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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Political leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have pledged to work together for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, following a cross-party mobilisation meeting convened by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
At a meeting with political stakeholders in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) on Wednesday, leaders of the two parties declared that partisan differences would no longer stand in the way of their common political interests, with the FCT PDP chairman, Mohammed Dogara, promising to mobilise the party’s grassroots structures for Tinubu.
The gathering brought together party officials, traditional rulers, women’s groups and youths, with speakers attributing the emerging cooperation to infrastructure development and other interventions by the Tinubu administration in the territory.
Dogara, who described the former relationship between the parties as one of intense hostility, said political divisions were giving way to a new alignment.
“It used to be cats and rats, not seeing themselves in the day or night. But today, cats and rats can eat on the same plate,” he said.
He questioned why residents of the FCT, irrespective of their political affiliations, should oppose Tinubu’s re-election if they believed the administration was delivering development.
“What reason do we have as FCT indigenes and non-indigenes to say we are not going to support Mr President? No reason,” Dogara said.
The PDP chairman pledged that by January 16, 2027, the party’s structures down to the grassroots would mobilise for Tinubu, urging traditional rulers and community leaders to guide their people towards what he described as the path of development.
Wike, who coordinates the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the FCT and Rivers State, described the gathering as one of his happiest days, saying political barriers were being dismantled in the interest of the nation’s capital.
He said the territory was firmly positioned to support Tinubu’s re-election and disclosed that a comprehensive campaign council would be inaugurated the following week.
“Rest assured that all logistical backing required for a landslide victory has been fully secured,” the minister said.
He urged eligible voters to turn out with their permanent voter cards on election day to support Tinubu and other candidates of the ruling party.
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Wike’s mobilisation effort was reinforced by the FCT APC chairman, Ishaku Yamawo, who said the meeting represented a departure from the political animosity that had previously divided families and communities during election periods.
“Before now, when elections were approaching, some of us didn’t talk to our own brothers because they were in the other party,” Yamawo said.
“Today, we are sitting under the same roof for APC and PDP because somebody has changed the narrative of politics. A political party is not a barrier to partnering with your brother for victory and progress,” he added.
Yamawo also commended Tinubu for appointing an indigene of the FCT as minister and cited infrastructure projects, road development and compensation to indigenous communities as reasons for the growing support for the administration.
Wike, in defending the administration’s economic policies, said the removal of the petrol subsidy was a difficult but necessary decision that previous governments had been unwilling to implement.
“Every president said it was a scam, but nobody had the courage to say it would go. That is the pain we will endure till we get it right,” he said.
The minister also argued that increased statutory allocations to subnational governments had improved their ability to execute infrastructure projects without relying heavily on commercial bank loans.
He highlighted the Apo-Karshi Road project, which he said had been stalled for 16 years, as one of the infrastructure projects being addressed under the current administration.
Other stakeholders at the meeting also linked their support for Tinubu to development initiatives in the FCT.
The District Head of Jikoyi, Nicodemus Marchi, praised Wike for addressing security concerns, reviving abandoned road projects and upgrading traditional rulers’ positions after years of what he described as neglect.
Musa Jeji, chairman of the FCT Gbagyi Youth Forum, AMAC chapter, said organised youth groups across the council’s wards were prepared to participate in the campaign mobilisation.
Former FCT APC women leader, Hilmary Aipoh, called for greater inclusion of women in the campaign structure, citing the establishment of the Women Affairs Secretariat and the opening of rural access roads as interventions she said had benefited women and farmers.
She identified AMAC’s 1,400 polling units as a key focus for political mobilisation and urged Wike to ensure that women were directly integrated into the campaign machinery.
