The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has inaugurated a 700-member presidential campaign council in Rivers State, setting a target of three million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
The council, established under the All Progressives Congress (APC)/Rainbow Coalition, was inaugurated on Thursday in Port Harcourt, with Mr Wike, the coalition’s leader and campaign coordinator, calling on members to intensify grassroots mobilisation.
He tasked each member with securing at least five votes daily for Mr Tinubu and candidates seeking election into the National Assembly, expressing confidence that the target could be achieved through sustained efforts.
Wike also called for a shift from conventional political rallies to direct engagement with voters through door-to-door campaigns and visits to markets, communities, family gatherings and age-grade meetings.
According to him, the campaign would focus on reaching voters individually rather than gathering people at designated venues for rallies.
The minister announced that campaign councils would also be established across the state’s local government areas within a week. He added that the list of subcommittee chairpersons and members would be completed by Monday.
He assured supporters who were not included in the central campaign council that they would be given roles in the subcommittees.
Wike said the Rainbow Coalition, which brings together politicians from the APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), was designed to unite political forces behind Tinubu’s re-election bid.
He urged members to publicise the achievements of the Tinubu administration in Rivers State instead of engaging opposition figures in political arguments.
Also speaking, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara pledged his support for the coalition, describing its newly inaugurated campaign structure as stronger and better organised than the one that secured Tinubu’s victory in the state in 2023.
Mr Fubara said former political opponents had set aside their differences to work towards the president’s re-election, expressing confidence that the coalition could secure more votes in 2027 than it did in the last presidential election.
He, however, cautioned members against displaying outward support for the campaign while secretly working against its success, insisting that genuine commitment was necessary to achieve the target.
