NEWS
“I Am the Commander of Field Operations” — FCT Minister, Nysome Wike Says, Declares Himself Tinubu’s Campaign Coordinator in FCT, Rivers Ahead of 2027 Elections
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared himself the coordinator of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the Federal Capital Territory and Rivers State ahead of the 2027 general elections, signalling his intention to play a central role in mobilising political support for the president across the two locations.
Wike made the declaration on Monday, October 12, 2026, during a meeting of the Rainbow Coalition at his Abuja residence, where political leaders, candidates and stakeholders drawn from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gathered to discuss strategies for supporting Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
Addressing participants at the meeting, the former Rivers State governor said he would personally take responsibility for coordinating campaign activities in the FCT and Rivers State, stressing the importance of the two locations to the coalition’s political calculations ahead of the next presidential election.
“For the presidency, all of us have agreed that it is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am going to coordinate the FCT and Rivers State. So you can imagine how important it is. I am in charge of the FCT election. I am the commander of field operations as far as the FCT election is concerned,” Wike declared.
The minister also urged members of the coalition to put aside their political differences and work towards a shared objective, insisting that party affiliations should not become an obstacle to their efforts to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.
“I want to let all of you know that we are going to work together. Nobody should say, ‘I am PDP’ or ‘I am APC.’ For the purpose of this election, we are together,” he said.
The gathering brought together an array of political figures, including party chairmen, serving and former senators, National Assembly candidates and other stakeholders from the FCT’s six area councils.
The participation of politicians from the two major parties underscored the cross-party arrangement the minister is seeking to establish around Tinubu’s presidential campaign, even as the APC and PDP continue to maintain separate political structures and compete in other electoral contests.
One of the notable developments at the meeting was the reported decision by PDP National Assembly candidates in the FCT to support their APC counterparts. The arrangement suggests a political understanding among some participants to cooperate in the presidential contest while retaining their respective party identities.
Wike, however, made it clear that the coalition’s primary objective was to work towards securing another term for Tinubu. His position appeared to distinguish the alliance’s presidential agenda from the ambitions of politicians contesting legislative and other elective positions.
Under the arrangement he described, politicians could cooperate in support of the president without necessarily abandoning their political parties or withdrawing from other electoral contests. The approach reflects Wike’s longstanding argument that support for Tinubu does not automatically require opposition politicians to defect to the APC.
The minister has remained a member of the PDP while supporting Tinubu, who emerged as the APC’s presidential candidate in 2023 and subsequently became president. Wike’s political alignment has continued to generate disagreements within the opposition party, particularly among members who believe his cooperation with the ruling party conflicts with the PDP’s role as an opposition platform.
Despite the criticism, Wike has continued to defend his political position, maintaining that his support for the president is a matter of political choice and does not require him to relinquish his PDP membership.
He has also defended the Rainbow Coalition against questions about its purpose and its relationship with the APC, explaining that the platform is intended to bring together politicians who support Tinubu’s presidential ambition, irrespective of their party affiliations.
According to the position he has consistently advanced, opposition politicians should be able to support the president while remaining within their respective parties and pursuing their own ambitions in governorship, legislative and other elections.
However, the arrangement has also generated concerns within sections of the APC, where some party leaders have reportedly questioned the emergence of a parallel political structure that could influence campaign coordination and affect the ruling party’s control of political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections.
Such concerns highlight the competing interests that may arise when politicians from different parties form alliances around a presidential candidate while maintaining separate ambitions for other offices. The extent to which the Rainbow Coalition will operate alongside the APC’s formal campaign structures remains an important issue as preparations for the next general elections gather momentum.
Wike also cited the 2024 Edo State governorship election while defending cooperation across party lines. He claimed that collaboration between politicians from the APC and PDP had helped prevent the then-incumbent governor from installing his preferred successor.
The minister used the example to argue that political actors could work together on a specific electoral objective even when they belonged to different parties. His argument is that political alliances do not always require permanent party realignments, particularly when participants share an immediate objective.
With his latest declaration, Wike has placed himself at the centre of the Rainbow Coalition’s proposed campaign coordination in the FCT and Rivers State, while calling on supporters of Tinubu from both the APC and PDP to work together.
As political preparations for the 2027 general elections continue, the coalition’s activities, its relationship with the APC’s official campaign machinery and the response of stakeholders within the PDP are likely to remain subjects of political attention.