By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed reports suggesting that a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP was urging him to contest the 2027 presidential election, describing the claim as “cheap blackmail and idle propaganda.”
Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in a statement on Friday, said the report, which emanated from an online platform he accused of thriving on “falsehood and blackmail,” was not only baseless but also aimed at maligning the minister’s reputation.
“As far as Wike is concerned, it is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu till 2031,” Olayinka declared, insisting that the FCT minister had already made his political position clear and was committed to supporting the President for two full terms.
The presidential speculation, he said, was tied to a routine meeting of PDP stakeholders from Southern Nigeria on August 20, 2025.
Olayinka explained that the gathering, whose outcome was widely reported in the media, had nothing to do with Wike’s presidential ambition but was convened to deliberate on zoning arrangements within the party.
He listed prominent politicians who signed the communiqué of that meeting, including state party chairmen from Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers; National Vice Chairman (South-East), Hon. Chidiebere Egwu Goodluck; and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. O. K. Chinda, among others.
According to Olayinka, mischief makers were now twisting the facts to suggest Wike was secretly plotting a presidential run. “The Minister does not function in hiding. He does what he says, and says what he does,” he stressed.
Reiterating Wike’s loyalty to the current administration, Olayinka said, “From now till 2031, it is on the mandate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he will stand. To ensure the President’s reelection, Wike will continue to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda in the FCT by actualizing the visions of the President for a capital city that can compete globally in infrastructure and development.”
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