The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said he will lead the 2027 Presidential Campaign in Rivers State for Bola Tinubu of the APC.
Mr Wike spoke in Abuja on Monday during a media chat which was broadcast live on Channels TV.
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The FCT minister is a member of the PDP, although he serves in the APC administration of President Tinubu.
Mr Wike has been accused of sabotaging the PDP to the benefit of the Tinubu administration, but he has always maintained that he is a loyal member and benefactor of the party.
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The minister was asked to comment on his political future in 2027.
“Is it because I am in Asiwaju’s (Tinubu) presidency? Are you not aware that I will lead his campaign in Rivers State? You want me to say no?” he responded.
When asked again by another journalist if he meant he would support Mr Tinubu of the APC despite being in the PDP, the FCT minister said: “Yes. Is that hidden? (This is) because I have said the South (part of Nigeria) must produce the president.”
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‘Tinubu will win in Abuja in 2027’
During the 2023 presidential election, Mr Tinubu lost in Abuja to the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Out of the six area councils of the FCT, the Labour Party won four, while the APC won two.
At the media chat on Monday, Mr Wike predicted that Mr Tinubu will win the presidential election in the FCT in 2027.
“Are you not aware that he (Tinubu) did not get up to 10 per cent here in the FCT? But he will win here (FCT in 2027),” he predicted.
‘Why PDP cannot sanction me for serving in APC govt’
Mr Wike said he was not worried over a possibility of being sanctioned by the PDP for accepting to serve in the APC government.
The FCT minister said the main opposition party cannot sanction him because he informed the party before accepting to serve in the government without getting opposition.
“I never collected ministerial position without writing to the party (PDP). I wrote to the Zonal. I wrote to the governor. I wrote to the national leadership of the party. I challenge any of them to come and say whether they said no, that I should not accept the (ministerial) position,” he said.
He, however, said he was not surprised that even the PDP governors did not oppose his serving in Mr Tinubu’s government because some of them were seeking appointments in the APC’s administration for their cronies.
“You (the governors) go and lobby the president to give certain persons appointments and you come out in the daytime to accuse Wike of working for the APC government,” Mr Wike said.
“I am still in PDP. I worked hard for the party. I have not seen anybody who will have the guts to tell me, ‘Wike, you are not a member of the party.’ Who is that? What is his contribution to the party that is more than me?”
Not the first time
This is not the first time Mr Wike would support APC’s Mr Tinubu against the candidate of his party, the PDP.
After the 2022 PDP presidential primary which he lost, Mr Wike formed an alliance with four other governors at the time who were aggrieved with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the then party’s National Chairperson, Iyorchia Ayu, to work against the PDP interest.
Apart from Mr Wike, other members of the group, called G5, were Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu State) Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and their Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde.
READ ALSO: Real reason I can’t make peace with Fubara – Wike
The group had demanded the resignation of the then PDP National Chairperson, Mr Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party in order to achieve a “regional balance.”
The then governors’ argument was that both Mr Ayu and Atiku hail from northern Nigeria.
The feud worsened after Atiku refused to pick Mr Wike as his running mate.
Atiku later lost in the 2023 presidential election. He came second with 6, 984, 520 votes, behind the eventual winner, Mr Tinubu of the APC, who polled 8, 794, 726 votes.
The G5 governors’ withdrawal of support for Atiku was said to be among the reasons for the PDP candidate’s loss at the poll.
Unlike other members of the G5, Mr Wike, many believe, supported Mr Tinubu of the APC in the election and “helped” him to “win” in Rivers despite being a PDP state.
Mr Tinubu subsequently appointed the former governor as the minister of the FCT in what observers said appeared to be a pay-back for his support in the election.
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