By 247ureports.com
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has pledged that Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory will vote massively for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election, and told members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council that a presidential win would not excuse anyone who fails to deliver their own state.
Wike spoke on Wednesday, October 14, at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja. He has been named coordinator of the campaign in Rivers State and the FCT. “Let me say and pledge, by the grace of God, Rivers and FCT will vote massively for Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said. “If you don’t deliver your state and the president wins, don’t say we have won. It is not a question of I am chairman of this, I am secretary of this, I am a member of this.” He recalled a conversation with the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, saying: “I told the Chief of Staff, if the president wins but you don’t win in Lagos, don’t say we have won.” He added that Rivers and the FCT were “taken,” and challenged any area council to say it does not feel the presence of the President. He also set a date for the thanksgiving, saying the team would return on January 16, 2027, to thank God.
The remarks were widely read as a message to APC governors and senior campaign figures, and the challenge on Lagos carries some weight. In the 2023 presidential election, official results showed Labour Party candidate Peter Obi narrowly beating Tinubu in Lagos, and winning the FCT by a wide margin of 281,717 votes to Tinubu’s 90,902. Wike, who is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and described himself at the event as the sole leader of that party, also defended the inclusion of opposition figures in the campaign council, saying Tinubu had indicated that those outside the APC who could contribute should be accommodated.
The speech has been overshadowed by a viral video that appears to show Wike declining to shake hands with Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma after speaking at the event. The two fell out after Uzodimma moved to dissuade APC governors from backing Wike’s cross-party “Rainbow Coalition,” a dispute that has run for weeks. Separately, Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, has described the council as “a crowded confession of Tinubu’s fear” and criticised the decision to inaugurate it inside the Presidential Villa.
Earlier this month, Wike also vowed to resign as FCT Minister if Tinubu loses both Rivers and the FCT, a pledge that ties his own job to the same two contests. The APC and the Presidency had not commented on the handshake episode at the time of this report.
