A CHIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Chief Samson Chukwu Nnamani, has thrown his weight behind the Nyesom Wike-led Rainbow Coalition for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, describing the initiative as a legitimate cross-party political movement that should not be misconstrued as an attempt to undermine the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Nnamani, in a statement personally signed by him and made available to newsmen, also condemned the opposition by the APC Governors Forum to the coalition, arguing that supporting Tinubu for president does not legally or politically compel members of other political parties to abandon their identities, structures or candidates in other elections.

The statement comes amid growing debate over the Rainbow Coalition, an initiative associated with FCT Minister and PDP figure, Nyesom Wike, which seeks to mobilise politicians and supporters across party lines for Tinubu’s re-election while allowing members to retain their respective political affiliations and participate in governorship and legislative contests.

Nnamani said Wike’s position was consistent with the realities of Nigeria’s multiparty democracy, stressing that a politician could support a presidential candidate from another party while retaining membership of his or her own party and contesting other elective positions under that party.

According to him, the Rainbow Coalition should therefore be viewed principally as a presidential mobilisation platform, rather than a merger, defection arrangement or attempt to transform the PDP into an appendage of the APC.

He said Wike had been clear that his objective was to mobilise support for Tinubu in the presidential election while allowing the PDP and other participating political parties to field candidates for governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly elections.

Nnamani said there was nothing unusual about such an arrangement, particularly given Nigeria’s political experience during the 2023 general election.

He recalled that members of the G5 governors’ group, led by Wike, supported Tinubu’s presidential bid in 2023 despite remaining members of the PDP and participating in other electoral contests under the party’s platform.

The Enugu PDP chieftain said the experience demonstrated that Nigerian voters and politicians could make independent choices at different levels of an election without necessarily treating the ballot as a single-ticket exercise.

He consequently questioned the basis for the opposition being mounted by some APC governors against the Rainbow Coalition.

Nnamani said the position of the APC Governors Forum that it would not support any arrangement capable of weakening the APC should not be allowed to determine whether politicians outside the APC could support Tinubu for president.

He argued that Tinubu’s presidential candidacy was a national political project that could attract support beyond the membership of the APC, adding that the ruling party could not claim exclusive ownership of every individual or group supporting the President’s re-election.

The PDP chieftain said the APC governors’ opposition appeared to overlook the distinction between support for a presidential candidate and partisan contests for other elective positions.

He noted that while the APC could legitimately mobilise its members and candidates across the ballot, it should not seek to dictate how members of other parties exercise their constitutional and political choices.

Nnamani said Wike had never presented the Rainbow Coalition as an APC structure or a mechanism for taking over the ruling party.

Rather, he said, the former Rivers State governor had consistently explained that the coalition was made up of politicians and supporters from different parties who were convinced that Tinubu should receive their support in the 2027 presidential election.

He cited Wike’s own description of the initiative as “a platform for other political parties that are pleased with the good works of Tinubu and are supporting his re-election.”

According to Nnamani, the statement clearly establishes the character and purpose of the coalition.

He said: “The Rainbow Coalition is not an APC project, neither is it a platform designed to destroy or weaken the APC. It is a broad-based political mobilisation platform for Nigerians and politicians from different political parties who have decided to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the presidency in 2027.

“Those who belong to the coalition do not, by that decision, cease to be members of their political parties. They retain their identities, structures and political interests, particularly at the state and legislative levels.”

Nnamani further argued that political parties and their members should be allowed to make strategic choices based on the particular elections they are contesting.

He said there was no contradiction in a PDP member supporting Tinubu for president while backing a PDP candidate for governor, senator or member of the House of Representatives.

“Presidential politics is not the same thing as every other contest on the ballot. A person can support Tinubu for president and still support the candidate of his or her party for governor or the National Assembly. That is democracy,” he said.

He maintained that the 2023 experience had already demonstrated the possibility of such political calculations, adding that the emergence of cross-party presidential support was not peculiar to the present administration.

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