Minister of Works and former Ebonyi State Governor, Senator David Umahi, has declared that there is no “Rainbow Coalition” in Ebonyi State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Umahi, who spoke amid ongoing political disagreements over the role of the coalition, said Ebonyi remained aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates.
The minister made the statement on Friday, September 25, 2026, while inspecting Section Two of the Calabar-Abuja Superhighway project in Ado, Benue State.
Responding to questions about his relationship with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and reports that a similar political arrangement was being established in Ebonyi, Umahi said Wike had not informed him of any candidates in the state.
“If Wike has candidates here, he has not told me. And his candidate cannot break our relationship, but his candidate is not part of our relationship. There is no rainbow coalition in Ebonyi State,” Umahi said.
The Rainbow Coalition is a cross-party political platform associated with Wike and aimed at mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. Wike has maintained that the platform is separate from the APC and allows politicians from different parties to support Tinubu while retaining their affiliations and making independent choices in other elections.
Umahi, who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC in 2020, also revisited his reasons for leaving the opposition party.
He said the South-East had supported the PDP at the presidential level but, in his view, was not adequately recognised when the party had an opportunity to reciprocate the region’s support.
“We supported PDP. We voted for presidents in PDP. And when it was our time for them to honour us, they did not honour us. They maltreated us,” he said.
The former governor, however, said politicians were free to campaign in Ebonyi State, but warned against hate speech and actions capable of causing unrest.
“Anybody that wants to campaign, come and campaign. But don’t dish out hate speeches,” Umahi said, adding that “nobody can foment crisis in Ebonyi State.”
His comments come amid differences between Wike and some APC governors over the political implications of the Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.
