President Bola Tinubu has openly signaled his readiness to receive the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, NyesomWike into the All Progressives Congress (APC.
Speaking during the commissioning of Arterial Road N16 in Abuja’s Katampe District, Tinubu applauded Wike’s contributions to governance and jokingly referenced the former Rivers governor’s popular campaign slogan.
“We have somebody—NyesomWike—he is not a member of my party (APC), not yet. But the day he changes his mind and registers with the progressives, we will welcome him. Because we will enjoy singing ‘as e dey pain dem, e dey sweet us,’” Tinubu said, drawing laughter from the crowd and Wike himself.
Wike, though officially a PDP member, has been a prominent supporter of Tinubu since the 2023 general election. After the PDP’s internal fallout following its presidential primaries, Wike declined to support the party’s candidate, AtikuAbubakar, and instead threw his weight behind Tinubu.
Appointed FCT Minister in August 2023 by the APC-led administration, Wike has since pledged allegiance to President Tinubu’s leadership, even vowing to spearhead his re-election campaign in Rivers State come 2027.
“I am a key asset. I will lead President Tinubu’s re-election campaign in Rivers State,” Wike declared in a recent media briefing.
The tensions over Wike’s divided loyalties have resulted in a number of splits within the PDP, and calls for Wike to be expelled from the party have met with challenges from Wike’s own loyalist faction.
Particularly, on Monday, Wike referenced his position and uttered a demand from the “Concerned Stakeholders of the PDP” that the party must zone its presidential ticket in 2027 to the South of Nigeria in the spirit of inclusion and equity.
Moreover, Wike raised procedural issues, and he stated that only the National Secretary, currently Senator Sam Anyanwu, can call a meeting of the party in constitutional terms which directly underlined the current form of leadership.
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