*Mocks Amaechi, Saraki, Tambuwal, Lalong for losing their states
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, has explained why he could not have served as the Director-General (DG) of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, saying he is not a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and does not want to risk losing Rivers State and the FCT in the 2027 general election.
Wike mocked a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki; former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal; and former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Simon Lalong, for losing their states while serving as DGs of presidential campaign councils at different times.
The minister spoke yesterday after inspecting the Apo-Karshi and Kubwa-Bwari roads in Abuja, a day after the Presidency announced the composition of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and named former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, as its Director-General.
Asked whether he would have wanted to be part of the council, Wike recalled previous campaign DGs who lost their states while campaigning for their presidential candidates.
Wike said, “In 2015, the Minister of Transport was the governor of Rivers State.
“He was the DG of Muhammadu Buhari. Before you knew it, I pulled the carpet off his feet. He lost. He didn’t get 25 per cent.
“In 2019, he was Minister of Transport; he became the DG, and he lost his state too. Bukola Saraki was the DG of Atiku’s 2019 campaign. He was running around doing ‘Atikulated’.
“I called him, ‘Why are you doing Atikulated? Go home!’ He lost his state! Lost his own seat, too! In 2023, Aminu Tambuwal became DG of Atiku. He lost his state!
“In the same 2023, Lalong was the DG of APC, the present President. He lost his state!”
Wike said he was not prepared to join the list, adding that his priority was to deliver the FCT and Rivers State rather than occupy a campaign position.
“I don’t want to lose my state! I will be in my state. I have two states: FCT and Rivers. What is important is that you can deliver those two states. So, it is not about being DG.
“If you are DG and you don’t win your state, what is the essence of the DG?” he queried.
The FCT minister also cited his non-membership of the APC as another reason he could not have headed the council, while maintaining that he would continue to support Tinubu’s re-election.
“I am not a member of the APC. So, the issue of their Presidential Campaign Council is off the table.
“When we were fighting for the President to be President in 2023, we were not members of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, but we were fighting.
“So, we had our own strategies on how the president would emerge,” he said.
Wike said his support for Tinubu’s re-election would instead operate through a cross-party “Rainbow Coalition” involving politicians backing the President in their respective states while remaining members of their political parties.
“Mind you, when we formed the Rainbow Coalition, so many parties were coming together, working together in some states to make sure that the President wins,” he said.
Wike also argued that political relevance should be judged by electoral results rather than campaign titles, saying the performance of different states would become clear after the 2027 elections.
“Nobody should use that as a yardstick to judge who will be the governor of any state. I think there is only one clear state that will produce a governor. It is my state. It is very clear.
“The other ones, we don’t know what will happen,” he said.