Rainbow Coalition will choose Rivers gov candidate for 2027 — Wike

The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said the four political parties under the “Rainbow Coalition” in Rivers State will collectively agree on a single governorship candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections, dismissing speculation that any individual has already secured the ticket.

Wike said this on Saturday at a luncheon organised for coalition candidates in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and aired by the Nigerian Television Authority.

He said the alliance, comprising the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and Action Alliance (AA), has yet to settle on a flag bearer, adding that the decision will be taken jointly under the coalition’s leadership.

“The Rainbow Coalition, we have not chosen who will be the governor of Rivers State. But we have party candidates who have emerged under the Rainbow Coalition. The only decision we have taken is that we are going to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the minister said.

The former Rivers State governor also said the Rainbow Coalition is now the dominant political arrangement in the state, adding that anyone seeking elective office must align with it.

He said, “If you want to be important in the politics of Rivers State, come and join the Rainbow Coalition. If you want to be governor, come here.

“If you want to be senator, come here. If you want House of Reps, come here. If you want Assembly, come here. If you want local government, come here. You must come. If you don’t come, you cannot get it.

“You must come here. Everybody here, whether you are APC, whether you are PDP, whether you are in Labour, whether you are AA, you are all okay for the state.”

Wike dismissed what he described as premature victory celebrations among some of the aspirants, warning that such claims create a false impression and undermine the coalition process.

He urged all candidates from the four parties to sustain their grassroots mobilisation until the coalition formally arrives at a unified position, adding that every candidate in the alliance is “okay for Rivers State.”

The minister also spoke about what he described as a long-standing pattern of external exploitation of Rivers State’s political tensions, accusing certain human rights activists, commentators and media organisations of benefiting from the situation. He said the Rainbow Coalition was formed to address that trend.

“God said no, we must come together as a people, irrespective of our political leanings. What is important is that we must talk about the development of our state. We must talk about the unity of our state,” Wike said.

He also criticised smaller political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), arguing that political noise and defections are not a substitute for established electoral structures, and that only the PDP, APC and Labour Party have demonstrated the capacity to prosecute statewide and national elections across Nigeria.