On Saturday, Nyesom Wike – Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and coordinator of the presidential campaign council in Rivers State – announced that the people of Rivers have chosen President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as their preferred candidate for the January 16, 2027 presidential election. Wike made the statement while welcoming Tinubu and his delegation to a campaign rally at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harbor.
Addressing the crowd, Wike said the rally was organised solely by Rivers residents and that “the people of Rivers State have already concluded and agreed that on January 16, they will vote for you.” He emphasized that no supporters from other states had been mobilised for the event.
Highlighting the state’s relationship with the president, Wike noted that “since the inception of democracy in 1999, Rivers people have never had it this way. We have no less than 47 political appointments from Mr President.” He added, “Our brother is Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he has identified with the people of Rivers state.”
“All we are saying to the vice‑presidential candidate is, please, come and give an account of how you fumigated Rivers state. You fumigated Rivers state so that there would be no mosquitoes. Have mosquitoes gone? Are mosquitoes not biting you?”
Wike used the platform to criticize former governor Rotimi Amaechi’s projects, questioning the effectiveness of an alleged fumigation exercise in the state. He recalled Amaechi’s role as director‑general of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaigns, noting that Buhari “failed to secure up to 15 percent of the votes in Rivers state in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.”
Rivers State, a key oil‑producing region in southern Nigeria, has historically been a battleground in national elections. The governor’s endorsement of Tinubu underscores the incumbent’s effort to consolidate support ahead of the 2027 vote.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>