The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Sokoto State, Abubakar Sokoto, has described the emerging Rainbow Coalition as another phase in Nigeria’s history of political alliances and realignments.
In a statement issued in Sokoto on Tuesday, he said political coalitions had featured in different electoral cycles as parties and political groups joined forces to pursue common objectives.
He said the names, personalities, circumstances and objectives behind such alliances might change over time, but the practice remained a recurring feature of Nigerian politics.
The candidate cited the AD-APP joint presidential ticket of Olu Falae and Umaru Shinkafi in 1999 as one example of a political alliance.
He also referenced the Coalition of Progressive Political Parties ahead of the 2015 elections and the merger of the ACN, CPC and ANPP that produced the All Progressives Congress.
“The greatest lesson from these experiences is that political coalitions are about people as much as they are about parties,” he said.
On the current political realignment, Sokoto said FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had described the Rainbow Coalition as a multi-party platform mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.
He noted that Wike had also maintained that the coalition was not an APC structure.
Sokoto said concerns reportedly raised by some APC governors should be considered against the broader history of political coalitions and realignments in the country.
He urged APC governors and party leaders to adopt what he described as a pragmatic approach to the emerging political realignment.
He also called on Nigerians to support initiatives aimed at ensuring a free, fair and credible 2027 general election.