Why APC opted for ‘Rainbow campaign council’ – Daily Trust

By Hussein Yahaya (Abuja), Sani Ibrahim Paki (Kano) & Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin)

The revised listing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 Presidential Campaign Council alerts a strategic shift in Nigeria’s political panorama, with the ruling occasion looking for to construct an all-inclusive “Rainbow Coalition” forward of the final elections.

Beyond its function as an electioneering construction, the expanded council displays the APC’s efforts to transcend conventional occasion boundaries, incorporate influential opposition figures and consolidate help for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.

The most hanging function of the revised listing is the inclusion of distinguished politicians from opposition events.

Leading the initiative is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who has been named campaign coordinator for Tinubu in Rivers State and the FCT.

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, a member of the Accord Party, has additionally been appointed campaign coordinator for his state.

Similarly, former Gombe State Governor and serving Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator Ibrahim Dankwambo has been named an adviser to the campaign council, alongside Obafemi George.

Political analysts mentioned the appointments recommend that the APC is looking for to weaken opposition strongholds within the South-South, South-West and North-East by bringing influential politicians from rival events into its campaign construction.

NRS boss, Adedeji retained, Betta Edu, Ngozi Olejeme lacking

Despite the strategic ambition of the “Rainbow Coalition,” the composition of the revised council didn’t deal with the controversy over the inclusion of some people reminiscent of Zacch Adedeji (Chairman, National Revenue Service – NRS).

Appointed as Deputy Director of Fundraising, Adedeji’s inclusion has raised questions concerning institutional neutrality.

Critics have argued that putting the top of the nation’s tax authority answerable for campaign fundraising may create a possible battle of curiosity between tax administration and partisan political actions.

A cautious assessment of the brand new listing reveals that neither Dr Betta Edu nor Ngozi Olejeme is included.

Dr Betta Edu, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, was initially named Director of Women Mobilisation. Edu’s inclusion comes after her suspension in January 2024 following an investigation into an alleged N585 million monetary impropriety.

Though she was subsequently changed by Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the general public absence of a remaining report from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) drew scrutiny from transparency advocacy teams.

Also, Ngozi Olejeme, a former board chairperson of the NSITF, was earlier appointed as South-South Zonal Director for Election Planning, Coordination, and Mobilisation. Her inclusion had equally drawn questions as a result of previous anti-graft inquiries regarding her tenure on the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.

Irony in Wike, Adeleke’s appointments

The appointments of Wike and Adeleke have raised questions concerning the implications for their respective political events, significantly as each events have presidential ambitions of their very own.

Although Wike and Adeleke have been related to Tinubu’s re-election bid, their inclusion within the APC campaign council presents a political contradiction: the PDP and the Accord Party, to which they belong, even have presidential candidates.

Our correspondent reviews that the PDP is fielding Prof Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate whereas the court docket has ordered the Accord Party to recognise Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as its presidential candidate.

What this means for the PDP on the floor is that whereas the occasion could be campaigning to win the presidential election, the chief of the occasion, Wike, by advantage of his appointment to the APC presidential campaign, could be instantly working towards the occasion with out concern of any seemingly consequence.

Political analysts notice that, underneath stricter occasion self-discipline, such an association may have been thought to be anti-party exercise.

But past the floor, many are of the view that the PDP solely offered a presidential candidate who’s loyal to Wike so as to not permit a emptiness for others to take the place and work towards his curiosity.

It isn’t clear how the occasion would react, however it’s not seemingly that the occasion would frown on it.

Despite remaining a PDP member, the previous Rivers State governor has been one in all Tinubu’s most consequential political allies exterior the ruling occasion for the reason that 2023 election.

Speaking on Tuesday, Wike mentioned the president’s strategy was to accommodate folks exterior the APC who have been prepared to contribute to his re-election.

He argued that individuals who needed Tinubu to proceed in workplace ought to be allowed to contribute no matter their occasion affiliations.

His place, nonetheless, comes towards the backdrop of disagreements inside the ruling occasion over his proposed Rainbow Coalition and the extent to which non-APC politicians ought to affect the president’s re-election equipment.

Some APC state chapters have questioned the association, insisting that these genuinely dedicated to Tinubu ought to formally be part of the occasion.

Adeleke’s appointment presents an analogous dilemma.

The Osun governor, who secured re-election on the platform of the Accord Party, has been tasked with mobilising help for a presidential candidate whose occasion is a political rival of his personal occasion.

After months of litigation, a court docket reportedly ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Olawepo-Hashim because the Accord Party’s presidential candidate. However, it was unclear at press time whether or not the fee had uploaded his title to its portal.

If the court docket’s order is applied, Adeleke’s appointment may create additional questions concerning the Accord Party’s presidential campaign, significantly given that he’s the occasion’s solely governor.

The association may assist the APC lengthen its attain past its established political community in Osun State. However, it additionally raises questions on how help for Tinubu on the presidential degree will coexist with competitors for governorship and legislative seats.

The APGA, in the meantime, has publicly endorsed Soludo’s inclusion within the campaign council.

The occasion mentioned the association mirrored its place that Tinubu ought to be supported for president whereas APGA maintained its unbiased identification and pursued different elective places of work.

The appointments recommend that the APC is looking for to construct a broader electoral help base round Tinubu.

With opposition events and political blocs but to ascertain a united entrance towards the ruling occasion, Tinubu’s camp seems to have a possibility to domesticate alliances throughout occasion traces.

How revised council reshapes APC’s inside construction

The revised campaign council listing additionally seems to have altered points of the ruling occasion’s inside command construction.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas have been elevated to deputy vice-chairmen, whereas Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq occupies one other deputy vice-chairmanship place.

Senator Abdulaziz Yari stays director-general of the campaign council, with different senior occasion and authorities figures assigned tasks throughout its numerous directorates.

Former Kwara senator Gbemisola Saraki is among the many new entrants. She has been listed as zonal secretary within the Contact and Mobilisation Directorate for the North-Central.

However, not all distinguished figures showing within the revised doc are new entrants.

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, for occasion, was beforehand listed as director of finance and treasury. He retains that accountability whereas additionally serving as Delta State campaign coordinator.

Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola had earlier been assigned to South-West stakeholders’ mobilisation, whereas Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo was already a part of the media and strategic communications construction.

Inclusion threatens multi-party democracy – Analyst

A professor of Political Science at North West University, Kano, Murtala Muhammad, has warned that the inclusion of opposition leaders within the APC Presidential Campaign Council poses grave dangers to Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.

He described the event as “unprecedented and disheartening.”

“This is the primary time in Nigeria’s historical past that main opposition leaders are overtly campaigning for a ruling occasion’s presidential candidate.

“It raises fundamental questions about ideological consistency, political accountability, and the future of Nigeria’s multiparty democracy,” he mentioned.

The professor argued that opposition events exist to scrutinise authorities insurance policies and current credible options, to not “negotiate access to power.”

He warned that the blurring of occasion identities dangers deepening political cynicism and weakening democratic accountability.

“We are in a critical mess. Every critical political occasion ought to have a definite manifesto and ideological orientation.

“When opposition leaders abandon this role, Nigeria’s political system becomes directionless,” Muhammad harassed.

He additional questioned whether or not the cooperation was primarily based on any clear, written settlement serving nationwide curiosity, saying the absence of such readability suggests self-interest relatively than patriotism.

Muhammad cautioned that the development may slide Nigeria towards “political disorder and ideological backwardness,” including that alliances with out ideas or clear commitments scale back multiparty politics to “a marketplace of elite interests rather than an instrument of democratic representation.”

‘Tinubu made right decision’

Professor Hassan Saliu, Interim President of the Nigerian Society of International Affairs (NSIA) and professor of Political Science and International Relations on the University of Ilorin, mentioned no political occasion may confidently win the 2027 presidential election by relying solely on its members, warning that cross-party alliances may decide the end result.

Saliu described the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s determination to incorporate politicians from opposition events and the broader coalition in its presidential campaign construction as a strategic transfer to broaden its help base past its conventional constituencies.

“The environment, the electoral environment confronting us, does not suggest that one party alone and its members can win,” he mentioned.

He added that candidates would wish to succeed in voters exterior their established political bases to enhance their possibilities.

According to him, the association displays the realities of Nigerian politics, the place occasion affiliation alone could now not assure adequate help to win a presidential election.