Wike 2027 campaign plans have taken a fresh turn as President Bola Tinubu is reportedly set to give the FCT Minister coordinating roles in Rivers and Abuja ahead of the 2027 election.
ABUJA, NIGERIA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is reportedly set to assign Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, a coordinating role for the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign in Rivers State and Abuja ahead of the 2027 election.
According to a report by THISDAY on Monday, September 21, the proposed arrangement forms part of an effort to streamline Wike’s role in the APC campaign structure while giving key political figures specific areas of responsibility. The report said Wike is expected to coordinate campaign activities in Rivers and the FCT.
The reported arrangement comes as tensions continue between Wike and some APC governors over his political activities and the Rainbow Coalition, a platform Wike says brings politicians from different parties together to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
Newstridez reviewed the latest campaign reports alongside Wike’s recent public statements and found that the reported appointment has not yet been formally announced by the Presidency or the APC. The existing APC Presidential Campaign Council, announced in August, names former Zamfara Governor Abdulaziz Yari as Director-General and Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma as secretary.
The proposed adjustment would therefore add a specific coordinating responsibility for Wike without necessarily making him the overall director-general of the campaign. This distinction is important because Wike had previously rejected speculation that he would serve as the APC campaign director-general, explaining that he did not want a role that could create unnecessary political complications in Rivers State.
Speaking about the issue earlier, Wike said he had learnt from previous presidential campaigns where campaign directors-general struggled to deliver their home states. He cited the 2015 election, when former Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi served as Buhari’s campaign DG but lost Rivers State.
The latest proposal appears to take a different approach by giving Wike responsibility for selected territories where his political networks could be useful, rather than placing him at the head of the entire campaign organisation. THISDAY reported that other senior figures, including Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo and Senate leaders, would also receive distinct responsibilities under the revised structure.
The development comes days after Wike again declared support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election but rejected suggestions that his Rainbow Coalition represents an agreement between him and the APC. In a statement issued on September 15, Wike said he would mobilise support for Tinubu while the PDP remained free to contest governorship and legislative elections.
Checks by Newstridez showed that Wike’s public position has consistently focused on helping Tinubu win the presidential election while maintaining that other political contests should remain separate. He has argued that politicians should resolve their state-level disputes locally rather than attach them to the President’s re-election campaign.
That position has brought Wike into conflict with some APC governors, particularly over the activities of the Rainbow Coalition. During a media chat earlier this month, Wike accused Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Uzodimma of working against him. He also questioned whether politicians removed from the APC should move to the ADC or NDC, arguing that bringing them into his political network could help Tinubu.
The political tension became more complicated after businessman Isaac Fayose claimed that five serving APC governors were secretly supporting the NDC ahead of the 2027 election. Fayose alleged that the governors wanted to prevent Wike from delivering Rivers and Abuja for the APC, although he did not name the governors and the claims have not been independently verified.
Fayose claimed that the alleged governors had discussed financial support for NDC polling agents in Rivers and the FCT. He also alleged that their objective was to counter Wike’s influence in the two areas. No evidence confirming the identities of the alleged governors or the claimed arrangement has been publicly presented.
“After my video yesterday, Fear don catch APC. They quickly announced Wike who’s PDP to Head campaign in Rivers State & Abuja for APC this morning”
— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) September 21, 2026
Isaac Fayose 😭😂 https://t.co/CWra6Eknez pic.twitter.com/5WnqekmgLw
Data reviewed by Newstridez indicates that the APC’s original presidential campaign structure already assigns major national responsibilities to Yari, Uzodimma, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and other party figures. The State House said Tinubu would serve as chairman, while Vice President Kashim Shettima would serve as vice chairman.
The proposed Wike assignment would therefore add another layer to the campaign structure rather than replace the existing national leadership. THISDAY reported that the changes were designed partly to avoid clashes among senior politicians while giving prominent figures clearly defined political territories.
The reported move also reflects the political importance of Rivers to Wike. The former governor remains a major political figure in the state, even though his relationship with the current Rivers political structure has remained a subject of intense debate. His supporters have argued that his networks could help mobilise voters, while his critics have questioned how much influence any individual politician can exercise over voters in a democratic election.
In Abuja, Wike controls the Federal Capital Territory administration as minister, giving him direct access to the capital’s political and administrative environment. However, responsibility for election mobilisation does not mean control over voters or election results, which remain subject to the electoral process and the decisions of individual voters.
The APC campaign also faces the task of managing competing interests among governors, ministers, legislators and political groups. The party’s spokesperson, Ima Niboro, recently described the Wike-APC governors dispute as a disagreement between political allies and urged both sides to stop trading words publicly and concentrate on mobilisation for Tinubu.
A source familiar with the political discussions told Newstridez that the reported coordination arrangement should be viewed alongside the wider effort to assign individual political leaders responsibilities ahead of the campaign season, rather than as evidence that Wike has joined the APC. Wike has continued to identify with the PDP despite his support for Tinubu.
That distinction remains relevant because Wike’s political position is unusual. He serves in an APC-led federal government while retaining his PDP identity and supporting Tinubu’s re-election. At the same time, members of his Rainbow Coalition come from different political parties.
The arrangement could also affect how APC leaders handle the growing disagreement between Wike and some governors. If formally adopted, giving Wike defined campaign responsibilities could provide a clearer structure for his involvement while reducing direct competition between him and governors over who controls campaign operations in particular areas.
However, the reported appointment does not automatically settle the disagreement. Wike has already said that he will support Tinubu while allowing the PDP to field candidates in other elections. APC governors also have their own political interests in state-level contests, meaning cooperation at the presidential level may still coexist with competition elsewhere.
For voters, the main issue remains the policies, candidates and records that emerge before the 2027 election. Political appointments and campaign structures may influence how parties organise, but they do not determine the eventual choices of voters or the official election outcome.
As at the time of filing this report, the Presidency and APC had not publicly released a revised campaign council list confirming Wike as coordinator for Rivers and Abuja. The report of the proposed arrangement comes from THISDAY, while the earlier official APC council list remains the most recently published formal structure available.
The Wike 2027 campaign role will therefore remain subject to formal confirmation by the APC or Presidency. If approved, the arrangement would give the former Rivers governor a defined responsibility within Tinubu’s re-election effort while leaving the existing national campaign leadership structure largely intact.
