By IGHO OYOYO and HENRY TYOHEMBA, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that only President Bola Tinubu can question his political decisions, as he fired back at critics of his support for the President ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike stated this yesterday during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time, amid a growing disagreement between him and governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over his proposed Rainbow Coalition.
The minister’s comments came hours after the APC Governors’ Forum reaffirmed its opposition to political arrangements it believes could undermine APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
The governors had rejected political arrangements that could weaken the party’s candidates at various levels of the 2027 elections, insisting that their support for Tinubu’s re-election would go hand in hand with support for APC candidates.
Wike, however, drew a clear distinction between his support for Tinubu and his relationship with the APC.
“The only person that can question me today is the President. No other person,” he said.
He maintained that his support was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential bid and did not amount to an agreement to support APC candidates in governorship or legislative elections.
“There was never a day I went to the Governors’ Forum to align with the APC coalition. There was never one day. I have been talking about my alliance with political parties, and there was never one day that he referred to our alliance.”
Wike said he had never hidden his decision to support Tinubu, recalling that he and other members of the G5 backed the President during the 2023 presidential election.
“When, in 2023, we said we were going to support Tinubu, I never knew that it mattered that a presidential election could be viewed from the angle of literacy and other considerations.
“Let me just say that it is about the trustworthiness and background of persons providing leadership,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor explained that his decision to support Tinubu in 2027 was based on his belief that the presidency should remain in the South after eight years in the North, stressing that he had made his position clear from the outset.
“After the election, we decided to support you, and I have never hidden that,” he said. “Why? Because of my belief in the trajectory of the South producing the presidency, having had what has been done now for eight years. So, it would not be fair if the situation goes back to the North.”
Wike also dismissed the argument that his support for Tinubu meant politicians from other parties should abandon their own candidates in state and legislative elections.
He cited the positions of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke as examples of politicians who could support Tinubu at the presidential level while maintaining their political interests in other elections.
“Soludo is supporting Mr President. Does it mean that Soludo will not present candidates in the National Assembly election? Adeleke is supporting Mr President. Does it mean that Adeleke will not support candidates in the National Assembly election? So you can see, the whole thing they are talking about has no basis,” he added.
Wike also insisted that Tinubu was aware of his political activities and intentions, saying he had never taken any political decision without informing the President.
“And there’s nothing I have done that I have never told Mr President what I intend to do. If they know what I know, they won’t come out to say that.”
The FCT minister called on political actors to focus on their own states rather than attempting to use Tinubu’s presidential campaign to secure support for their local candidates. He also rejected the claim that he was trying to build a political structure that would make him more powerful than the APC governors.
