Why I couldn’t have been Tinubu’s campaign DG - Wike

Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, has clarified why he would not serve as the Director General for President Bola Tinubu's 2027 campaign. Wike stated that his non-membership in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the potential to lose his home state, Rivers, prevent him from taking such a role.

Wike, speaking after inspecting roads in Abuja, recalled instances where previous campaign directors general, despite successfully helping their candidates win the presidency, subsequently lost their home states. He mentioned the 2015 and 2019 campaigns where the Minister of Transport, who was also the campaign DG, lost Rivers State. He also pointed to Bukola Saraki's role in the 2019 Atiku campaign and Aminu Tambuwal's in the 2023 Atiku campaign, both of whom reportedly lost their home states. Wike also noted that Lalong, the DG for the APC in 2023, lost his state.

"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. If you are DG and you don’t win your state, what is the essence of the DG?" Wike questioned, stressing his priority is securing victory in the FCT and Rivers State.

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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. If you are DG and you don’t win your state, what is the essence of the DG?

Wike also highlighted his position outside the APC as a reason he could not head the campaign council, even as he continues to support the president's re-election. He described his backing for Tinubu as operating through a "Rainbow Coalition" of politicians from various parties who support the president's agenda in their respective states while maintaining their party affiliations. This coalition, he noted, is already active in states like Kwara, Bayelsa, Rivers, Osun, and Benue.

He explained that even during the 2023 presidential election, his group worked towards Tinubu's emergence without being part of the official APC Presidential 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. So, we had our own strategies on how the president would emerge," he said.

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I am not a member of APC. So the issue of their Presidential Campaign Council is out of the question. 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. So, we had our own strategies on how the president would emerge.