Sokoto PDP Candidate Links Rainbow Coalition to Nigeria’s Political History

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.

Sokoto, in a statement issued in Sokoto on Tuesday, said political coalitions had featured in different electoral cycles as parties and political groups joined forces to pursue common objectives while retaining their separate identities.

He said the names, personalities, circumstances and objectives behind such alliances might change over time, but political realignment remained a recurring feature of Nigeria’s democratic process.

The PDP candidate cited the 1999 joint presidential ticket of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and All People’s Party, APP, involving Olu Falae and Umaru Shinkafi as one example of political cooperation.

He also referenced the Coalition of Progressive Political Parties formed ahead of the 2015 elections and the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change and All Nigeria Peoples Party, which led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“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, Sokoto said Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, had described the Rainbow Coalition as a multi-party platform mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

He noted that Wike had also maintained that the coalition was not an APC structure, despite its reported support for the President.

Sokoto said concerns reportedly expressed by some APC governors over the emerging political configuration should be considered within the broader history of coalitions and realignments in the country.

He urged APC governors and other party leaders to adopt what he described as a pragmatic approach to the developing political situation and work with Wike.

The Sokoto PDP candidate also highlighted what he described as achievements of the Tinubu administration, including its diplomatic response to the political crisis in Niger Republic, foreign policy engagements, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway project, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Compressed Natural Gas programme.

He said the Federal Government’s response to the Niger crisis demonstrated a preference for dialogue, which he attributed to consultations with Islamic scholars and traditional rulers.

As preparations for the 2027 general elections intensify, Sokoto 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 various political platforms through the democratic process.