The Rivers State Rainbow Coalition has endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term and unveiled its preferred candidates for the 2027 elections, with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Governor Siminalayi Fubara backing the alliance.
The coalition announced its choices in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, bringing politicians from different parties together ahead of the polls.
Fubara urged stakeholders to support the alliance and set aside political differences. His appearance alongside Wike comes after their prolonged political feud plunged Rivers into a crisis in 2025.
President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state in March 2025, resulting in the suspension of Fubara, his deputy and the state House of Assembly.
Emergency rule ended in September 2025, allowing the elected officials to return to office. On October 19, Fubara met Wike, state lawmakers and local government chairpersons amid renewed reconciliation efforts.
The coalition named Kingsley Chinda as its preferred governorship candidate, with Major Jack as his running mate. Its senatorial choices are Felix Amaechi Obua for Rivers West, Allwell Iheanacho for Rivers East and Olaka Johnson Nwogu for Rivers South-East. It also unveiled candidates for the National Assembly and state legislature.
The choices span the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), reflecting the coalition’s cross-party arrangement.
READ ALSO: Wike Defends Rainbow Coalition, Says Tinubu’s Re-election Remains Priority
Wike urged PDP members to support Tinubu’s re-election and criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over power rotation, invoking the controversy surrounding former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.
He also attacked former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi over his administration’s record on malaria control, a specialist hospital project and the proposed monorail.
Wike alleged that a gas turbine was sold for $308 million in December 2014, but only $308,000 remained in the relevant account by May 2015.
He claimed a panel of inquiry’s findings had survived appeals up to the Supreme Court. The figures and legal claims were not independently verified, and Amaechi’s response was not available.
The coalition’s endorsement follows Fubara’s public support for Tinubu and the alliance in July, when he also backed Chinda as its preferred governorship candidate.
Wike said Tinubu was expected in Rivers on November 7, 2026, for a campaign rally at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Igwuruta.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, and the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections for February 6, 2027.