FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has explained why he did not take up the position of Director-General of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign, saying he is not a member of the All Progressives Congress and would not risk losing his home state.
Wike spoke on Saturday after inspecting the ongoing construction of the Apo-Karshi and Kubwa-Bwari roads in Abuja.
His comments followed the Presidency’s announcement of former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election.
Wike said political influence should not be measured by the position an individual occupies in a campaign organisation, but by the ability to secure electoral victory in their home state.
“Political relevance is not about the position you hold in a campaign. What matters is your ability to deliver your state. We have seen campaign DGs in the past who went on to lose their own states,” he said.
The minister cited former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who served as campaign director-general for former President Muhammadu Buhari but later lost Rivers State, as an example.
He also referred to former Senate President Bukola Saraki, who lost Kwara State and his Senate seat after leading Atiku Abubakar’s 2019 presidential campaign.
Wike further mentioned former Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and former Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, saying both also lost their states after serving in campaign leadership roles during the 2023 elections.
The former Rivers State governor said he was unwilling to take such a risk, stressing that his priority was to help deliver victory for Tinubu in both the FCT and Rivers State.
He argued that a campaign leadership position would have little value if the holder was unable to secure victory in his own state.
Wike also ruled out the possibility of heading the APC Presidential Campaign Council because of his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“I am not a member of APC. So the issue of their Presidential Campaign Council is out of the question,” he said.
The minister, however, reaffirmed his support for Tinubu’s re-election bid, recalling that he backed the President in the 2023 election despite not being a member of the APC campaign council.
“When we were fighting for the President to be president in 2023, we were not members of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, but we were fighting. We had our own strategies on how the President would emerge,” Wike said.
He said his current support for Tinubu was being coordinated through a group he described as the “Rainbow Coalition”, a cross-party alliance of politicians working towards the President’s re-election while retaining membership of their respective political parties.
According to Wike, the coalition is already active in states including Kwara, Bayelsa, Rivers, Osun and Benue.
