More leaders and political parties are joining the Rainbow Coalition, formed and led by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, ahead of next year’s general election.
The Nation gathered at the weekend that the coalition, which started with two main political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has grown to four, with the addition of two other parties – the Labour Party (LP) and the Action Alliance (AA).
The four parties unveiled their governorship candidates during a luncheon organised by Wike in Port Harcourt to formally receive the coalition’s governorship, House of Assembly, and National Assembly candidates for the 2027 poll.
The APC governorship candidate, Ogundu Kingsley Chinda, unveiled the identities of all four coalition governorship candidates.
Chinda, who addressed the gathering on behalf of the other governorship candidates, said more parties were expected to join the coalition ahead of the elections.
The APC chieftain named his colleagues in the coalition as Sam Ejekwu from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Chima Boms of the LP, and Ben Eke of the AA.
Chinda stated that the coalition produced four governorship candidates, 103 House of Assembly candidates, 48 House of Representatives candidates, and 20 senatorial candidates in preparation for the election.
He said: “More political parties will join the coalition in the coming days. The essence of the rainbow has a spiritual connotation. It symbolises a covenant, which is a strong agreement. It is a covenant for development, peace, progress, and restraint.”
He poured encomiums on Wike, saying the minister’s actions were spiritual and inspirational.
Speaking about Wike, he said: “You cannot study the founder of the Rainbow Coalition. The more you tend to study him, the more confused you will be. For him, it is spiritual. He gets inspiration for the things you see him do. That is why we are here today.
“We inaugurated the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, and we were all saying that this had never done before. Now, we are here in the Rainbow Coalition. This has never happened in any state.
“As a family, we are going into the election with peace, progress, and development of Rivers State as paramount. We are not fighting among ourselves. We are fighting to ensure that we have a renewed Rivers State. If you truly love Rivers State, this is the place to be. Come and be part of this covenant.”
Addressing the coalition members and leaders, Wike announced that a former governorship aspirant, Tonye Cole, who withdrew his aspiration to pave the way for Chinda in APC, had agreed to join the coalition.
Cole was an ally of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who, on two occasions, ensured that he became the APC governorship candidate in the state.
Wike’s announcement of Cole abandoning Amaechi to join the coalition elicited applause from the crowd.
He said: “Let me also thank Tonye Cole. He is not here. I thank him for showing that sportsmanship for the interest of Rivers State. He has agreed to work with us, to join us.
“I want to put all of you on notice that Tonye Cole has agreed that he will join this Rainbow Coalition. If he comes, let everybody open their arms and receive him.”
The FCT minister stated that only candidates in the Rainbow Coalition would be victorious in their elections in Rivers.
He urged other aspirants for elective positions in the state to join the coalition or bury their political dreams.
Wike said: “If you want to be relevant in the politics of Rivers State, come and join the Rainbow Coalition. If you want to be important in the politics of Rivers State, come and join the coalition. If you want to be a governor, a senator, a member of the House of Representatives, House of Assembly, chairman of a local government, come here. You must come. If you don’t come, you cannot get it. You must come here.
“You don’t know what we have suffered to build a system. It is not easy. This is the only platform that I have. If you are talking about the governorship election in this state, forget it; it is gone.
“If you are talking about the presidential election here, it is gone.
“I have forgiven everybody. I want you to come back home sincerely because having years off politics is something else. This Rainbow Coalition will not only win next year, we will also be here for another eight years.”