Umahi dismisses Wike’s Rainbow Coalition in Ebonyi

Minister of Works David Umahi has denied claims that the Rainbow Coalition Movement is trying to take power from Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State. He stated that the movement does not exist in the state.

Mr Umahi, who was the last governor of Ebonyi State, made this statement while inspecting the Calabar-Abuja Superhighway in Benue State on Friday.

A video of the minister speaking about this has been going around on Facebook.

Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), leads the Rainbow Coalition. This is a multi-party political group that supports President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Mr Umahi's remarks follow disagreements between Mr Wike and some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). This includes governors under the party concerning the coalition.

Mr Wike has said that the coalition will support candidates from his party, the People Democratic Party (PDP), for other elective positions while backing APC’s Mr Tinubu for re-election as president in 2027.

He is officially recognized as a national leader of the PDP faction by the court and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Despite this, he works in Mr Tinubu’s administration, who is part of the ruling APC. He continues to show support for the president's re-election in 2027.

‘No Rainbow Coalition in Ebonyi’

In response, Mr Umahi, who is also a member of the ruling APC, said he did not know if Mr Wike has a candidate for governor in Ebonyi State.

“Wike is my good friend and brother, but there is no Coalition in Ebonyi State. There is none. And if Wike has a candidate here, he has not told me.”

“And his candidates cannot break our relationship. But his candidate is not part of our relationship,” he added.

The works minister, who left the PDP in 2020, joked that he did not know the PDP was still active in Ebonyi State.

“I killed PDP when I left PDP. Whether they are alive again, I don’t know. And if they are alive, we have to unalive them because PDP did not treat the people of South-east well.

“We supported the PDP. We voted for presidents in the PDP. When it was our time for them to honour us with a presidential ticket, they did not honour us. We have hope in APC,” he said.

‘We’ll fight’

Mr Umahi stated that both he and Governor Nwifuru believe opposition candidates can campaign in Ebonyi State without causing trouble.

“But if you think you can cause a crisis, we will run you out of the state. Nobody can cause crisis in Ebonyi State.

“Anyone who wants to campaign, come and campaign. But don’t dish out hate speeches. And you want to dish out hate speeches, and expect us to make a red carpet for you. We will not do that. And if you want to fight, we will fight,” he said.

‘Nwifuru, Tinubu’s second term bids guaranteed’

Mr Umahi then claimed there are no threats to the victory of Mr Nwifuru and President Tinubu in Ebonyi State in 2027.

“I don’t think we have any threat for the president, governor, or any of the APC candidates in this Ebony State.

“I fought the battle alone before. Today, I have the governor. He has me. And there are many leaders that are with us. So there is nothing to fear other than to calculate our votes ahead of time,” the minister stated.

Background

Messrs Wike and Nwifuru seemed to be in a cold war in June this year when the Ebonyi governor threatened to “consume” the FCT minister if he challenged him in the state ahead of the governorship election in 2027.

The governor’s comments followed claims by Mr Wike’s allies that Mr Tinubu had handed over Ebonyi to the FCT minister and his PDP faction.

Recently, tensions between Mr Wike and APC governors have also increased fears that the FCT minister might use the Rainbow Coalition Movement against the governors in the 2027 elections.