Rainbow Coalition Not New to Nigeria’s Politics, Says Sokoto PDP Candidate
By Fahad Faruk Galadanchi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Sokoto State, Abubakar Sokoto, has described the emerging Rainbow Coalition as another phase in Nigeria’s long history of political alliances and realignments.
Abubakar, in a statement issued in Sokoto on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to support initiatives aimed at ensuring a free, fair and credible 2027 general election.
He said the debate surrounding the coalition was not new to Nigerian politics, noting that successive political eras had witnessed alliances between political parties and groups pursuing common objectives while retaining their separate identities.
According to him, what changes over time are the names, personalities, circumstances and objectives behind such alliances.
The PDP candidate cited the AD APP joint presidential ticket of Chief Olu Falae and Umaru Shinkafi in 1999, the Coalition of Progressive Political Parties ahead of the 2015 elections, and the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN Congress for Progressive Change CPCand All Nigeria Peoples Party ANPP, which produced the All Progressives Congress APC.
He noted that the APC subsequently contributed to Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the 2015 presidential election.
“The greatest lesson from these experiences is that political coalitions are about people as much as they are about parties” he said.
On the current political realignment, Abubakar said FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had described the Rainbow Coalition as a multi-party platform mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election, while maintaining that it was not an APC structure.
He said concerns reportedly expressed by some APC governors should be considered within the broader historical context of political coalitions and realignments in the country.
The PDP candidate urged APC governors and party leaders to adopt what he described as a pragmatic approach and work with Wike, whom he referred to as “a national leader and proven grassroots strategist, a master mobilizer for the Renewed Hope Agenda”.
“Our primary challenge today is not debating individual political relevance, but ensuring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu secures a decisive victory come 2027” he said.
Abubakar also highlighted what he described as achievements of the Tinubu administration, including its diplomatic response to the political crisis in Niger Republic, Nigeria’s foreign policy engagements, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway project, and youth-oriented initiatives such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund NELFUND and Compressed Natural Gas CNG programme.
He said the government’s response to the Niger crisis demonstrated a preference for dialogue, which he attributed to consultations with Islamic scholars and traditional rulers.
As the country approaches the 2027 general elections, Abubakar said the Rainbow Coalition should be viewed as another chapter in Nigeria’s evolving political history.
He added that supporters of the coalition had a responsibility to explain its objectives to Nigerians, while the electorate would ultimately determine the level of support for the platform through the democratic process.
