By Omeiza Ajayi
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has queried why the Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodimma, was unable to garner massive support for President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 election, saying modern politics is no longer about coming from fourth position to emerge governor.
He insisted that his own task ahead of 2027 is to mobilise support for President Tinubu’s re-election, not to intervene in local politics in the states.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, Wike said the Rainbow Coalition does not have anything to do with the All Progressives Congress APC, describing the coalition as a platform for other political parties that are pleased with the good works of the President and are supporting his re-election.
The minister, who said he won’t be the one to help people win elections in their states, noted that “politics is local and those having problems in their States should resolve them instead of using the reelection of the President to whip up sentiments.”
Wike pointed out that he never met with the APC before himself and other members of the G5 supported the President in 2023, and that for 2027, his support is for the president only.
The minister said politics is no longer about coming from fourth position to be governor; it is about genuinely mobilising support and winning elections from the polling units.
Taking a direct swipe at Uzodinma’s home turf, he asked: “In Imo State under Governor Hope Uzodimma, how did APC win two Senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day with that of the President and APC had less than 15 percent in the presidential election? Was it Rainbow Coalition? Were the voters confused?
“Was it Rainbow Coalition that also made APC to win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states where the President did not have ten percent of the votes?
“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the Senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027 provided we all support the president genuinely this time?”
The minister urged all stakeholders to put the presidential election first, saying: “After the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our states.”
“What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and States House of Assembly elections.
“Most importantly, Rainbow Coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is own way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well to deserve a second term,” he added.
State governors elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had warned against the creation of parallel political structures capable of undermining President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, in a position widely seen as a direct response to the Rainbow Coalition championed by Wike.
Uzodimma, who Wike had recently accused of sponsoring political attacks against him, made the declaration on behalf of the governors on Monday night during a closed-door meeting at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
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