Rainbow Coalition: APC needs Wike more, he has qualities like Tinubu – Jibrin
House of Representatives member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, has told the Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, that the All Progressives Congress, APC, needs the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, more than the former Rivers State governor needs the ruling party.
He also pointed out that other political parties, such as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, are waiting for the opportunity to take Wike into their folds should he decide not to work with the APC again.
He said the APC governors should negotiate with the Minister, just as President Bola Tinubu did.
The Progressive Governors’ Forum, led by the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, is strongly opposed to the Rainbow Coalition, which now stands as a clear threat to the governors and their candidates across the states ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The list recently published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, indicates that Wike’s Rainbow Coalition has over 100 senatorial candidates and many more other positions, such as the House of Representatives and State Assemblies.
Speaking on Arise News on Monday evening, Jibrin, a chieftain of the APC, pointed out that Wike has worked much more than expected for the ruling party and must not be allowed to leave at this point when the President still needs him for the upcoming election.
“Somebody like Wike will continue to be Wike in and out of office. He has qualities like the President. The President today— you take him out as the President, he would still continue to maintain his relevance.
“After all, he was out of office for 16, 17 years, and his relevance was intact. Wike is that sort of a person, so Wike will be in demand all the time.
“For the fact that we had Wike in 2023, there is no need for any renewal. Automatically, for goodness’ sake, APC needs Wike, and I just want to be a bit subtle; I would have said much more than he needs us.
“Because today, if he pulls out of the APC, he’ll be in high demand all over the country, and that’s why I’ve been saying, let our governors— I love our governors; some of them weren’t happy about my intervention, but I took time to explain to them that, look, what you need to do with Wike is to negotiate with Wike.
“If the President of the country hadn’t negotiated with Wike and brought Wike on board today, there would have been a Rainbow Coalition in this country against APC. So, if the President will understand that, let me negotiate with this man because he has value, he has something to bring to the table, governors should follow suit.
“You just have to approach it in a pragmatic manner, and you see, the cases of the states are different. They are not the same. They are not uniform. That was why I was shocked. I’m choosing my words carefully. I don’t want the governors to say I’m hard on them.
“My relationship with them is intact. But I believe that the models they adopted by going to do the press conference just to hit hard on Wike—I believe that it’s wrong because all the states, their cases are peculiar; they’re different cases, and there’s nothing wrong with going into discussion with Wike.
“Anything that I see can pose a danger to the re-election of the President, I will always intervene.”