PORT HARCOURT — In a desperate move to suppress growing public dissatisfaction with the federal government, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that Rivers State has “no option” but to line up behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Wike made the assertion on Saturday during a lavish luncheon in Port Harcourt organized by the “Rainbow Coalition”—a political structure he created to merge factional gladiators across various party lines.
However, the minister’s attempts to use media spin to present Rivers State as a unified pro-Tinubu stronghold have been widely criticized by civil advocacy groups and local residents as an offensive display of political imposition that ignores the daily economic misery, food inflation, and corporate closures currently devastating the Niger Delta region.
The Deceptive Mirror: Buying Loyalty With Elite Appointments
Addressing the gathered political actors, Wike argued that the state must remain loyal to the presidency due to the high-profile federal appointments and political patronages handed to his immediate circle over the past 36 months. He urged the state’s populace to look past their immediate financial struggles and praise the President for rewarding the state’s political elite.
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| THE RAINBOW COALITION’S HANDPICKED STALWARTS |
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| • Hon. Kingsley Chinda (APC Governorship Candidate) |
| • Sam Ejekwu (PDP Governorship Candidate) |
| • Ben Eke (Action Alliance Governorship Candidate) |
| • Tony Okocha (APC State Chairman & Wike Loyalist) |
| • Senator Magnus Abe (NUPRC Board Chairman) |
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To give his pro-government agenda a false sense of universal acceptance, Wike engineered a highly controversial gathering that featured the handpicked governorship candidates of multiple opposing parties. Present at the high table were Hon. Kingsley Chinda (APC), Sam Ejekwu (PDP), and Ben Eke (Action Alliance), alongside a representative for the Labour Party candidate, Chima Bons.
Political analysts point out that this “Rainbow Coalition” is a deceptive shell structure where opposition identities have been completely eroded, creating a unified elite cartel designed to lock down the state’s electoral apparatus for the ruling party long before the first ballot is cast.
Sidelining Ethnic Grievances and Grassroots Agony
In his speech, the FCT minister dismissed regional and ethnic complaints as irrelevant, insisting that “governance and development” should be the sole focus of the electorate. But local community leaders have quickly fired back, pointing out the hypocrisy of using “development” as a talking point while the removal of the fuel subsidy and the collapse of the Naira have ruined local fishing economies, bloated transportation costs across the state’s waterways, and driven basic food items out of the reach of ordinary families.
While Wike boasted about the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) allocations and board appointments handed to political allies like Boma Iyaye and Tony Okocha, regular citizens argue that these appointments have done absolutely nothing to alleviate the brutal cost-of-living crisis. By claiming the state has “no choice” but to support the administration, Wike stands accused of total detachment from the immediate, painful realities of the people he seeks to command.
“Television Will Not Give You Votes”
Recognizing the deep anger brewing among the populace, Wike warned his coalition members to abandon media appearances and focus aggressively on grassroots containment at the local polling units. “Television will not give you votes,” the minister admitted, signaling that the administration’s handlers are fully aware that their rosy media spins cannot convince an impoverished electorate.
He further issued a stern warning against external forces trying to “destabilize” the state, a thinly veiled reference to the lingering administrative warfare between his structure and the sitting Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, who has increasingly aligned with independent southern blocks resisting Abuja’s high-handedness.
Verdict: The Death of Democratic Choice
Wike’s declaration that an entire state is structurally bound to a single presidential candidate represents a direct assault on the constitutional right to political choice.
By gathering co-opted opposition flagbearers to sing the praises of an administration that has presided over unprecedented inflation and economic trauma, the FCT minister has shown that the “Rainbow Coalition” is not a tool for governance, but an elite smoke-screen. For an exhausted Rivers electorate struggling to survive under the current fiscal regime, this forced alignment proves that the political class prefers backroom enforcement over the actual will of the people.
