FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has ruled out heading President Bola Tinubu's 2027 presidential campaign, citing both his party status and a historical pattern of campaign directors-general who ended up losing their home states.
Wike spoke on Saturday, August 22, in Abuja after inspecting the Apo-Karshi and Kubwa-Bwari roads, shortly after the Presidency announced the composition of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, with former Zamfara State Governor Senator Abdulaziz Yari named as director-general.
A Pattern of Losing Directors-General
The minister drew on a string of examples spanning three election cycles to make his case. He pointed to Rotimi Amaechi, who was governor of Rivers State when he served as director-general for Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and lost the state in that contest. Amaechi again led Buhari's 2019 campaign as a minister and still could not deliver Rivers.
Wike also recalled Bukola Saraki's role directing Atiku Abubakar's 2019 campaign, saying he personally warned Saraki to focus on home ground. Saraki lost both his state and his Senate seat. In 2023, Aminu Tambuwal served as Atiku's campaign DG and similarly failed to carry his state. Simon Lalong, who led the APC's 2023 campaign for Tinubu, also fell short in his own state.
"If you are DG and you don't win your state, what is the essence of the DG?" Wike said.
He made clear he was not willing to join that list. "I don't want to lose my state! I will be in my state. I have two states: FCT and Rivers. What is important is that you are able to deliver those two states. So it is not about being DG," he said.
Rainbow Coalition as Alternative Path
Beyond the electoral record of past DGs, Wike pointed to his position outside the APC as the more fundamental barrier to leading the council. "I am not a member of APC. So the issue of their Presidential Campaign Council is out of the question," he said, adding that his group had worked to deliver Tinubu's 2023 victory without being part of the APC's formal campaign structure.
He said his support for Tinubu's re-election would instead run through what he described as a Rainbow Coalition, bringing together politicians from different parties to back the president in their respective states. He named Kwara, Bayelsa, Rivers, Osun and Benue as states where the arrangement was already active.
Wike also took stock of progress in the FCT, saying the quality of work on both roads inspected on Saturday was encouraging and that he now expected to complete well over 10 projects before the 2027 elections, more than his original target.
Wike Attacks Atiku
Previously, Legit.ng reported that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a "voodoo economist," accusing him of shifting positions on fuel subsidy policy, while insisting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the frontrunner heading into the 2027 presidential election. Wike made the remarks on Thursday, August 20, during a media briefing held while he inspected infrastructure projects across Abuja.
