Former South-East spokesperson to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has criticised the proposed “Rainbow Coalition” championed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, describing it as a threat to the All Progressives Congress.
Onoh, who is also Chairman of the Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, made the remarks in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.
He warned the APC leadership against what he described as a “Trojan horse” capable of weakening the ruling party ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“Let us stop playing the ostrich and looking for eggs in a furnace,” Onoh stated. “This so-called ‘Rainbow Coalition’ is a toxic distraction, a political mirage, and a well-calculated vehicle for personal ambition that will ultimately undermine the All Progressives Congress (APC) and jeopardise the presidential election if left unchecked.”
Onoh said the coalition could not be compared with the G5 alliance that influenced the 2023 elections, arguing that the current arrangement lacked the political structure and grassroots strength of the former group.
“The 2023 G5 was built on a loud, public principle of regional equity, leveraging the institutional power of five sitting governors,” he said.
Onoh said he and former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi worked to promote the APC in the South-East during the 2023 election, adding that the effort came at a political cost.
He said the current coalition was “a desperate collection of political castaways, disgruntled ex-office holders, and floating political contractors who hold no real electoral value in their own political wards”.
“You cannot use spent forces to build a shield for a sitting President,” he added.
Reacting to Wike’s recent disagreements with the governors of Kwara and Imo states, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Hope Uzodimma respectively, Onoh described the minister’s criticisms of the governors as a deliberate distraction.
“Wike’s unprovoked media onslaught against Governor AbdulRazaq and Governor Uzodimma is nothing but a classic, textbook diversionary tactic,” he said.
According to Onoh, Wike was attempting to create political crises in the North-Central and South-East to distract the Presidency while pursuing control of APC structures.
He accused Wike of using the same approach that, according to him, contributed to the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party.
“He is trying to destroy the APC from within using the exact same playbook that left the PDP in ruins,” Onoh said.
He also warned against what he described as “split-ticket sabotage”, alleging that the coalition could encourage voters to support President Tinubu while backing opposition candidates in legislative elections.
“The presidential election runs concurrently with National Assembly votes. Wike’s strategy instructs voters to vote for the APC at the top but support opposition candidates at the state and legislative levels,” he said.
Onoh said such voting patterns could weaken the APC’s legislative strength and undermine party discipline.
He cited the 2023 election in Enugu State, saying the strategy contributed to the PDP losing most of the elections in the state.
“We cannot exchange a robust, organic party victory for a transactional arrangement,” he cautioned.
Onoh ultimately called on Wike to make a clear political choice, insisting that he should either formally join the APC or step aside from efforts to influence its internal affairs.
“Nigeria’s political space has no room for double agents, political rent-collectors, or part-time allegiance,” he declared.
“Our position is simple, either Nyesom Wike fully, formally, and unconditionally registers as a card-carrying member of the APC at his political ward, or he must step aside immediately.”
Onoh said the APC had sufficient structures and grassroots support to secure Tinubu’s victory across the country without what he described as Wike’s “damaging, self-serving distractions”.
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