With long-term aspirations for the 2031 presidential election in mind, three Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja – one incumbent and two former occupants – are focused on the short-term politicking to ensure that the 2027 presidential poll ‘goes their way’ and, in anticipation of the bigger catch, LEO SOBECHI reports.
Despite the political arithmetic of the central position of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the election of Nigeria’s President, occupying the office of FCT Minister exposes politicians to national visibility and active roles in presidential polls.
That characterisation comes alive when evaluating the political activities of Nasir el-Rufai, Bala Mohammed and Nyesom Wike in the lead-up to the 2027 general elections.
Apart from incumbent Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, former occupants of the office of FCT Minister, who progressed from that office to become governors of their home states, including Bala Mohammed and el-Rufai, are currently leveraging the influence and exposure garnered from the influential office to sway decisions in their respective political circles and platforms.
While the former Kaduna State governor, el-Rufai, joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC), his involvement in the coalition of opposition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second-term aspiration has been a subject of controversy in the party.
However, undeterred by the frustrations within the SDP against his belief in the coalition, which has chosen the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform of collaboration, el-Rufai has positioned himself as the ‘Mobiliser-in-Chief’ for the opposition grouping.
On his part, the incumbent FCT Minister, Wike, despite his perceived loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is publicly known for his allegiance to the Tinubu-led APC, which gave him the ministerial appointment.
For Bala Mohammed, apart from being introduced to national politics by virtue of having served as FCT Minister, his position as chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum has combined to make him a person of influence in the ongoing conversations about the crucial 2027 election.
All three are engaging the polity from their respective positions in the following unique ways:
Mohammed: Righting PDP’s wrongs
Some days ago, former President Goodluck Jonathan and the 2019 Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr Peter Obi, had a closed-door meeting in the Abuja residence of the former President and PDP leader.
The details of that meeting were not made public but Obi, who was also the 2023 presidential contender of the Labour Party (LP), talked about the visit through a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle: “Today in Abuja, I met with my very dear elder brother, statesman, and leader, former President Goodluck Jonathan. We had a fruitful closed-door meeting and discussed the state of our dear nation,” he posted last Thursday.
The Guardian, however, gathered that the two leaders discussed extensively the political developments in the country, particularly contending issues and positions defining the 2027 presidential contest.
A mutual friend of Obi and the former President confided in The Guardian that apart from comparing notes on their inferences, both men commended the efforts of the Bauchi State governor to mend the PDP and wean it away from a culture of betrayals that spanned 2013 through 2023.
“The former President re-echoed his concerns about betrayals. He was not happy that some politicians derive pleasure in creating false narratives just to feather their political caps. He expressed relief that a former Kano State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, is being approached to preside over the affairs of the PDP.
“Obi recalled Shekarau’s days as Minister of Education and expressed the hope that the former Kano governor should be supported to drive the reforms in the party as a stepping stone to building a new Nigeria,” the statesman said, adding that both men resolved not to allow ongoing plots to distract their desire to make Nigeria work.
As chairman of the PDPGF, the Bauchi State governor has been relentless in his clamour for the zoning of the PDP presidential slot to the South, even as his close associates believe that the emergence of a Christian presidential standard-bearer from the South would automatically place him (Bala) at a vantage position to be on the ballot as a possible presidential running mate.
Appearing on Channels Television’s signature political programme, Politics Today, Governor Mohammed declared last month that the PDP was considering former President Goodluck Jonathan and Peter Obi as possible presidential candidates for the 2027 general election.
Apart from Jonathan and Obi, the Bauchi State governor disclosed that there were other prominent southern politicians who could be considered if they showed interest in the PDP, even as he dismissed insinuations that he was tactically working underground to deputise Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State as a presidential contender.
Also, shortly after the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) formally zoned the presidential ticket to the South, the Bauchi State governor explained that the party’s unsuccessful run for the 2023 presidency was due largely to the open contest that favoured a northern runner.
According to the PDPGF chairman, balancing the presidential ticket for 2027 was key to returning PDP to its former stature as the main national political platform, stressing: “We need a Christian from the South to emerge as presidential candidate, with a Muslim from the North as running mate. The APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket did not take into cognisance our diversity.”
Although the Bauchi State governor agreed that it was the exclusive preserve of the presidential candidate to select his/her running mate, party faithful believe that he is working on the quiet assumption that his moves to get a southern contender would be rewarded with a choice as presidential running mate in readiness for 2031.
Whether this would not throw up a similar scenario that pitted Wike against Atiku Abubakar in 2023 is beyond immediate conjecture.
Wike
THE 2023 general election exposed the former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, as a contender in the game of thrones. Wike had waged a stalwart post-primary battle against Atiku Abubakar, who won the PDP’s presidential ticket on the grounds that it was the turn of the South to hold the voucher.
Emboldened by a hefty N78 billion of Rivers State withheld funds that were released to him by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration at the instance of former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the former governor gathered four other colleagues – Makinde, Victor Okeazie Ikpeazu, Samuel Ortom and Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi – to form the PDP G5.
In the guise of fighting against the PDP presidential nominee, Wike allegedly fought tooth and nail to ensure that the outcome of the ballot in Rivers State ended in favour of the APC contender, Tinubu. In recognition of his yeoman’s job, the former Rivers State governor was appointed FCT Minister.
Although he has been carrying his former colleagues along in various ways, including recommendations for possible ambassadorial appointments by the Tinubu-led Federal Government, Wike enjoys the best of two worlds. As a perceived PDP faithful serving as FCT Minister in an APC-led administration, he has, in the past two years, been making strategic efforts to ensure the re-election of President Tinubu.
Irked by the political games being played by the FCT Minister, a former APC gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, urged Wike to declare his political platform and stop confusing the Rivers State electorate and Nigerians at large.
“Is he (Wike) APC or is he PDP? As far as we know, today, he is PDP. We cannot continue confusing the electorate in Rivers State and confusing Nigerians, because it is dangerous for democracy.
“That you are in one party, you are controlling another party; and we are trying to create a one-party state that is a mixture that nobody is clear about,” Cole stated, while appearing in a live television programme.
el-Rufai: Veritable activism or vengeance
Months after serving out his two terms as Kaduna State governor, el-Rufai’s name circulated in Abuja, the federal capital, as a possible returnee cabinet Minister, nearly 15 years after his tenure in charge of the FCT.
Failing to be so appointed after a prolonged back and forth during Senate confirmation hearings, the former Kaduna State governor felt scorned. Two years into the life of the new administration, the former FCT Minister returned to the public square and announced a terrible performance evaluation of the Tinubu-led Federal Government.
By adopting the toga of opposition, el-Rufai’s decision to quit the APC shook the polity, even as some of his former allies accused him of waging a political war of vengeance. But, undeterred, the former governor started mapping strategies for the possible defeat of the incumbent in the 2027 presidential run.
To el-Rufai, the pathway for the opposition to defeat the incumbent lies through effective collaboration and perforation of the performance records of the government in power, which he said has failed Nigerians.
While announcing that he was not looking for anything except the dethronement of a bad government, Mallam el-Rufai has been gathering evidence to influence the 2027 election, just as he is recruiting members for the coalition platform of ADC.
The former Kaduna State governor told a gathering in Sokoto State that the only way they could enjoy the wealth of the country was to come out and vote out a government that was giving them hunger while enjoying the best delicacies.
Similarly, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, el-Rufai enjoined the people to drop their lethargy and go get their Permanent Voter Cards, arguing that the fact that the last general election did not end the way they anticipated should not deter them. He said his involvement in politics was just to ensure good governance that guarantees the well-being of citizens.
But, like the Bauchi State governor, el-Rufai is said to be working hard for the emergence of a southern presidential contender in the anticipation that he would be favourably considered for the presidential pairing on the ballot and readiness for the ultimate contest in 2031.
Already, the former Kaduna State governor and his former Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, have emerged as prime contenders for the position of Vice-Presidential candidate in the ADC coalition.
How these three forces would shape the stature of the 2027 presidential poll would be seen as the February 2026 date for the publication of the notice of election draws near.
