Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
FCT Minister has allayed the concern of APC governors opposed to his Rainbow Coalition, by insisting that the political platform is not set up to weaken the ruling party.
Wike made this clarification Monday, while addressing reporters after inspecting the ongoing ISEX 2 project, the Southern Parkway project and the road linking Nile University to Ring Road 3 in Lugbe, Abuja.
The minister, who maintained that the coalition was a cross-party platform for mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu, the APC Progressive Governors Forum added it would not support any political arrangement capable of weakening the party or affecting its candidates in the 2027 elections.
He affirmed that his major political concern ahead of the 2027 election was to ensure President Tinubu secured a second term, stressing that he had made his position clear from the outset.
“My concern is that the President will be re-elected for the second term. That is my concern. And I made that known from the onset that I was going to support Mr President with all my might and strength,” he said.
Wike, however, questioned the criticism of the coalition, saying it was designed to bring together APC members and like-minded individuals from other political parties who support Tinubu’s re-election.
“We said all our party members, all those like-minds who are not APC members, to please ensure that they support Mr. President,” he said.
He also rubbished the speculation that he was positioning himself for the 2031 presidential election after President Tinubu, saying such political calculations would depend on circumstances that could only emerge in the future.
“So, am I positioning myself… in which of the parties am I positioning myself to?
“You know, people take the position of God. First of all, you have to pray that you are alive. You must ask God, ‘Keep me alive till tomorrow,’ or ‘Keep me alive till the next day.’ When God keeps you alive, then you now know what to do,” Wike said.
He explained that the eventual successor of Tinubu in 2031 would also involve the President having an interest in who succeeds him.
The FCT Minister further said he would disclose what he described as the “undertones” behind opposition to the Rainbow Coalition during a television appearance.
“You will hear it today. (Monday) What is the real cry about the Rainbow Coalition, the undertone. Nigerians don’t understand that there are undertones about it, and we’ll let the cat out of the bag so that Nigerians will be well-informed,” he said.