A group representing indigenous residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has thrown its weight behind FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and pledged to mobilize support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The declaration came as the Minister staked his job on the President’s performance in the FCT and Rivers State.
Wike told leaders of the Apo Mechanics and Traders Association in Abuja on Wednesday that he would resign as FCT minister if President Tinubu failed to win the presidential vote in both the FCT and his home state of Rivers in the January 16, 2027 polls.
“By January 17, 2027, I will announce my resignation as FCT Minister should the President lose in Rivers State and the FCT,” he said, framing the pledge as accountability for a political appointee’s ability to deliver.
In a statement Thursday, the Abuja Original Inhabitants Youths Empowerment Organisation (AOIYEO) said Wike’s stance had stiffened its resolve to back the administration.
Isaac David, AOIYEO’s Executive Director and self-styled Supreme Leader of FCT Youths, cited infrastructure projects executed by the FCT administration in indigenous communities as evidence of tangible intervention after years of neglect.
“We will back the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, that Tinubu will not lose the election in the FCT because posterity will not forgive us for the good things he has done to the indigenous people of the FCT through the Minister, Nyesom Wike,” David said.
He added that the group was confident it could “deliver Tinubu,” arguing that a second term would help end what he described as the marginalization of indigenous residents.
The Minister’s ultimatum underscores the political importance of the FCT and Rivers State to the ruling party’s 2027 strategy, while the AOIYEO endorsement signals an effort to consolidate grassroots support among indigenous communities that have long sought greater inclusion in the capital’s development.
Wike had previously said political forces in the FCT are working across party lines to secure a victory for President Tinubu.
