The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that he will not contest the 2027 presidential election against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Wike made this known in a recent interview with BBC Pidgin, stating that it would be inappropriate to contest against Tinubu, whom he is currently working with. “I will not contest again. I cannot contest against someone I’m working with. Who would win, if not him?” he said.
Despite his stance, Wike reaffirmed his membership in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former Rivers State governor had contested the PDP’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 elections but lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Wike expressed dissatisfaction over the PDP’s refusal to zone its presidential ticket to the South in 2023, a decision he said deepened internal divisions and weakened the party’s performance at the polls.
President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) eventually emerged winner of the election, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the interview, Wike criticised some PDP leaders, accusing them of lacking political influence. “Let me ask you, who is in the PDP? Achike Udenwa, a former governor of Imo, does not have one National Assembly member. He did not give his party three percent of the votes,” Wike said.
He continued, “The former governor of Ebonyi State does not have one assembly member; no National Assembly member either. You didn’t produce a governor, yet you are issuing threats. You are empty.”
Wike dismissed any notion of defecting from the PDP, saying, “I am not a fearful man. Am I weak? How will I build a house and allow you to frustrate me out? You will leave; I won’t allow you to destroy what I built. I will remain.”
His comments come amid a wave of defections rocking the PDP. In Delta State, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy, lawmakers, and members of the state executive council have joined the APC. His predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in 2023, also defected.
Additionally, three senators from Kebbi State, Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), have dumped the PDP for the APC.
