2027: Wike rallies support for Tinubu in Obio-Akpor, insists he’II resign, should president lose FCT, Rivers
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Friday declared that his political alignment with President Bola Tinubu remains unshakable, rallying the political structure of Rivers State to consolidate support for the President.
”My interest in Rivers State is for God to use me as a vessel to help our people. I am back here not for what I will get, but for what I will be to raise my people,” Wike declared during a strategic consultative meeting with stakeholders of the Akpor Kingdom in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
According to a statement by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, Wike emphasised that politics was driven by the collective interest of the people, rather than perpetual animosity.
He also reiterated his decision to resign his position as minister, should President Tinubu lose in Rivers State and the FCT.
The former governor of Rivers State maintained that expanding the political base was essential for delivering democratic dividends.
He said “there is no permanent enemy in politics; what we have is permanent collective interest. It is all about the interest of our people.
“The more you are in number, the happier you become. Leadership is like a waste dustbin. If you cannot absorb things, both the good and the bad, then, you cannot be a true leader.”
Reflecting on the political trajectory that led to his appointment as FCT minister, Wike noted that working with President Tinubu was an extraordinary milestone that defied political convention.
He stressed that his return to grassroots mobilisation in Rivers State was aimed at leveraging his position as a vessel to uplift the state and its people.
”You know how difficult; you know how impossible it looked; but he made it possible for us to produce the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory,” Wike told the gathering.
He charged political actors in the state not to be distracted by social media criticism regarding his open-door policy toward former detractors, asserting that true political strength lay in numerical superiority.
In a fiery charge to local leaders, Wike demanded an all-inclusive campaign structure spanning every stratum of society in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.
He called on traditional rulers, the clergy, and community leaders to unite behind a single political direction.
”Obio-Akpor as a whole, whether you are a politician, whether you are a traditional ruler, whether you are a pastor, or whether you are a native doctor, I need everybody now,” he declared.
Wike said further: “Because all of them will vote. For the purpose of voting and elections, we must bring everyone together.”
Drawing from his political history as the first elected chairman in the history of Obio-Akpor Local Government to win a second term, following its creation in 1989, Wike reminded incumbent council leaders that performance and human connection remained the ultimate yardsticks for re-election.
“I was not elected two times because I was just chairman. I was elected because people felt the impact of governance and because I related with the people; anywhere, whether for burial or thanksgiving, I was always identifying with them,” he said.
