Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has drawn a clear distinction between his support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election and the electoral ambitions of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying his backing is for the President and not for other APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
Wike said the Rainbow Coalition he formed to mobilise support for Tinubu was a cross-party platform and had no affiliation with the APC.
His position came a day after APC governors declared that they would not support political alliances or arrangements that could undermine the party’s candidates in the 2027 elections.
Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, announced the governors’ position after their meeting in Abuja on Monday.
The governors said their campaign commitment would be exclusively to APC candidates at all levels, amid concerns within the ruling party about Wike’s cross-party mobilisation for Tinubu.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, Wike rejected any suggestion that his coalition was an APC structure or that he had agreed to prevent opposition parties from fielding candidates against APC candidates.
The Minister said he had never reached an agreement with the APC before supporting Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election and argued that the same arrangement could apply in 2027.
“What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and state house of assembly elections,” he said.
Wike maintained that voters could support Tinubu for president while voting for other parties’ candidates in governorship and legislative elections.
He cited the 2023 elections in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states, where, according to him, voters supported APC candidates in some legislative contests despite voting for other parties in the presidential election.
“In Imo State under Governor Hope Uzodimma, how did APC win two senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day as that of the President, and APC had less than 15 percent in the presidential election? Was it Rainbow Coalition? Were the voters confused?” Wike asked.
“Was it the Rainbow Coalition that also made APC win the National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia, and Enugu States, where the President did not have ten percent of the votes?
“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted APC in the Senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, they won’t be confused in 2027 provided we all support the president genuinely this time?”
‘Support Tinubu first’
Wike urged political stakeholders backing Tinubu to make the presidential election their immediate priority, arguing that other political contests could be dealt with after the presidential poll.
“After the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our states”, he said.
He also dismissed suggestions that his Rainbow Coalition was established to help politicians win elections in their respective states.
“Most importantly, Rainbow Coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is our own way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr President, who has done well to deserve a second term,” he said.
According to Wike, the coalition, which he said was founded in 2025 under the “Renewed Hope Family”, brings together supporters from different political parties, including the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said its central objective was to mobilise support for Tinubu’s second-term bid, while members remained free to contest elections under their respective political parties.
The Minister’s clarification follows growing tension over the political implications of the coalition, particularly its potential impact on the APC’s candidates in the 2027 governorship and legislative elections. Reports indicate that the issue has already generated concerns in several states as the ruling party seeks to maintain a unified electoral structure behind Tinubu.
Wike, however, argued that there was no contradiction in supporting Tinubu for president while backing candidates from other parties in elections held on the same day.
He recalled that members of the G5 governors, including himself, supported Tinubu in 2023 without first entering into an agreement with the APC.
The FCT Minister has continued to maintain that his political priority for 2027 is Tinubu’s re-election. In an earlier media interaction, he also criticised politicians he accused of trying to claim exclusive ownership of support for the President.
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