2027: APC Founding Member Reveals Why Governors Are ‘Jittery’ Over Wike’s Coalition

A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okoi Obono-Obla has accused the governors who have rejected the Rainbow Coalition pioneered by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of hijacking the party.

He argued that there is nothing wrong with Wike’s coalition, adding that the APC governors have marginalised and alienated many party members.

Naija News reports that the APC chieftain spoke during an appearance on Arise News.

Obono-Obla, 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 have 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 said.

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 said.

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.”