2027: My support only for President Tinubu; I didn’t promise PDP won’t field candidates in other elections –Wike
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has reiterated that his support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains sacrosanct, saying he never promised that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not field candidates in governorship, National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly elections.
The minister said the rainbow coalition did not have anything to do with the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the coalition as a platform for other political parties that were pleased with the good works of the President and were supporting his re-election.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, on Tuesday, the FCT minister, who said he won’t be the one to help people to win elections in their states, noted that “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 pointed out that he never met with the APC before he and other members of the G5 supported the President in 2023, adding that for 2027, his support would be for the President only.
The minister said politics was no longer about coming from fourth position to be governor; that it was about genuinely mobilising support and winning elections from the polling units.
He asked: “In Imo State, under Governor Hope Uzodinma, how did the APC win two Senate seats in 2023, in an election held the same day with that of the President and the APC had less than 15 per cent in the presidential election? Was it rainbow coalition? Were the voters confused?
“Was it rainbow coalition that also made the APC win National Assembly elections in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states where the President did not have 10 per cent of the votes?
“If in 2023, the voters in Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi voted the APC in the senatorial election and voted another party in the presidential election, would they be confused in 2027, provided we all support the President genuinely this time?”
The minister urged all stakeholders to put the presidential election first, saying; “after the President must have been reelected, we can all go and face elections in our states.
“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 Houses of Assembly elections.
“Most importantly, rainbow coalition has nothing to do with the APC. Rather, it is own way of mobilising support across political parties for Mr. President who has done well to deserve a second term.
