The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ruled out any “Rainbow Coalition” arrangement in Ebonyi State, saying neither his political relationship with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike nor Wike’s reported political interests in the state would alter his allegiance to the APC and its candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
The declaration comes amid fresh political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, particularly over the cross-party “Rainbow Coalition” being promoted by Wike to mobilise support for President Tinubu’s re-election.
Wike has repeatedly maintained that the coalition is separate from the APC and is intended to bring politicians from different parties together behind Tinubu, while allowing them to pursue their own interests in governorship and legislative elections.
Tthe arrangement has generated tensions with APC governors who have expressed concern about parallel political structures.
Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi State, spoke on Friday during an inspection of Section Two of the Calabar-Abuja Superhighway at Ado in Benue State.
He was responding to questions about his relationship with Wike and reports of possible political cooperation involving opposition interests in Ebonyi ahead of the 2027 elections.
Umahi said Wike had not informed him of any candidates he intended to support in Ebonyi, stressing that such interests would not affect their personal relationship but would not form part of his political arrangement.
“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”, he said, reaffirming that Ebonyi remained aligned with the APC and its candidates.
Umahi, who defected from the PDP to the APC in 2020, also revisited the circumstances surrounding his departure from the opposition party.
According to him, the Southeast consistently supported the PDP at the presidential level but was not adequately recognised when it expected the party to reciprocate its political 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.
He nevertheless said opposition parties would be allowed to campaign in Ebonyi, provided their activities did not threaten peace in the state.
“Anybody that wants to campaign, come and campaign. But don’t dish out hate speeches and you want to take those speeches, and you want that we should lay a red carpet for you. We will not do that. Nobody can foment crisis in Ebonyi State”, he added.
Umahi also mounted a defence of the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure programme, dismissing claims that he had concentrated federal projects in the Southeast. He said the projects being executed across the country were part of the Federal Government’s broader infrastructure programme and were not determined solely by him.
“I’m not on my own. The President is my boss. So where will he be when I corner all projects to the Southeast?” he asked.
Umahi urged Nigerians to judge the administration by projects currently under construction rather than campaign promises.
“We tell our story. It’s not a question of saying, ‘I will do this, I’ll do this.’ What about the one that the person is doing? Let us compare the past with the present”, he noted.
He cited the Calabar-Abuja Superhighway as one of the major projects being executed by the administration.
According to him, Section Two of the highway covers about 173.6 kilometres and has a contract value of approximately N683 billion, while Section One is valued at about N454 billion.
During the inspection, Umahi directed contractors not to demolish buildings along the existing alignment until the Federal Government completes its review and makes any necessary adjustments. He also directed the contractors to accelerate construction and open additional sections of the road while engineering challenges around the Ado Bridge are addressed.
“My directive is that no building should be touched. Even if it’s within the alignment, I have to come and realign it. So you just have to continue your work and go around those buildings until we come to look at it”, he stated.
Umahi said his support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election was based on his assessment of the President’s vision, reforms and infrastructure agenda.
“What gave rise to this is because I believe in President Bola Tinubu. I believe that he’s the one called of God. I believe in his vision. I believe in his reforms. I believe he’s the best person that I have worked with and for, and I’m very proud of working for him and working with him.”
The minister also linked his political support for Tinubu to the need for continuity in major infrastructure development.
He argued that projects requiring several years to complete could suffer delays or disruption if there was a change of administration.
“If, God forbid, another person says he’s President, all these projects will be stalled. And I don’t think Ebonyi wants their projects to be stalled”, Umahi said.
Umahi also addressed the nomination of his son as chairman of Ohaozara Local Government Area, insisting that the decision was made by Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru and not by him.
He said he had advised his son to ensure that development was evenly distributed across the 11 wards in the local government rather than favouring their home area of Uburu.
“I have advised him, don’t do anything for the people of Uburu because you are from Uburu. It has to be equitably distributed among the eleven council wards in Ohaozara Local Government”, he concluded.
