The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, says that he would be the first target of opposition politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, should President Bola Tinubu fail to secure re-election in 2027.

Wike made the remark during a media chat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, where he defended his unrelenting campaign for Tinubu’s second term despite remaining a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Wike has been engaged in a political battle with Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, since 2022, when he lost the Peoples Democratic Party presidential ticket to the former vice president.

Obi, who emerged as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress for 2027, also sought Wike’s support for his 2023 presidential bid on the Labour Party platform, although the minister openly backed Tinubu in the election.

Speaking on the political risk of openly backing the President, Wike said his loyalty to Tinubu had left him personally exposed should the President’s re-election bid fail.

“My concern is, I will support Mr President. If you watch what is happening today and look at it, peradventure anything happens and Mr President fails today, I will be the first politician that Atiku or Obi will hunt for his head.

“I challenge anybody. So, I won’t make that mistake of sleeping to see that the President loses the election,” Wike said.

The minister argued that his aggressive posture against opposition figures such as Atiku and Obi meant that a Tinubu defeat in 2027 would not only be a loss for his Rainbow Coalition but would also leave him personally vulnerable to political reprisal from a new administration.

Wike further declared that he would not remain passive and allow Atiku to win the 2027 presidential election, as political activities begin to gather momentum ahead of the January general elections.

He also dismissed reports that he was planning to relocate to Rivers State, saying his frequent visits to the state were part of efforts to remain politically engaged with his people.

“You want me to fold my hands for Atiku Abubakar to come and win the election?” Wike asked.

The minister argued that he had no intention of abandoning his responsibilities in Abuja but would continue to maintain close contact with political developments in Rivers State.

“It’s not about relocating; it’s about coming home to relate with the people and talk to them, and also do those things you know how to do very well, not to take chances.

“So, I’m not relocating. I don’t need to relocate, but I also have to be in touch with my people so that I don’t just sit in Abuja and then say that everything is going on well there,” he added.

According to him, he would not rely solely on assurances from political associates that all was well in Rivers State, particularly as the 2027 general election approaches.

“I don’t want to sit in Abuja, and candidates are saying, ‘Oh, don’t bother, everything is going on well’. I have to come home and see that all those things are going on. ‘Have you done this? What about this?’” Wike said.

Wike, however, assured that all capital projects initiated under the administration in the nation’s capital will be completed before the expiration of the tenure.

He highlighted the infrastructure projects executed by the FCT Administration under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Before this tenure expires, every project started under Bola Tinubu would have been completed,” he said.

The minister said 107 capital projects were initiated under the Tinubu administration in the FCT, with 76 already completed.

He added that 10 more projects would be inaugurated before the January elections, while the remaining projects would be completed before the end of the administration’s tenure.

“The President’s administration under Bola Tinubu commissioned 107 capital projects. We have completed 76. Before the January election, we will commission 10, and before the end of his tenure, we would have commissioned all the projects,” Wike said.

The minister also disclosed that the FCT Administration had made significant progress on projects inherited from previous administrations.

According to him, 23 of the 25 projects inherited from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had been completed, with work ongoing on the remaining two.

He said the administration also inherited eight projects from the administrations of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Umaru Yar’Adua, completing six while two remained ongoing.

“We inherited 25 projects from President Buhari and completed 23, while two are currently ongoing.

“We inherited eight projects from the administrations of President Jonathan and President Yar’Adua. We have completed six, while two are ongoing,” he said.

Wike reiterated the commitment of the FCTA to completing all projects initiated under Tinubu before the end of the President’s tenure.

The minister also challenged critics to compare the infrastructure development recorded under the Tinubu administration with those of previous governments.

“In the history of the FCT, no government has done what we have done in Abuja. I challenge anyone to come out,” Wike stated.

Source: punchng.com

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned that artificial intelligence-driven disinformation poses a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections, calling for electoral technology and communication to be treated as a single discipline.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), also disclosed that the commission was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems and considering a mock presidential election to test its readiness ahead of the polls.

This was contained in a statement signed by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi.

Amupitan spoke on Wednesday in Abuja in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by a National Commissioner, Sani Adam (SAN), at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria.

The conference was themed, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.”

Amupitan said the credibility of the electoral commission increasingly depended not only on the integrity of the ballot, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets, but also on how information about electoral processes was understood and trusted by voters.

He said the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal was intended to address longstanding concerns about the transparency of elections by allowing citizens to view polling-unit results before their movement to collation centres.

“He, however, acknowledged that the 2023 general election showed that such technology could become a source of public doubt when it underperformed, stressing that legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,” the statement read.

He said legitimacy could only be earned when electoral systems performed reliably, were properly understood by voters, and their shortcomings were honestly explained when they occurred.

On preparations for 2027, Amupitan said the commission was auditing its technology systems, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery plans.

He added that INEC was exploring the possibility of conducting a mock presidential election ahead of the 2027 polls to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to election day.

The INEC chairman also raised concerns about the growing use of generative artificial intelligence to create synthetic audio, video and images capable of misleading voters.

He said the technology had made manipulated content cheaper to produce and increasingly difficult to detect, with fabricated political content already circulating during recent electoral cycles in West and East Africa.

According to him, the threat extends beyond outright fabrication to algorithmic microtargeting, which allows different and even contradictory political messages to be directed at narrow segments of the electorate.

He warned that such content could reach millions of social media users before fact-checkers or electoral authorities were able to verify it.

“The danger lies not only in outright fabrication but also in algorithmic microtargeting, which allows conflicting messages to reach narrow segments of the electorate without a shared factual foundation,” he said.

Amupitan disclosed that INEC had proposed a substantial budget for technology and election operations, “including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged in the last cycle.”

He said the commission was still awaiting the full release of the funds but that its ICT team had begun engagements with manufacturers, while preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were proceeding alongside budget finalisation.

He also outlined a five-point strategy for strengthening the commission’s response to emerging electoral communication challenges.

The strategy includes integrating technology and communication planning, establishing a rapid-response mechanism to counter falsehoods within the same news cycle, proactively communicating known vulnerabilities and safeguards, deepening collaboration with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms, and investing continuously in public media literacy.

Amupitan said the commission could no longer afford to regard technology and communication as separate components of election management.

He urged media professionals, technology experts, scholars and other stakeholders to work with INEC to strengthen public understanding and trust in the electoral process before the 2027 elections.

Source: punchng.com

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Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike has defended the inclusion of an individual under Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigation on President Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign team.

Wike argued that being probed does not prevent a person from canvassing votes

He stated this during a media parley he hosted on Wednesday, which was aired on Channels Television.

The former Rivers State governor questioned what he described as a double standard in scrutinising people involved in political campaigns, noting that a person facing an EFCC investigation but not charged to court could still participate in political activities.

“You (media) were asking the moral justification of putting someone who has an EFCC case to be in a campaign council. And I was just watching the lady. The lady doesn’t even know what to say,” Wike said.

He added, “Now, somebody cannot be in a campaign to canvass for votes for a particular person, but somebody who has an EFCC case can contest an election and win an election?”

Wike said there had been instances where people facing criminal allegations had contested elections and won.

“This person had an EFCC case in court, charged to court. He contested an election and became a Governor,” he said without mentioning any name.

Wike further argued that even a person serving a prison sentence could canvass votes for a candidate.

“Listen. Even a prisoner… maybe they have somebody in prison. I go and visit the person. The person can tell me, ‘My brother, I want you to support so-and-so candidate.’ A prisoner has canvassed for vote.”

He also referred to an unnamed person who he said had been alleged to be involved in a coup in Nigeria, saying the person had also canvassed votes for a candidate.

“I was watching, when Channels, when Sunrise, who came up to say, ‘Ah, how can somebody who’s being looked for as a coup plotter is now canvassing for votes for so-and-so government?’ Somebody EFCC is looking for is now canvassing for votes for so-and-so person.

“But… a party, or a candidate cannot, simply because EFCC is investigating the person, cannot be a member of the campaign council to campaign for votes.”

Wike’s comments followed controversy over the inclusion of Edu in the campaign structure for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

Edu was listed as Director of Women Mobilisation in the APC Presidential Campaign Council. She was suspended by Tinubu in January 2024 following allegations of financial impropriety and was subsequently investigated by the EFCC.

An APC campaign council spokesperson, Kemi Asekun-Shittu, had defended Edu’s inclusion during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, saying the former minister had not been found guilty of any offence.

“I’d like to say that for Betta Edu, for example, she has not been found guilty. And it will be unfair to ask that she leaves her life or refuses to live her life until the EFCC declares her. We believe that there is very likely the issue that she may not be found guilty.

“But besides that, we also know that with politics, every Nigerian is allowed to be a politician if they choose to. And we do not believe that we should then hold her life still or keep her stagnant until the case is decided. It’s been almost two years of that case.

“She does deserve an opportunity to present herself again for the party,” she said.

Asekun-Shittu also said the campaign committee was an internal party affair and that the APC could decide who would work for it, while noting that the list was not final and could still be reviewed.

Edu has not been publicly declared guilty of any offence in relation to the EFCC investigation.

Source: punchng.com

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