Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has fired back at Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma and other APC governors, insisting that his political support ahead of the 2027 elections is strictly for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
Wike also dismissed any suggestion that his support for Tinubu means the Peoples Democratic Party will withdraw from governorship and legislative contests in 2027.
In a statement issued Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said he never promised that the PDP would not field candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
The minister said he would not allow the President’s re-election campaign to be used to settle political disputes in individual states.
“I won’t be the one to help people to win elections in their states. Politics is local, and those having problems in their states should resolve them instead of using the re-election of the President to whip up sentiments,” Wike said.
Wike further declared that his political arrangement with Tinubu should not be interpreted as an agreement with the APC.
“For 2027, my support is for the President only,” he said, recalling that he and other members of the G5 did not meet with the APC before backing Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
He then took a direct swipe at Uzodimma, declaring: “Politics is no longer about coming from fourth place to become governor. It is about genuinely mobilising support and winning elections from the polling units.”
Wike questioned how the APC secured two senatorial seats in Imo State in 2023 when Tinubu reportedly received less than 15 per cent of the presidential vote in the state.
“Was it a rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?” he asked.
He also cited APC victories in National Assembly elections in Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu, despite Tinubu recording less than 10 per cent of the presidential votes in some of those states.
Wike argued that the 2023 voting pattern showed that Nigerians could vote for one party at the presidential level and another at legislative or state level.
“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027 provided we all genuinely support the President this time,” he said.
The minister urged political stakeholders to concentrate first on the presidential election, saying, “After the President must have been re-elected, we can all go and face elections in our states.”
He also clarified that the Rainbow Coalition was not an APC initiative but, according to him, a platform for mobilising support for Tinubu across different political parties.
“Most importantly, Rainbow Coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is our way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well and deserves a second term,” Wike said.