A founding member of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), and a legal practitioner, Okoi Obono-Obla, has backed the Rainbow Coalition being championed by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, saying there is nothing wrong with the coalition as long as its members support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
Obono-Obla, who was also a former co-secretary of the joint inter-party merger committee that negotiated the formation of APC in 2013, said the coalition was not new, noting that similar political alliances had been formed in other countries to rally support for candidates.
“The coalition Wike is trying to form is not new. So, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the coalition that Wike has put together in Rivers State to support Mr. President. He has always said Mr. President has done so well and that he will support him. There’s nothing wrong with somebody in the PDP supporting an APC person.
“In Kenya, they had a national coalition that was used to fight an election. Even in the US, during the time of Reverend Jesse Jackson, he formed a coalition. That coalition was a mixed bag of Republicans, Democrats, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, conservatives, and socialists. That was what he used to push his presidential nomination for the Democratic Party. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as they support Mr. President.”
He accused APC governors who have rejected the coalition of hijacking the party, saying they had marginalised and alienated many party members while failing to understand the philosophy and institutional memory behind its formation.
Obono-Obla also blamed the governors for creating the conditions that prompted Wike to mobilise disaffected APC members, alleging that some had formed cliques around their administrations and imposed candidates on party members against their wishes.
“I didn’t expect anything different from the governors, because the governors have hijacked the APC. Most of them do not understand the philosophy and the institutional memory behind the formation of the APC. When we founded the APC in 2013, a lot of them were not in the party. They don’t understand the philosophy of the APC. If they did, they would not oppose this coalition.
“The APC governors are responsible for the circumstances under which Minister Wike is trying to draw people into his coalition. A lot of APC members have been alienated by the governors in their states. For instance, I was a founding member of the APC, but in my state, I’m not recognized. I’m not a political stakeholder in my own state; that is how some of them who came from other parties to join APC treat people. So those are the people Wike is trying to bring together to support Mr. President.”
He dismissed concerns that the coalition could create confusion at the sub-national level, arguing that party members could support Tinubu at the presidential level while backing different candidates in governorship elections.
“Maybe APC candidates are not on the ground. APC candidates that the governor forced on the people were not the choice of the party. Otherwise, I don’t see anything wrong with that. You support Bola Tinubu at the presidential level, and support your party at the governorship level; there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Obono-Obla said the governors were “jittery” because they had marginalised party members, formed cliques around their administrations and imposed candidates on the people, adding that he supported Tinubu but would not back APC candidates imposed on members “undemocratically.”
“The governors are jittery because they have not done well. When they came into the party, they marginalized a lot of party members and formed a clique to run their government. A lot of APC members are disaffected, and these are the people Wike, a very shrewd politician, is trying to put together.
“I have been saying that I support Mr. President, but I will not support some of the APC people who are imposed on us undemocratically. That is the crux of the matter, and that is why the governors are jittery. They have not helped the party. Let everybody support whoever they want.”
Blaming the governors for the situation, Obono-Obla backed Wike’s claim that some were opposing the coalition over their political ambitions, citing the alleged marginalisation of original APC members in Imo State. He said the development would make the political scene “more vibrant and serious.”
“I agree with that. For instance, I was discussing with a friend who is an APC chieftain in Imo State, and he was saying the same thing. How the governor of Imo State marginalized original APC members when they came from the PDP. That is why I’m blaming the governors for what is playing out. It will make the political scene more vibrant and serious.”
Clarifying that he had no personal grievance against his state governor, Obono-Obla defended Wike’s coalition, saying it would bring together disaffected APC and PDP members to support Tinubu’s 2027 election bid.
He also rejected claims that the PDP was scattered, arguing that the party remained present across much of the country with candidates in most states.
“I don’t have any grievance with my governor. We are happy with him, but I don’t have any personal issue against him.
“Wike is saying he will bring together disaffected APC and PDP members to form a coalition in Rivers State and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election.
“I don’t think the PDP is scattered. If you look at the candidates nominated to INEC, the PDP has candidates in almost all parts of the country, unlike the NNPP or ADC. The PDP is still there, largely thanks to the efforts of Wike. That is good for the country’s democracy.”
Describing the APC as the country’s biggest political party, Obono-Obla said it had over 12 million registered members and had “done very well” since its formation. He maintained that the existence of hardship did not mean the party had failed, noting that even wealthy countries such as the United States experience economic difficulties and homelessness.
“The APC is the biggest party, with over 12 million registered members. Yes, the APC has done very well. Even in the US, there is homelessness in rich countries, and there is hardship.”
Defending his support for the coalition, Obono-Obla said he was not backing Wike as a PDP minister but supporting his coalition, arguing that political alliances across party lines were not new in Nigeria.
“I am not backing a PDP minister; I am backing Wike’s coalition. If Wike is that bad, why would he be in the APC federal government as a minister of the Federal Capital Territory?
“This is not the first time in Nigeria that we are seeing parties work together. In 1979, when the NPN came into power, they didn’t have a majority in the National Assembly to pass bills, so they formed a coalition with the NPP. President Shehu Shagari formed a government of national unity and appointed members of the opposition into his cabinet. This is not the first time a president is appointing someone from the opposition into his cabinet.”
Backing Wike’s position, Obono-Obla said remaining in the PDP while supporting Tinubu was a positive political trend that should be encouraged.
“Being in the PDP while supporting President Tinubu is a good political trend evolving in Nigeria. It is commendable to have politicians behaving this way.”
Explaining the emergence of the coalition, Obono-Obla said Tinubu received support from disaffected PDP members in 2023, while some APC members also did not vote for him and later joined the ADC. He described the development as part of Nigeria’s evolving political culture and democracy.
“President Tinubu had a lot of votes in 2023 from PDP supporters who were disaffected by the selfishness of Atiku Abubakar, who refused to allow the presidency to go to Southern Nigeria. That coalition didn’t start today. A lot of APC members also did not vote for President Tinubu in 2023, and some left to join the ADC. Our political culture is evolving; our democracy is young, only 27 years old. It will mature, and these current phenomena are part of the evolutionary process.”
Arguing that supporting a candidate outside one’s party was not necessarily anti-party behaviour, Obono-Obla said many APC members had become disaffected because of how the party was being managed. He blamed governors for “hijacking” the party in their states, noting that many original APC members were absent from the Presidential Campaign Council.
“I was one of the writers of the APC constitution in the committee chaired by Segun Osoba in 2013. I don’t see anything conflicting with the APC constitution when I say that, as a human being endowed with constitutional rights, I can choose not to vote for a presidential candidate even though I am in the APC. There is nothing anti-party about it.
“A lot of members are disaffected because of how party administrators run the party due to a lack of experience. If you look at the Presidential Campaign Council, a lot of original APC members are not there because governors have hijacked the party in their states.”
On the possibility of reconciliation among disaffected APC members, Obono-Obla said it was up to the party’s National Chairman to bring them back into the fold, accusing him of failing to address their grievances and run the party effectively. He said effective reconciliation would have made Wike’s coalition unnecessary.
“It is up to the National Chairman of the party, who has not done anything to bring disaffected members together, even those who advocated that the chairmanship should be in the North Central. The National Chairman is not running the party well, perhaps due to a lack of experience.
“If he ran the party well and brought disaffected members together, Wike’s coalition would be nonsensical.”
Favour Odima
Follow us on:
