Not for Tinubu: Uzodimma, Wike are fighting a different battle

By Abasifreke Effiong

I don’t think some people really understand the reason for the blazing heat against His Excellency, Barr. Nyesom Wike’s Rainbow Coalition. The Rainbow Coalition isn’t limited to the amalgam of majority of the political parties in Rivers State, it’s a national movement. It involves the PDP in Kwara State supporting the APC, LP in Abia lending to the APC, APGA in Anambra standing with the APC, Accord Party in Osun working for the APC, NNPP in Kano supporting the APC, PDP in Adamawa and Ogun working for the APC, and PDP in the F.C.T. aligning totally with the APC.

The consensus goal is to support the APC Presidential Candidate, His Excellency, Bola Tinubu, GCFR. The Coalition, working together with the APC will project President Tinubu as the most widely accepted candidate across the structures of majority of the established political parties. That’s the leverage, scale and reach this political contempathy seeks to achieve.

For the above reason, H.E Barr. Nyesom Wike, convener of the Rainbow Coalition is indispensable at this point. The President knows that some of the APC Governors cannot win the election for him in their States, the Coalition provides additional layer of guarantee. So, no deep-thinking, foresighted politician will joke with this.

However, some of the APC Governors are earnestly wishing that the Coalition shouldn’t challenge their candidates for the other positions, particularly for the senatorial election. This is the reason for the brewing power-play.
Maybe I should add that the battle between Wike’s Coalition and the Governor Hope Uzodimma’s Progressive Governors’ Forum which became full-blown last weekend isn’t about winning the 2027 presidential election. It is about the Senate Presidency.

The Rainbow Coalition reportedly stands for continuity and in solidarity with His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, GCON, while H.E Hope Uzodimma is hoping to leverage his current position and influence in the Progressive Governors’ Forum to crown himself President of the National Assembly in 2027.

Leaders of the Rainbow Coalition are working ferociously in these rainbow States. The Governors are scared about how devastating a Wike’s challenge could be for their preferred senatorial candidates. This is why the kingmakers are panicking. The heat in Imo and Kwara States is already suffocating the kingmakers.

There is something to note. After the National Assembly (Senate) election, the APC will be divided over the choice of the next President of the Senate, regardless of the President Tinubu’s direction. However, the contest for the seat will be won by the man who would pull between 43 – 48% votes from the APC senators-elect and 90% vote from the senators-elect from the Rainbow Coalition.

As it is, the Rainbow Coalition has positioned itself as an indispensable bridge to winning both the presidential election and the senate presidency. I believe President Tinubu knows this.

The power-play is getting really interesting. My prayer is, may the Almighty God grant us life and good health to witness the denouement of this political manoeuvre, and see who will emerge the next biggest power-broker between Wike and Uzodimma.