Okoi Obono-Obla, a legal practitioner and former co-secretary of the inter-party merger committee that facilitated the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, has defended the Rainbow Coalition being championed by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. Obono-Obla made the remarks during an interview on ARISE News, saying there was nothing unusual about politicians from different parties working together to support a presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
According to Obono-Obla, Wike's coalition is intended to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu across party lines and should not be regarded as problematic simply because some of its members belong to different political parties. He cited political alliances in other countries as examples of cross-party cooperation, saying "there's nothing wrong with somebody in the PDP supporting an APC person."
However, Obono-Obla criticised APC governors who have rejected Wike's coalition, accusing them of taking control of party structures in their respective states and alienating some members. He alleged that some governors had created political cliques around their administrations and imposed candidates on party members, arguing that the situation had contributed to the emergence of Wike's coalition.
Obono-Obla also argued that supporting Tinubu for president did not prevent a voter from backing another candidate in a governorship election. He said he supported Tinubu at the presidential level but would not necessarily back APC candidates whom he believed had been imposed on party members without adequate internal democratic processes.
The APC chieftain further rejected the argument that Wike's continued membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while supporting Tinubu was contradictory. He pointed to previous instances of cross-party cooperation in Nigeria, including the political arrangement between the National Party of Nigeria and the Nigerian People's Party during the Second Republic.
Obono-Obla also blamed APC leadership for failing to reconcile aggrieved members, arguing that better management of internal disagreements could have prevented the emergence of Wike's coalition. He described the emergence of politicians who remain members of one party while supporting a presidential candidate from another as part of Nigeria's evolving political culture.
Obono-Obla dismissed suggestions that the PDP had become politically irrelevant, arguing that the party still had candidates in many parts of the country. He said, "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."
Key points
- Obono-Obla defends Wike's coalition as a legitimate means of mobilizing support for President Bola Tinubu.
- APC governors who rejected Wike's coalition are accused of hijacking party structures and imposing candidates on party members.
- Obono-Obla argues that supporting Tinubu at the presidential level does not prevent backing another candidate at the governorship level.
