2027: Lawal Challenges Wike To Clarify Allegiance Over Rainbow Coalition

2027: Lawal Challenges Wike To Clarify Allegiance Over Rainbow Coalition

Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has challenged Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to clarify his political allegiance ahead of the 2027 elections, amid a disagreement between the minister and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Lawal said Wike could not support President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid while also backing candidates of other political parties in governorship and legislative elections.

The Zamfara governor made the comments in an interview with Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

“Our message is very, very clear: be on one side, you can’t be on two sides,” Lawal said, arguing that Wike should either fully align with the APC or make his position outside the party clear.

Lawal confirmed that APC governors were effectively asking Wike to join the party if he intended to continue supporting Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign.

Asked whether the governors wanted Wike to join the APC, Lawal responded: “Exactly.”

He also said he would discuss Wike’s political position with President Bola Tinubu when the President returns from his working vacation abroad.

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At the centre of the dispute is the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party platform backing Tinubu’s presidential bid while allowing its members to retain their political affiliations and support candidates in other contests.

Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has maintained that his support for Tinubu does not require him to support APC candidates in governorship, National Assembly or state House of Assembly elections. Through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike has described the coalition as a multi-party arrangement rather than an APC platform.

The position has put Wike at odds with the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of APC governors. The forum has said its members would not support political arrangements capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election bid, weakening the APC or adversely affecting its candidates in the 2027 elections.

Lawal said he supported the forum’s position and that the APC governors would not change their stance.

He also responded to Wike’s criticism of some APC governors as “lazy”, saying the FCT minister knew those he was referring to and that the performance of individual governors should be assessed based on their records in office.

The exchange between Lawal and Wike adds another dimension to the political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections, with party affiliation, cross-party alliances and support for candidates at different electoral levels emerging as points of contention.

 

2027: Lawal Challenges Wike To Clarify Allegiance Over Rainbow Coalition