Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has drawn a clear line between his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the political battles involving candidates seeking elective positions in the states ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike said his major political objective for the next presidential election is to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
He, however, made it clear that his backing for the President should not be interpreted as a promise to help politicians secure governorship or legislative victories in their respective states.
The former Rivers State governor said politicians who are facing difficulties within their states must find ways to resolve those problems without dragging Tinubu’s presidential campaign into their local political disputes.
Wike stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka.
The minister also addressed the growing political activities around the Rainbow Coalition, an arrangement that has brought together politicians from different political parties who support Tinubu’s return to office in 2027.
According to Wike, the coalition should not be mistaken for a structure created by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He insisted that the arrangement is broader and is designed to bring together individuals across party lines who believe that Tinubu deserves another term.
“I won’t be the one to help people to win elections in their states. Politics is local, and those having problems in their states should resolve them instead of using the re-election of the President to whip up sentiments,” Wike said.
The minister’s position means that his support for Tinubu at the presidential level does not automatically extend to candidates contesting other elections.
Wike maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of which he remains a member, is free to field candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
He said he had never reached any agreement that would stop the PDP from participating in those contests.
“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 has remained one of the most prominent opposition politicians backing Tinubu despite retaining his membership of the PDP.
Wike was one of the five PDP governors known as the G5 who refused to campaign for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, after the party’s internal crisis over its leadership structure and zoning.
The G5 governors had demanded the resignation of former PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu before agreeing to support Atiku.
The group maintained that the presidential candidate and national chairman should not come from the same region.
Wike and his allies eventually supported Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
The FCT minister has now indicated that he intends to adopt a similar approach in 2027 by concentrating on the presidential contest while allowing politicians to fight their own battles in their states.
He recalled that he and other members of the G5 supported Tinubu in 2023 without first reaching an agreement with the APC.
Wike said the same principle applies to the current Rainbow Coalition.
“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,” Wike said.
The coalition has continued to attract politicians from outside the APC.
In recent weeks, Wike has repeatedly argued that support for Tinubu does not require politicians to abandon their political parties.
Wike also pointed to the voting pattern recorded during the 2023 general elections as evidence that Nigerian voters can make different choices in different contests.
He cited Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states, where voters did not necessarily support the same political party in the presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to him, the results from those states showed that voters could support one party for president and another party for legislative positions.
He specifically questioned how the APC secured two senatorial seats in Imo State in 2023 despite recording less than 15 per cent of the presidential votes in the state.
Wike also referred to APC victories in National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu, where the party’s presidential performance was significantly lower in some cases.
“The results showed that voters were capable of separating presidential and state-level elections,” he said.
The minister therefore urged politicians to focus on the presidential election first rather than allowing disagreements over state-level contests to affect efforts to secure Tinubu’s re-election.
“After the President must have been re-elected, we can all go and face elections in our states,” he concluded.