Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared himself the coordinator of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the FCT and Rivers State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike made the declaration on Monday during a meeting of the Rainbow Coalition at his Abuja residence.
The meeting brought together political leaders, candidates and stakeholders from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discuss their support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
The former Rivers State governor said he would take responsibility for coordinating campaign activities in the two locations.
He also urged members of both parties to put aside their political differences and work towards a common objective.
“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. I am in charge of the FCT election. I am the commander of field operations as far as the FCT election is concerned,” Wike declared.
He told the gathering that the coalition should not allow party affiliations to interfere with its presidential campaign plans.
According to him, members of the APC and PDP must cooperate if they are committed to the same objective.
“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 said.
The meeting was attended by party chairmen, serving and former senators, National Assembly candidates and other political figures from the FCT’s six area councils.
Their presence reflected the cross-party arrangement Wike is seeking to build around Tinubu’s re-election bid.
A notable feature of the gathering was the reported decision by PDP National Assembly candidates in the FCT to support their APC counterparts.
The arrangement points to a political understanding in which members of the two parties intend to cooperate in the presidential contest while retaining their separate party identities.
Wike, however, made it clear that the coalition’s central objective was to secure another term for Tinubu.
He indicated that participating politicians could take their own positions on other electoral contests, distinguishing the presidential alliance from the contests for other offices.
Although Wike remains a member of the PDP, he has continued to support Tinubu, an APC president, since the 2023 general elections.
His stance has placed him at odds with sections of his party who oppose his cooperation with the ruling party.
Wike also defended the coalition against criticism from politicians who have questioned its purpose and relationship with the ruling party.
He has maintained that the arrangement is focused on Tinubu’s presidential ambition and does not prevent members of other parties from contesting elections under their respective platforms.
The minister had previously explained that the Rainbow Coalition was designed to bring together politicians who support Tinubu, regardless of their party affiliations.
He argued that backing the president should not require opposition politicians to abandon their parties or surrender their ambitions in other elections.
His position has, however, caused disagreements within the APC.
Some party leaders have expressed concerns about the emergence of a parallel political structure that could affect the ruling party’s control of campaign activities and influence the selection of candidates for legislative positions.
The minister also referred to the 2024 Edo State governorship election while defending cooperation between politicians from different parties.
He claimed that collaboration between politicians from the APC and PDP had helped prevent the then-incumbent governor from installing his preferred successor.
Wike used the example to argue that politicians could work together across party lines when they shared a specific political objective.
Recall that POLITICS NIGERIA previously reported on September, that the Deputy National Chairman of the APC, South, Dr Ben Nwoye, rejected Wike’s Rainbow Coalition.
It warned that a political arrangement allowing politicians to support Tinubu while backing candidates from other parties could create complications for the ruling party.
Wike has maintained that his support for Tinubu does not amount to an agreement to stop the PDP from fielding candidates in other elections.
He has also insisted that the coalition is not intended to replace the APC but to mobilise support for the president across party lines.
