FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has said he does not need a position in the APC Presidential Campaign Council to work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke on Saturday after inspecting ongoing projects in the FCT. He argued that membership of the campaign council does not automatically guarantee electoral victory.
The APC recently unveiled its presidential campaign council, naming Senator Abdulaziz Yari as Director-General and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as Secretary.
Wike said what matters in an election is the ability of political actors to deliver votes from their states, local governments and wards, rather than the positions they hold in a campaign structure.
“What is important is: are you able to deliver those two states? Who will be in charge of the Rivers State campaign? Me. Who will be in charge of FCT? Me.”
He explained that because he is not an APC member, he could not serve on the party’s presidential campaign council, but stressed that this would not stop him from supporting Tinubu.
“In the Rainbow Coalition, we don’t need to be members of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. We are doing our own work.”
Wike said the Rainbow Coalition, which he established in Rivers State to support Tinubu’s second-term bid, was already putting its plans into action.
The minister also pointed to previous presidential campaign directors-general who, according to him, failed to deliver their home states. He cited Rotimi Amaechi, who served as DG of Muhammadu Buhari’s campaigns in 2015 and 2019 but did not secure Rivers for the APC.
He also mentioned Bukola Saraki, who headed Atiku Abubakar’s campaign in 2019 but lost Kwara and his Senate seat; Aminu Tambuwal, who served as Atiku’s campaign DG in 2023 and lost Sokoto; and Simon Lalong, who headed the APC campaign in 2023 but failed to deliver Plateau State.
“If you are DG and you don’t win your state, what is the essence of the DG?”
Wike said political alliances are not limited to formal party structures, adding that the Rainbow Coalition is already active in states including Bayelsa, Benue and Kwara in support of Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.
Source: NAN / Nyesom Wike.
