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2027: Wike Takes Charge Of Tinubu’s FCT Campaign As PDP NASS Candidates Rally Behind APC Rivals
2027: Wike Takes Charge Of Tinubu’s FCT Campaign As PDP NASS Candidates Rally Behind APC Rivals
Wike declares himself Tinubu’s campaign coordinator for FCT and Rivers, saying he will command electoral operations in the capital.
PDP National Assembly candidates in FCT agree to rally behind APC opponents as rival political blocs forge a 2027 alliance.
Minister tells APC, PDP stakeholders to bury party differences, insisting they are united behind Tinubu’s re-election.
Wike stakes campaign on Tinubu’s FCT projects and reforms, defends economic policies and backs creation of state police.
October 12, () – The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Monday, formally assumed a frontline role in President Bola Tinubu’s emerging 2027 re-election machinery, declaring himself coordinator of the President’s campaign in the FCT and Rivers State as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Assembly candidates rallied behind their All Progressives Congress (APC) rivals.
Wike made the declaration at a meeting of the Rainbow Coalition in Abuja, where senior figures from the APC and PDP agreed to collapse partisan differences and work together for Tinubu’s re-election.
In a significant expansion of the alliance beyond the presidential contest, PDP National Assembly candidates at the meeting also declared support for APC candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in the FCT.
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“For the presidency, all of us have agreed that it is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am going to coordinate the FCT and Rivers State. So you can imagine how important it is”, Wike stated.
Leaving no ambiguity about the role he intends to play, the former Rivers State governor added: “I am in charge of the FCT election. I am the commander of field operations as far as the FCT election is concerned.”
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The meeting drew party chairmen, serving and former senators, National Assembly candidates and political leaders from the six area councils of the FCT, bringing politicians ordinarily belonging to opposing camps under a common platform.
Wike said the purpose was to establish a clear political direction ahead of 2027 and ensure that members understood that, for the coalition’s immediate objective, loyalty to individual political parties would take a back seat.
“I want to let all of you know that we are going to work together. Nobody should say, ‘I am PDP’ or ‘I am APC.’ For the purpose of this election, we are together”, he added.
PDP Candidates Rally Behind APC Rivals
The most striking outcome of the meeting was the decision by PDP National Assembly candidates to support their APC counterparts in the FCT.
While the Rainbow Coalition brings together politicians from different parties around Tinubu’s presidential bid, the agreement in the FCT stretches the partnership into National Assembly contests, potentially altering the political calculations ahead of 2027.
Wike said the coalition had settled on Tinubu for the presidency and APC candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in the territory.
He nevertheless indicated that the broader political understanding was principally built around the presidential election, with participating parties retaining room to determine their positions in other contests where no specific agreement had been reached.
The minister urged members to focus on their shared electoral objective rather than their formal party affiliations.
He cited the September 2024 Edo governorship election as an example of what coordinated political forces could achieve across party lines, claiming cooperation involving elements from the APC and PDP had helped prevent the then governing political establishment in the state from installing a preferred successor.
‘Show Me One Area Council Tinubu Has Not Touched’
Wike also sought to provide the political justification for the coalition’s support for Tinubu, putting the President’s record in the FCT at the centre of his argument for a second term.
He challenged stakeholders to identify any of the six area councils that had not benefited from infrastructure projects or institutional reforms since the administration came into office.
The minister pointed to road construction and rehabilitation, renovation of schools and police stations and other public infrastructure being delivered across the territory.
He also highlighted changes within the FCT Administration, including the establishment of the FCT Civil Service Commission, appointment of a Head of the Civil Service from within the territory’s workforce and creation of the Women Affairs and Youth Development Secretariats.
According to Wike, the reforms have expanded opportunities for career progression within the FCT civil service and addressed longstanding institutional limitations affecting workers.
He argued that the combination of infrastructure development and administrative reforms would give the coalition a tangible record to take to voters when campaigning for Tinubu.
Wike Defends Tinubu’s Economic Choices
The FCT Minister also confronted concerns over the economic hardship facing Nigerians, acknowledging that some reforms introduced by the administration had come with painful consequences.
He, however, argued that the government could not repair longstanding economic problems without taking difficult decisions whose benefits might take time to materialise.
“Changing the economy of a country is not like a prayer”, Wike said.
His remarks came against the backdrop of continuing pressure on households from high living costs, which opposition parties are expected to make a central issue in the battle for the presidency in 2027.
Wike maintained that the administration should ultimately be assessed on whether its reforms succeed in correcting structural problems and improving the economy.
On security, he also backed the proposed establishment of state police, arguing that decentralising policing would strengthen the capacity of governments to respond to Nigeria’s security challenges.
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