Makinde Alleges Wike Pledged to Secure PDP for Tinubu in 2027

A few months after taking office, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike allegedly promised President Bola Tinubu that he would hold the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for him in 2027, according to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.

In an interview with journalists on Tuesday, Makinde revealed that the reason he was upset with the former governor of Rivers State was that Wike wanted to back the president in 2027 and didn’t want the PDP to.

“The real issue is that I was in a meeting with the president and Wike,” he stated, going into further detail about his disagreement with Wike. I’m stating this in a public conversation. Along with a few other people, the president’s chief of staff attended that meeting. “Sir, I’ll hold PDP for you in 2027,” Wike declared to the president. I was shocked. We then got to the veranda and got up. “Wike, did we agree to this?” I asked. I’m not fond of discussing individuals. But let me discuss the actual problem. Wike’s desire to back the president for 2027 is the true problem. It’s acceptable. He is free to act in such way. However, he should also let us do our own thing if some of us want to make sure that democracy in Nigeria endures, that we don’t become a one-party state, and that the PDP survives. That is the only problem that exists between Wike and me.

“After that meeting, I confided in a common friend. I couldn’t stop thinking that the president hadn’t asked him to do this. The person who offered to do that was him.

“Maybe he was talking about an errand that the president never sent him,” I replied as I told our mutual friend. Let’s confront him. We’ll see whether he gives up. But he didn’t. I said, “Well, it’s time to confront him,” when he refused to back down. I’ll never be involved in this, I informed him that day. For this reason, I will not be voting for the president in 2027. He has Wike’s support. It’s his right. However, I also have the freedom to choose who I will support or what I will do in 2027.

Speaking further, the governor described how the president asked him to suggest a candidate for a ministerial position, but the candidate wasn’t selected. Later, in a meeting with the president, the president asked him to organize the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, but he declined.

“The individual wasn’t selected,” he declared. Instead, they chose the existing minister of power. He was not nominated Minister of Economic Planning and Budget. He was brought to the ministry of authority. I believe I went to the president to ask for permission to modernize the airport during a later meeting. “He’ll sign it for me,” he remarked.

He claimed that the president inquired, “But what happened politically? I’ve heard that you’re disappointed that your nominee wasn’t appointed as a minister. In Yoruba nation, it’s easier to abort a pregnancy than to kill a kid, thus if you don’t want the pregnancy to be aborted, you won’t want the infant to die. You’ll choose who you want to collaborate with in the end, I said. We can only recommend individuals. However, we are only here to support you if you know persons who meet your criteria for the kind of person you want in your cabinet. But let me clarify: the minister of power lacks the ability to assist you in organizing the APC in Oyo State if you have chosen him for that purpose.

“No, no, no, Seyi, I want you to assist me in organizing the APC in Oyo State,” he added. I told him that since I am a member of the PDP, I could never assist you in organizing the APC in Oyo State. Therefore, our current situation would be substantially different if we had a government of national competency and unity.

“And allow me to bring up this Wike issue once more. The first contract that Mobil awarded Macron was precisely this one. My age was 29. The sum was $1 billion. I earned $1 billion in that single year. In 1997, I was 29 years old, and Wike had probably just graduated from law school. The chairman of the municipal government was his next position.