The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said he worked with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, adding that he has no regrets.
CDA News Nigeria reports that Wike spoke on Monday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting of the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party platform he has promoted to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that he said the alliance was meant to stop former Governor Godwin Obaseki from producing his successor. “I was behind it, and I don’t have any regrets about it,” he said.
He said his opposition to the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was not because he found him unqualified. He described him as a good candidate who had visited his house several times, but said the contest was really about preventing Obaseki from keeping political influence.
The APC’s Monday Okpebholo won the September 21, 2024 election with 291,667 votes, ahead of Ighodalo and the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata.
Wike argued that coalitions across party lines are not new in Nigeria and can decide elections. He said Senator Adams Oshiomhole could confirm the role the coalition played in Edo.
His remarks come amid debate over the Rainbow Coalition, which allows politicians to keep membership of other parties. Some APC governors and officials have opposed it, saying alliances outside the party’s structure could weaken its candidates in 2027.
Wike’s claims are his own account. CDA News Nigeria had not received a response from Obaseki, Ighodalo or the Edo PDP at the time of filing.
CDA News Nigeria will update this story as more information emerges.
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