WIKE TO GOVERNORS: IF YOU DON’T DELIVER YOUR STATE, DON’T JOIN US TO CELEBRATE TINUBU’S VICTORY

…Tinubu inaugurates APC Presidential Campaign Council, says party ready to renew covenant with Nigerians

By Jeremy Fregene
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday challenged governors backing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid to take personal responsibility for delivering their states in the 2027 presidential election, warning that nobody should claim credit for victory without producing results at home.

Wike threw the challenge at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, where President Tinubu formally charged the campaign machinery to begin the task of mobilising Nigerians for his re-election.

Addressing the governors supporting the President, Wike said political leaders must demonstrate their electoral value by winning their respective states rather than waiting to celebrate a collective victory.

“If you don’t deliver your state, don’t join us to say we won,” Wike declared, as he pledged his support for Tinubu’s re-election.

The FCT Minister, who described himself as a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, said his support for Tinubu was based on what he described as the President’s willingness to confront difficult national problems.

“Previous administrations identified our problems, but did not tackle them. You have not shied away from tackling such problems. You tackled them from Day One,” Wike said.

President Tinubu, who inaugurated the PCC, told members that the party was united and ready to seek a renewal of its mandate from Nigerians, but warned that political appointments or positions in the campaign organisation would not substitute for electoral performance.

“As I stand before you with a heart full of gratitude and spirit full of resolve, it is my honour to inaugurate the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress for the 2027 General Election,” Tinubu said.

“I thank all of you for the last election, but no one gets credit for an incomplete assignment until you deliver the next election, until you deliver your electoral wards, until you deliver the votes.”

Tinubu said the campaign would intensify mobilisation across states, local governments, and wards while his administration remained focused on governance.

He acknowledged advice from Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, that the demands of electioneering should not distract him from his presidential responsibilities.

Tinubu said he would nevertheless make time to speak directly to Nigerians during the campaign while allowing party leaders and the PCC to drive mobilisation at state and grassroots levels.

APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, said the presence of political figures outside the APC fold at the inauguration demonstrated the breadth of support being mobilised for Tinubu.

He cited Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, and Wike, all of whom delivered goodwill messages and expressed support for the President.

Yilwatda charged the campaign council to take the administration’s record directly to Nigerians, explaining its policies and how the government says its reforms are intended to translate into improvements in everyday life.

“We must show Nigerians how this investment and reforms can translate into practical improvements in our daily lives. This is the substance of our campaign,” he said.

He said the PCC would mobilise “ward to ward, local government to local government, and state to state,” while calling for an issue-based and peaceful campaign.

Uzodimma, who also serves as Secretary of the Campaign Council, said the administration’s policies would form the centrepiece of the campaign.

He praised Tinubu’s decision to remove petrol subsidy and reform the foreign exchange system, acknowledging that the measures had brought hardship but arguing that they were necessary to confront longstanding economic problems.

Vice President Kashim Shettima also addressed the gathering, recalling Tinubu’s political relationship with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and criticising remarks by the opposition presidential candidate which he considered disrespectful to the office of the President.

“You can call him Bola, if you like, call him Adekunle, but he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Shettima said.

He also criticised Peter Obi’s use of international comparisons and statistics, arguing that such comparisons often lacked sufficient context.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, and elder statesman Tanko Yakassai also spoke at the event.

Tinubu urged members of the PCC to campaign responsibly, engage Nigerians constructively, and present the administration’s record under the Renewed Hope Agenda as the party seeks another four-year mandate in the 2027 presidential election.