Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has fired back at governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that he is not answerable to them and that his political activities in support of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election have the President’s knowledge.
Wike spoke on Tuesday night during an appearance on Arise News Prime Time, amid growing disagreement between him and the APC Governors’ Forum over his “Rainbow Coalition”, a cross-party platform he says is focused on mobilising support for Tinubu rather than APC candidates in other elections.
“There is nothing that I do that I don’t tell Mr. President,” Wike stated.
The FCT minister, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said his support for Tinubu was specifically for the President’s re-election and did not amount to an agreement to support APC candidates in governorship, National Assembly or State House of Assembly elections.
He also dismissed the position of the APC governors, who had said they would not support political arrangements capable of weakening the party or its candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
“I’m not answerable to APC governors.
“If people fail to learn from other people, they don’t grow. I took 31 days to commission projects in the FCT and they are not happy,” he added.
Wike subsequently took aim at Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Hope Uzodimma, who had announced the governors’ position.
“Hope Uzodimma should be lucky that I’m not in the APC. Hope fears for nothing,” Wike said.
“When I look at the APC governors who held the press conference, I see some people who are smart but politically lazy. Hope Uzodinma was the governor of Imo State, yet President Tinubu could not secure 10% of the votes there.”
He questioned why APC won two senatorial seats in Imo State in the 2023 elections despite Tinubu receiving less than 10 percent of the presidential vote in the state.
“Hope in his own state, Imo state, he was Governor. President Tinubu didn’t get 10% votes in the 2023 elections, but he took two senators and Labour Party took one senator. Is he saying Imo people were confused, or were they not confused?”
Wike also pointed to the political situations in Osun, Anambra and Abia states, arguing that support for Tinubu at the presidential level does not necessarily translate into support for APC candidates in other elections.
“The governors of Osun, Anambra and Abia States are supporting the President reelection. Won’t they still support the candidates of their parties in other elections? So where is the confusion?”
The minister further defended the coalition’s activities in Rivers State, where he said the political arrangement had helped reduce tensions and litigation surrounding party candidates.
“Because of our rainbow coalition, we no longer have Rivers of blood. There is no litigation on party candidates in Rivers State, unlike Imo State.”
Asked where else in the South-South region Tinubu could secure support, Wike pointed to Bayelsa State, where he claimed members of the PDP were working for the President.
“That can happen in Bayelsa State. The whole PDP there is working for the President. The founder of the NDC is not the founder of Bayelsa.”
“As I sit here today, I will tell you that the President will win in the FCT,” he added.
Wike has separately maintained that the Rainbow Coalition is not an APC structure, describing it as a platform through which politicians from different parties can mobilise support for Tinubu while their respective parties remain free to field candidates in other elections.
