ABUJA — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that a bigger political coalition is on the way to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike made the declaration yesterday in Abuja while speaking with journalists after inspecting ongoing projects in the nation’s capital.
The minister was reacting to the recent visit of Osun State Governor-elect, Ademola Adeleke, to President Tinubu, as well as his own meeting with the governor-elect.
According to Wike, Adeleke’s engagement with the President is part of a wider political realignment that will produce what he called a “larger Rainbow Coalition” in support of Tinubu.
He said the development should not be viewed as an opposition issue, arguing that there was currently no formidable opposition party in the country.
“When you say opposition, I’ve told you—I don’t know what you call opposition, as far as there is no opposition now,” Wike said.
Explaining Adeleke’s political position, Wike said although the Osun governor-elect contested on the platform of the Accord Party because of internal challenges within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he remained a PDP member.
“What has happened last night is meeting to rebuild a larger Rainbow Coalition. And he is supporting Mr President. He’s in a different party; I’m supporting Mr President, and I’m in a different party. So, it’s a larger Rainbow Coalition,” he said.
Wike urged Nigerians to watch out for more political movements in the coming weeks, saying more politicians would join the coalition backing Tinubu.
“And the next few weeks, watch what is going to happen. You will see a larger Rainbow Coalition in this country supporting Mr President,” he declared.
He also took a swipe at members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who claimed that the party contributed significantly to Adeleke’s victory.
“All those ADC who are talking about ‘they helped Adeleke to win,’ they just wanted to go and harvest where they never planted,” Wike said.
The FCT minister insisted that Adeleke was now firmly in support of Tinubu and described the development as an indication that the 2027 election was already tilting in favour of the President.
“I told you that the 2027 election will be the most easiest election,” he said.
‘I don’t care how Atiku, Obi feel’
Asked about the possible reaction of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to his meeting with Adeleke, Wike said he was not concerned about their feelings.
“I have told you—when you say ‘leading opposition,’ I’ve told you that there’s no opposition,” he said.
Wike argued that the PDP, which ordinarily should provide the strongest opposition to the ruling party, had been weakened by its internal crisis.
“Ordinarily, it should have been PDP, but because of the crisis we’ve had, and so you can’t see a formidable party that you will call the leading opposition party,” he said.
He maintained that his priority in the political contest was to ensure that his camp defeated its opponents.
“My business is to make them not to feel well all the time,” Wike said, adding that political contests were about defeating opponents rather than making them comfortable.
Wike sets December deadline for FCT projects
Meanwhile, Wike has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on major FCT projects inspected yesterday, insisting that they must be completed and handed over in December.
He inspected the N5 Extension in Life Camp, being executed by Julius Berger, and the N1 Road project handled by Arab Contractors.
Wike said work on both projects was progressing satisfactorily and expressed confidence that they would be ready for handover in December.
He also inspected the rehabilitation of the IBB International Golf Club, which he said was being renovated following President Tinubu’s intervention.
According to him, the golf facility is important to members of the diplomatic community who had complained about its prolonged closure.
“That this golf course must be ready and be reopened by December. So we are giving it to Julius Berger to ensure that everything is done. And by December this year, the golf course will be reopened,” he said.
Wike explained that Julius Berger was brought back to handle the renovation because the company originally constructed the facility and was familiar with its quality and structure.
He said physical work was expected to be completed by November, with the official reopening scheduled for December.
The minister disclosed that the golf club was shut down following an internal crisis, leading to the appointment of a caretaker committee headed by the President of the Court of Appeal.
He, however, warned that the government would not continue to fund the club’s operations after its reopening.
“I would believe, this time around, that when this is done, they should be able to raise funds by themselves to run this place. The government should not use public funds to come back to do it,” Wike said.
He assured that the FCT Administration would continue to support the contractor with necessary payments to ensure that the rehabilitation stayed on schedule.
