Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday revealed that he would support only candidates aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.
In a live media chat, his first this year (2026) at his official residence in Abuja, the minister took aim at opposition figures, insisting that political loyalty to Tinubu would shape his choices in the next general election.
Wike dismissed the prospects of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), predicting it “will not fly” in 2027.
He accused the party’s leading figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of resorting to “dubious populist tactics” and playing to public emotions rather than offering credible governance alternatives.
According to him, symbolic gestures targeted at the poor amount to deception.
The minister singled out Amaechi for criticism over campaign optics.
READ ALSO: FCT Polls: “Nigerians Now Know Ruling And Real Opposition Party” – Wike
“What Amaechi did was to buy corn, a corn he has never chewed as a minister on the road. A corn he didn’t chew as a governor. You like to deceive the poor,” Wike said, describing the act as political showmanship.
He also questioned Obi’s decision to mark his birthday at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.
Read Also
“It’s like Peter Obi today, if he’s having a birthday party, he’ll go to an IDP camp. When he was governor, did he not have birthday parties? Mention one IDP camp he went to,” he said.
Wike maintained that Nigerians deserve sincerity in leadership, not what he termed “staged compassion.”
Turning his fire inward, the former Rivers governor faulted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying it has not recovered from the strategic missteps that cost it victory in the 2023 presidential election.
He suggested that without internal reforms, the party risks repeating past failures.
Reflecting on the recent FCT area council elections, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured five councils against the PDP’s one, Wike said the ADC was ill-prepared for the contest.
He also defended his movements on election day, insisting they did not influence the outcome.
The minister predicted that Labour Party senator Ireti Kingibe, who recently defected to the ADC, would not return to the Senate in the next cycle.
On Rivers State politics, Wike declined to give a definitive position on the re-election prospects of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
“When we get to the bridge, we will cross it,” he said, describing the prevailing peace in Rivers as “relative.”
