‘I’m For It’ — Umo Eno Backs Wike’s Rainbow Coalition

Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom state, says he will support any coalition backing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Speaking during a media chat on Saturday, Eno said he has thrown his weight behind the rainbow coalition.

The rainbow coalition is a political group led by Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“That rainbow coalition is simply saying that we support President Tinubu as the president,” Eno said.

“If I will join and be a member of any coalition — whether it is rainbow, call it any name. Any coalition that the central point is supporting the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; I am for it.”

Eno said the relationship between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom was “good on the ground”.

He said the two parties had agreed to support Tinubu, Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, and himself in the 2027 elections.

“I will work with all of them, and I think we are good on the ground in Akwa Ibom when it comes to the PDP-APC relationship,” the governor said.

“We have agreed on the fact that we are supporting the president, we are supporting the senate president, we are supporting the governor, and we have our clear understanding about those things.”

BACK STORY

In September, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the south-east backed the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) in calling for all candidates of the party to receive its support in the 2027 general election.

The APC leaders also rejected what they described as the “Rainbow (chameleon) Coalition”, warning that the party would resist any attempt to undermine its structures in the region.

The development followed the PGF’s position that it would not support any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election bid or the party’s candidates in the 2027 elections.

The governors were reportedly referring to the rainbow coalition, a cross-party alliance founded by Wike.

Wike, a member of the PDP, said in January that the coalition represented a shift from conventional party politics towards a collective political movement focused on advancing the interests of the state.

In October, Hope Uzodimma, governor of Imo, warned members of the APC in the state against working with political coalitions outside the party.

Uzodimma said he would withdraw vehicles provided to campaigners who violated the directive.

He pledged to work with the movement to secure Tinubu’s re-election, saying his administration had assessed the president’s performance and supported continuity to enable him to consolidate ongoing reforms.