Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has urged residents to abandon other activities on election day and mobilise voters for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Wike said residents should demonstrate their support for the President through their votes rather than rely on political endorsements.
He spoke on Monday at the commissioning of the Gwagwalada Civic Centre and an interactive session with All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja.
“On the day of the election, it will not be a day for market or fishing. It is the day all of us have decided to come together and demonstrate our strength through our votes,” he said.
Wike urged political leaders to mobilise voters across polling units, districts and communities to support Tinubu.
The minister also called on residents to support former Senator Philip Aduda and other candidates endorsed by the Rainbow Coalition, arguing that the FCT needed accessible representatives who understood the challenges facing its six area councils.
He questioned the quality of representation in the territory, asking whether elected lawmakers understood the needs of residents in Gwagwalada, Kuje, Bwari, Kwali, Abaji and the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
Wike also defended the Rainbow Coalition, which brings together political stakeholders from the APC and PDP, dismissing critics of the alliance as incapable of promoting unity.
“Some greedy and selfish politicians do not understand what we call unity. They have no capacity to hold their families, and they have no capacity to hold their communities,” he said.
He commended political leaders in Gwagwalada for putting aside party differences, saying cooperation was necessary to advance the interests of residents.
Earlier, the FCT APC Chairman, Ishaku Tanko Yamawo, described the gathering as historic, noting that Wike's intervention had brought together political leaders who previously operated on opposing sides.
The FCT PDP Chairman, Ismaila Mohammed Dogara, also praised the minister for his development interventions, particularly the revival of the Gwagwalada Civic Centre project, which had been abandoned for 16 years.
A former Gwagwalada Area Council Chairman, Zakari Angulu Dobi, said the project was about 80 per cent completed when he left office but suffered vandalism during its years of abandonment, reducing its completion level to about 40 per cent.
The incumbent council chairman, Kassim Mohammed, listed roads executed by his administration and appealed to Wike to intervene in the road linking the Army checkpoint to the Specialist Hospital.
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