The All Progressives Congress (APC) has thrown its weight behind the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, asserting that the former Rivers State governor has the constitutional freedom to campaign for any candidate in any political party, regardless of affiliation.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka addressed the controversy surrounding Wike’s support for APC candidates in the February 21 FCT Area Council elections.
“If Nyesom Wike wants to go on campaigning for any candidate in any party whatsoever, he has the inherent liberty to do so.
“Wike is a citizen of the Federal Capital Republic of Nigeria who also has freedom guaranteed by the constitution.
“He has the right to support any candidate he wants,” Morka said.
The remarks come amid scrutiny of Wike’s role in the polls, which saw the APC win five of the six area councils.
Two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship candidates — Julius Adamu in Bwari and Zadna Dantani in Abuja Municipal Area Council — withdrew from the race and publicly endorsed their APC rivals following interventions by Wike.
The PDP National Working Committee condemned the withdrawals as “shameful” and “anti-democratic,” claiming they were induced without the party’s consent and amounted to a “forced consensus.”
Wike’s open backing of APC candidates in the local polls has sparked debate about party loyalty, cross-carpeting and the boundaries of political allegiance in Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
Morka’s defence framed Wike’s actions as an exercise of fundamental rights under the 1999 Constitution, rather than an APC-orchestrated strategy.
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday also commended the minister’s role in the APC’s victories in the Saturday elections in the FCT and the by-elections in Rivers State.
The PUNCH