FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says President Bola Tinubu is aware of his political activities and the “Rainbow Coalition” ahead of the 2027 elections.
Wike made the disclosure during an interview on Prime Time, an Arise News programme, while reacting to the opposition of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) to the coalition.
The PGF, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, had said APC governors would not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the party, creating divided loyalty or affecting APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
Wike, however, said the governors’ concerns about him predated the Rainbow Coalition, claiming that some of them had opposed his appointment as FCT minister.
“Let me tell you, all these things that you are seeing, it didn’t start today. It started with my ministerial appointment,” he said.
The former Rivers State governor, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he was not conducting his political activities without Tinubu’s knowledge.
“There is nothing that I do that I don’t tell Mr President,” Wike said.
Wike explained that the Rainbow Coalition was established to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election across party lines and was not an arrangement to support the APC in every election.
He said he had never approached the APC or the PGF to establish an alliance.
“There’s no day I went to the Governors’ Forum to align between both coalitions. There’s no day,” he said.
Wike: Support for Tinubu is separate from APC
Wike cited the G5, a group of five PDP governors who supported Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, as an example of how politicians can back a presidential candidate while supporting their own parties in other elections.
He said the 2023 election demonstrated that voters could choose candidates from different political parties for different positions on the same ballot.
Wike cited Imo and Ebonyi states, where he said the voting patterns for the presidential and National Assembly elections differed.
His argument is similar to his earlier position that his support for Tinubu in 2027 does not mean opposition parties must abandon their own candidates in governorship and legislative elections.
‘I’m not answerable to APC governors’
Wike said he was not answerable to APC governors and maintained that his focus as FCT minister was delivering projects in the capital.
He criticised the governors who addressed the media over the Rainbow Coalition, describing them as “smart” but “politically lazy”.
“I’m not answerable to APC governors,” he said.
Wike also questioned the governors’ concerns about divided loyalty, pointing to politicians who support Tinubu for president while their parties continue to field candidates for other positions.
He said there was no contradiction in such an arrangement.
Wike predicts Tinubu will win FCT
Wike also expressed confidence that Tinubu would secure the Federal Capital Territory in the 2027 presidential election.
“As I sit here today, I will tell you that the President will win in the FCT,” he said.
He further claimed that the Rainbow Coalition had helped reduce political tension in Rivers State and said the model could be replicated in other states.
According to Wike, Bayelsa State could also support Tinubu in 2027, claiming that elements within the PDP in the state were already working for the president.
The comments come amid growing debate over whether cross-party support for Tinubu could coexist with APC’s campaign for its candidates at other levels of the 2027 elections. The PGF has said its campaign commitment remains focused on APC candidates across all levels.
