Wike’s 700-Man Campaign Council Targets 4m Votes for Tinubu, Says APC Chieftain

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Rivers State, Princewill Dike, has said the 700-member APC Presidential/Rivers Rainbow Coalition Candidates Campaign Council constituted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is targeting at least four million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election. Dike, who spoke in Port Harcourt on Friday, described the council as a strategic grassroots mobilisation structure designed to take the campaign beyond political rallies and directly engage voters across Rivers State. He said the council’s numerical strength should not be mistaken for a ceremonial political arrangement, stressing that its effectiveness would depend on members’ ability to translate their appointments into tangible grassroots mobilisation. According to him, Wike’s political approach is rooted in strategic organisation, coalition-building and sustained engagement with the electorate. “For Wike, politics is more than an occasional engagement; it is a calculated enterprise that demands constant attention, strategic thinking, organisation and an understanding of the dynamics of power,” Dike said. He explained that members of the council would be expected to embark on door-to-door campaigns and engage different segments of the electorate, including traders, transport operators and residents in their communities. “The objective is to ensure that political communication extends to every community where eligible voters reside,” he added. Dike said the initiative was intended to establish a formidable campaign network capable of reaching voters in every part of the state and persuading them to support Tinubu and candidates of the Rivers Rainbow Coalition. He noted that direct voter engagement, persuasion and personal political relationships would be critical to translating political structures into electoral victories. The APC chieftain also disclosed that Wike planned to establish campaign councils at the local government and ward levels to broaden participation and strengthen coordination from the state to the grassroots. Dike expressed optimism that effective implementation of the mobilisation strategy could deliver an unprecedented electoral performance for Tinubu and the Rivers Rainbow Coalition in 2027. However, he cautioned that the success of the 700-member council would depend not on its size but on the commitment and performance of its members. “A 700-member council can only justify its size when members demonstrate commitment, discipline, coordination and a willingness to engage voters at the community level,” he said.