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Rainbow Coalition: ‘It’s either you are in APC or you are out’, Gov Lawal hits Wike

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Dauda Lawal, Zamfara State Governor, has told the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to make his political position clear over his involvement with the Rainbow Coalition, insisting that he cannot simultaneously support the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other political parties.

Wike, has been associated with the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party political platform aimed at mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

But APC governors have distanced themselves from the coalition, with the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of APC governors, saying such an alliance could undermine the President’s re-election bid.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television’s Inside Sources on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Lawal said Wike must choose where his political allegiance lies.

“Our message is very very clear, be on one side, you can’t be on two sides. If you are in APC, please come out and support the APC, not you are supporting APC here and you are supporting some other political parties somewhere else,” he said.

Lawal maintained that the APC governors would not change their position, regardless of Wike’s comments on the issue.

“We maintain our stand and the message is very clear. He can speak, he can say whatever he wants to say, but our position has been very clear, APC all the way from head to toe,” he said.

Asked whether the governors were effectively asking Wike to join the APC, Lawal replied, “exactly”.

The Zamfara governor also said he would discuss Wike’s political position with President Tinubu when the President returns from his working vacation in France.

“It’s something I will discuss with the President when he comes back. Let there be a clear line where this guy belongs to. It’s either he is in APC or he is out, simple. So I go with my brothers, the governors.”

The comments followed the PGF’s rejection of the idea of a cross-party political arrangement involving members of the APC, with the governors maintaining that such an alliance could undermine Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

Wike, however, has reaffirmed his support for Tinubu’s re-election, saying securing victory for the President in the 2027 presidential election remains his major political priority.

The FCT Minister made the declaration on Monday in Abuja while speaking with journalists after inspecting ongoing road projects across the Federal Capital Territory.