The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has formally inaugurated the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC)/Rainbow Coalition Presidential Campaign Council, charging the over 700-member body to mobilize grassroots support and deliver three million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Port Harcourt, Wike, who serves as Coordinator of the Tinubu Campaign Council and the leader of the Rainbow Coalition, urged council members to abandon conventional, ceremonial rally-style politics in favor of aggressive door-to-door and community-based mobilization.
“We are going to depart from that ceremonial campaign style of converging in one place and saying we are holding a rally, 
“Rather, we are going to go out to communities, to family meetings, to age-grade meetings, and to the markets to talk to them vigorously. Tell them why Tinubu should be re-elected,” he said.
To achieve the ambitious three-million-vote target, the former Rivers governor handed down a strict daily quota to every council member.
“You must be found working. Take it as a point of duty: every day, I will get at least five voters that will vote for Tinubu and members of the National Assembly.
“If you multiply the number of people you win daily by the members of this council and the subcommittees, that is how we will hit the target,” he said.
Wike also announced that local government campaign councils across the state would be inaugurated within one week, with lists of subcommittee chairmen and members finalised by Monday.
Addressing complaints from party faithful, whose names were omitted from the central council, he reassured them that the real engine of the campaign lies within the subcommittees, where more hands would be integrated.
Defending the “Rainbow Coalition” model, which brings together members of the APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP), Wike described it as the surest mathematical path to victory, noting that pooling votes across party lines guarantees an overwhelming margin for the President.
He also dismissed a recent disclaimer issued by an individual claiming not to be part of the council, clarifying that the slot belonged to a different person bearing the same name.
Wike urged members to remain focused on issue-based campaigns highlighting the Tinubu administration’s achievements in Rivers State, warning them not to be distracted by opposition provocations.
In his remarks, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, affirmed his total commitment to the coalition, describing the newly inaugurated council as bigger, wider, and better coordinated than the structure that delivered victory in 2023.
Notably, Fubara pointed out that former political adversaries had now closed ranks to work together for the state and the President.
“Nothing is impossible. The only thing that is not possible is to revive the dead. If we take this as a serious task that must be achieved, we will come out decisively with a stronger vote than what we did in 2023,” he said.
The governor issued a stern warning against double-dealing, urging members to work with sincerity rather than professing loyalty in public while sabotaging the effort behind closed doors.
“I am here, and I say it boldly anywhere, any day, in private and in secret: I have taken this position,” Fubara affirmed, echoing Wike’s assurance that omitted supporters would be accommodated in the subcommittees.
Earlier, the Director of Administration for the campaign council, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, noted that the council’s foot soldiers were primed to crisscross all 6,866 polling units across Rivers State.
Akawor reiterated that the state’s elders had already made a firm commitment to deliver three million votes to President Tinubu, declaring that the machinery was fully charged to comb every nook and cranny of the state.
