presidential election.

He said, “By preparing to field candidates across the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other peripheral platforms for governorship, Senate, and House of Representatives seats ahead of the 2027 elections, Wike is building an autonomous political empire under the nose of the ruling party by playing the 2027 numbers game aimed at stripping APC of legislative and state autonomy.”

According to him, a strong showing by candidates supported by the coalition in National Assembly elections could create a bloc capable of influencing the choice of principal officers, consideration of budgets and screening of executive nominees.

Onoh also warned that victories in governorship contests could enable the coalition to build political structures at state level, which he said could weaken the APC’s grassroots organisation.

He linked Wike’s current political strategy to the type of political realignment that preceded the formation of the APC, arguing that the FCT minister could be building structures outside the ruling party to strengthen his bargaining position in future political negotiations.

Onoh said the long-term implications of the coalition should not be viewed only through the 2027 presidential election, arguing that political calculations could extend to the 2031 transition.

He urged Tinubu and the APC National Working Committee to compel Wike to make a choice between formally joining the APC, resigning as a minister to operate as an opposition politician, or abandoning what Onoh described as a parallel political structure.

“The time for diplomatic silence was over,” Onoh said, urging the President and the APC leadership to act before the coalition becomes more entrenched. (The Guardian)