…Says re-elected Adeleke’s recent political engagement to strengthen support for president

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said the political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections would produce a larger national coalition in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Wike said this Friday in Abuja during an inspection of on-going projects in the FCT, while reacting to the recent visit of Osun state governor-elect, Ademola Adeleke, to President Tinubu.

The minister said Adeleke’s engagement with the president was an indication of the emergence of what he described as a “larger rainbow coalition” in support of Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Wike dismissed the description of the emerging political alignment as an opposition matter, arguing that the current political landscape did not have a clearly defined leading opposition party.

“When you say opposition, I’ve told you I don’t know what you call opposition, as far as I’m concerned, there is no opposition now,” he said.

He noted that Adeleke, despite securing his ticket for the Osun governorship election on the platform of the Accord Party, “remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” adding that the recent political engagement was aimed at strengthening support for Tinubu.

“What happened last night is a meeting to re-build a larger Rainbow Coalition. And he (Adeleke) 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 said more political developments should be expected in the coming weeks, predicting that additional politicians would align with 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 said.

The FCT minister also dismissed claims by members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that the party and other opposition groups played a decisive role in Adeleke’s electoral victory.

“All those ADC people who are talking about ‘they helped Adeleke to win,’ just wanted to go and harvest where they never planted,” Wike said.

He maintained that Adeleke was now supporting Tinubu, adding that the development had strengthened the president’s position ahead of 2027.

Reacting to questions on how  Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi might perceive his engagement with Adeleke, Wike said their reactions were of little concern to him.

“I have told you when you say ‘leading opposition,’ I’ve told you that there’s no opposition. What you have are people who are just trying to see whether they can be relevant,” he said.

He argued that the PDP, which ordinarily should constitute the major opposition 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.”

Wike said his priority was to ensure victory for his political camp, adding that political contests were not about making opponents comfortable.

Earlier, the minister said the project inspection was part of efforts to ensure that key infrastructure earmarked for completion this year were delivered on schedule.