02/09/2026
National Rainbow Coalition set to create confusion among electorates, reduce the votes of President Tinubu
• Govs alert Tinubu, push back against sabotage
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been informed that the National Rainbow Coalition may affect his votes in the forthcoming general elections across the states.
These concerns were expressed by the Governors at a recent meeting in Abuja.
The coalition, led by Nyesom Wike, has fielded candidates in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for national assembly elections which come up on the same date as the presidential election in Nigeria.
It was explained that this may fragment the vote strength of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) whom they claim to support.
Members of the rainbow coalition who are desperate about their personal ambition were said to be merely using the president’s name in the public while secretly promoting their candidacy in their different communities.
The joker, as learnt from sources closer to the strategic and nocturnal meetings, is to instruct their followers secretly to ditch anything APC during the election and vote for the PDP from top to bottom.
This development is said to be currently causing concerned within the ranks of the APC governors as some said they won't buy such idea which according to them will affect the President and party’s national assembly candidates.
It was explained that majority of the voting public have not attained that level of political enlightenment to make proper discernment between different political parties. Political records show that people vote in a singular direction in most cases.
They said the coalition will not be able to handle the old, rural and illiterate voters. Example can be seen in the case of Oyo State in the 2023 election where in an attempt to support the presidential bid of Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, PDP which is the ruling party at the state level lost the National Assembly seats.
*The key issues*
At least four key areas have been identified to be sources of concern in the mission of the National Rainbow Coalition, especially in the light of the revelation by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to be in their support.
Voter Confusion: The rainbow coalition will create unnecessary confusion amongst the electorate. The candidates are vying under PDP and that is what they have been marketing to their followers. It won't be an easy ride for them to combine it with another advocacy for APC and President Tinubu. The message won't sink with their followers and it is just likely to cause confusion on which party to support during the election
Invalid Ballots: When voters are confused by the double campaign for both PDP and APC, some of them are likely to suffer invalid ballots as they may ignorantly place their thumbprint for both parties during the election. This leads to automatic disqualification of such ballots, thereby reducing President Tinubu's votes.
Illiterate Voters: A large majority of rural voters do not have the exposure and sophistication to make proper discernment between parties during election. They vote in accordance with the party logo. How will the Rainbow Coalition ensure these people do not make wrong and invalid choices when trying to persuade them to vote for the party with the umbrella symbol and the one with the broom symbol?
• Betrayal and Underhand Tactics: While the Rainbow Coalition members have been publicising their support for President Tinubu for some political correctness, their candidates, who believe it will be difficult to tell their followers to vote two different parties in the same election without creating confusion, have already been making clandestine tactics, which involves an instruction to ditch the APC and vote PDP throughout. At some of their strategic meetings, this is already being considered as an option, further putting a question mark on the practicality of the rainbow coalition.
During the 2023 election, we witnessed how APC swept the presidency along with majority of the national assembly ballots due to a similar arrangement. Followers of the PDP could not make proper discernment and therefore delivered their votes for the APC.
The rainbow coalition will not bring anything different. Two things will likely happen: majority of their followers will deliver all their votes for the APC or on the other hand, deliver their votes for the PDP. The best option for anyone who supports the President is to support his party, the APC to prevent lost votes.
On the contrary, ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, whose Tinubu fiercest challenger, has been unrelenting in promoting his aspirations, emphasizing that electorates should vote for his party.
Atiku is positioning himself to harvest full votes from North East and North west.
This will hurt Tinubu badly if he does not get maximum votes from North central and South East.
The development was believed to have been leaked to Nyesom Wike. Insider sources said it was the major reason why he launched a tirade at the Kwara State Governor and Chairman Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Sen Hope Uzodinma Chairman of the Progressive Governors forum (PGF) in his media chat on Wednesday.
Wike’s comments were targeted at AbdulRazaq, who he has taken the side of his arch rival, Bukola Saraki in Kwara. However, the rainbow coalition is not a Kwara issue.
They have candidates in Gombe, Cross River, Zamfara, Kwara, and other states.
In Cross Rivers, a similar coalition comprising of PDP, Labour-Obidient, ADC elements has also set out to challenge the incumbent Governor Edet Bassey Otu.
The party leadership may have to step in to avoid what could perhaps be the biggest sabotage in the history of the country.
APC would have to take steps to dissuade anti-party among their supporters and networks to tame a resurgent Atiku Abubakar.
As it stands, the rainbow coalition poses more dangers to the president’s reelection and it needs to be addressed urgently.
