Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Tuesday, September 15, hit back at the governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying president Bola Tinubu is aware of his Rainbow Coalition and all his political activities ahead of the 2027 election.
Wike spoke while reacting to opposition from the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) to the Rainbow Coalition.
The PGF had said it would not endorse any political arrangement capable of weakening the party or affecting its candidates in the general election.
Hope Uzodimma, governor of Imo and chairman of the forum, said the governors would not support an arrangement capable of creating divided loyalty or undermining the APC.
However, Wike said the governors’ opposition to him did not begin with the coalition, noting that they were unhappy with Tinubu’s decision to appoint him FCT minister.
“Let me tell you, all these things that you are seeing, it didn’t start today. It started with my ministerial appointment,” Wike said.
The FCT minister said he was not carrying out his political activities behind the president’s back.
“There is nothing that I do that I don’t tell president Tinubu,” he said.
Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the Rainbow Coalition was initiated to mobilise support across party lines for Tinubu’s re-election.
He said his support for the president should not be interpreted as support for the APC as a party.
Wike said he had never approached the APC or the PGF to ally.
“There’s no day I went to the governors’ forum to align between both coalitions. There’s no day,” he said.
The former governor of Rivers recalled that the G5, a group of five PDP governors, supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election without allying with the APC.
“When the G5 came out to support the president, was there any time we held meetings with their Governors Progressive Forum or with their party? We met with the president and told him we are going to support you,” he said.
Wike said the 2023 election showed that voters could support candidates from different political parties in separate elections held on the same day.
The FCT minister cited Imo state, where he said Tinubu secured less than 10 percent of the presidential votes while APC candidates won two senatorial seats, while the Labour Party (LP) won one.
Wike also recalled Ebonyi state, where he said Tinubu lost the presidential election while APC candidates won the three senatorial seats.
“An election that was held the same day. What happened that the electorate knew how to vote for the president of the Labour Party and they voted for APC at the national assembly election?” he asked.
Wike said governors who support Tinubu’s re-election can still support candidates of their respective parties in other elections.
He also dismissed suggestions that the Rainbow Coalition was designed to increase his personal political influence.
Wike said he is not answerable to APC governors, adding that his focus as FCT minister is on delivering projects in the capital.
He also criticised the APC governors who addressed the media over the coalition, describing them as smart but politically lazy.
“The governors of Osun, Anambra and Abia states are supporting the president’s re-election. Won’t they still support the candidates of their parties in other elections? So where is the confusion?” he asked.
“I’m not answerable to APC governors.’
Wike said the Imo governor should be concerned about the voting pattern in his state during the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Tinubu’s prospects in other South-South states, Wike said Bayelsa state could support the president in 2027.
“Hope Uzodimma was the governor of Imo state, yet president Tinubu could not secure 10 percent of the votes there. But he took two senators, and the Labour Party took one senator,” he said.
“Because of our Rainbow Coalition, we no longer have Rivers of blood. There is no litigation on party candidates in Rivers state, unlike in Imo state.
“That can happen in Bayelsa state. The whole PDP there is working for the president,” he said.
Wike also added that Tinubu would win in the FCT.
“As I sit here today, I will tell you that the president will win in the FCT,” he added.
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