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By 247ureports.com
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has declared he will resign from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet if Tinubu fails to win both the FCT and Rivers State in the January 2027 presidential election, staking his ministerial tenure directly on his ability to deliver the president votes in his two political strongholds.
The Declaration
Speaking Wednesday, September 30, during an engagement with the leadership of the Apo Mechanics and Traders Association in Abuja, Wike said: “If I cannot deliver where I work, then I’m not worthy to be here. If I lose FCT, I’m not supposed to be FCT Minister. By January 17, 2027, I will announce my resignation as FCT Minister should the President lose in Rivers State and the FCT.” He added that his continued qualification for the role hinges on delivering results: “If I cannot deliver FCT as Minister, then I am not qualified to hold this office.”
Wike said the administration is building a multi-party coalition in the FCT to secure victory across multiple elective offices, and used the occasion to publicly endorse candidates for the territory, including Senate aspirant Philip Aduda and House of Representatives candidates aligned with Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Why It’s a Real Test
The pledge is a notably high-stakes one given recent electoral history: in the 2023 presidential election, Labour Party candidate Peter Obi won the FCT decisively with more than 61% of the vote, with the APC finishing second — making a Tinubu victory there in 2027 far from guaranteed. Wike, a PDP politician who has served in Tinubu’s APC-led administration since his August 2023 appointment despite never joining the party, has increasingly positioned his political survival around delivering both his home state of Rivers and his territory of work, the FCT, for the president.
The declaration lands amid Wike’s broader, escalating standoff with APC governors over his proposed cross-party “Rainbow Coalition” for 2027, and some APC state leaders have separately called on him to formally join the ruling party rather than continue operating from within PDP. By publicly tying his job to Tinubu’s performance in these two specific territories, Wike has effectively raised the political cost of failure for himself heading into the election.
