By John Alechenu
ABUJA — A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Chief Samson Nnamani, has urged the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, to recognise that support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election extends beyond the structures of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Nnamani, who spoke in Abuja on Thursday, said the campaign for Tinubu’s second term should be treated as a broader political mobilisation rather than an APC-only affair.
His comments came against the backdrop of the PGF’s opposition to the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, as a platform to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
The APC governors had said they would not support political arrangements capable of undermining the party or its candidates in the 2027 elections.
Nnamani argued that restricting support for Tinubu to card-carrying APC members would amount to limiting Nigerians’ political choices.
He said the governors were conflating support for the President at the presidential level with contests for other elective offices, arguing that cross-party mobilisation for the presidency did not necessarily amount to an attempt to undermine the APC.
According to him, the Rainbow Coalition is a presidential mobilisation platform and not a merger or defection arrangement designed to turn the PDP into an appendage of the APC.
He said Wike had consistently explained that the coalition was intended to bring together members of different political parties in support of Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Wike has similarly said the coalition has no affiliation with the APC and is focused specifically on mobilising support for Tinubu, while political parties remain free to field candidates for governorship and legislative elections.
Nnamani recalled that members of the G5, a group of five PDP governors, supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election while their parties and allies contested other positions.
He said the same distinction could apply in 2027.
“The Rainbow Coalition is not an APC project, neither is it a platform designed to destroy or weaken the APC. It is a broad-based political mobilisation platform for Nigerians and politicians from different political parties who have decided to support President Bola Tinubu for the presidency in 2027,” Nnamani said.
“Those who belong to the coalition do not, by that decision, cease to be members of their political parties. They retain their identities, structures and political interests, particularly at the state and legislative levels.
“Presidential politics is not the same thing as every other contest on the ballot. A person can support Tinubu for president and still support the candidate of his or her party for governor or the National Assembly. That is democracy,” he added.
Nnamani quoted Wike as describing the coalition as “a platform for other political parties that are pleased with the good works of Tinubu and are supporting his re-election.”
He also faulted the PGF’s argument that the coalition could confuse voters or weaken the President’s chances, saying voters were capable of making separate choices in presidential, governorship and legislative elections.
The dispute over the coalition has intensified in recent weeks, with the PGF maintaining that its members would support Tinubu and APC candidates, while Wike insists that his coalition is focused on the presidential contest and is separate from the APC.
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