Vice-President Kashim Shettima has opposed the split-voting arrangement proposed by the Rainbow Coalition led by Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, insisting that supporters should vote exclusively for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has also distanced itself from the APC Rainbow Coalition, accusing the ruling party of attempting to infiltrate opposition parties and undermine their structures ahead of the 2027 polls.
Similarly, APC elders in Ondo State have rejected any coalition agreement that would compel the party to relinquish its candidates or surrender constituencies in return for support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. They maintained that the APC has the capacity to win the state without entering into any coalition arrangement.
Shettima made his position known on Wednesday at the APC presidential campaign rally in Lafia, Nasarawa State, where he called on party supporters to vote for APC candidates across all elective positions.
The Rainbow Coalition, coordinated by Wike, is campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Wike has consistently maintained that the coalition’s primary objective is to secure another presidential term for Tinubu, while allowing its members to support candidates from other political parties in governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly elections.
However, Shettima rejected the proposed arrangement, declaring that the Presidency would not support a voting pattern that separates the President from other APC candidates. He said Tinubu’s position was that the party should secure victories across all levels of government.
“APC from top to bottom; APC from bottom to top. We do not want a situation where they say vote for the President and not the governor, or vote for the governor and not the President, or the senator, or the House of Assembly. We want APC straight,” Shettima stated.
