FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has insisted that President Bola Tinubu fully comprehends and supports his Rainbow Coalition project, claiming that persistent criticism of the initiative is motivated by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, whose desire to become Senate President before his term expires has fuelled the controversy, according to Wike.
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Speaking on TVC on Monday nite, Wike refuted claims that the coalition poses a threat to Tinubu’s reelection campaign, stating that the project’s only true stance is to encourage Nigerians of all political persuasions to support Tinubu while allowing members to pursue their own goals for governorship, seats in the National Assembly, or state assemblies.
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He also rejected reports that Tinubu had agreed to concede nine states to him as part of a coalition arrangement, challenging those spreading the claim to actually name the states in question. On his own political future, Wike pushed back on suggestions the coalition positions him to succeed Tinubu in 2031, arguing his interests can’t collide with a president who won’t be seeking re-election by then.
According to Wike’s own framing, opposition to the coalition isn’t really about defending Tinubu’s interests at all; rather, it’s about who gets to keep control of important National Assembly positions, especially the Senate presidency, once the coalition’s cross-party support modifies the customary negotiation process. According to such understanding, the conflict is not a true debate over strategy but rather an intra-elite struggle for influence after the election.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was directly criticised in Wike’s remarks for being influenced by former Kwara governor Bukola Saraki, Wike’s well-known competitor. This framing implies that long-standing personal and factional grievances inside Rivers State and PDP politics may be the source of at least some of the opposition to the coalition.
Without providing evidence of what, if anything, was truly agreed upon with Tinubu, Wike’s answer primarily consists of asking his detractors to name the “nine states” that were purportedly given to him. As a result, the initial accusation and Wike’s denial are based on conflicting claims rather than concrete evidence.
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