Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said his disagreement with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, ahead of the 2027 general elections centres on the right of individuals to make independent political choices, insisting he will not support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
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Makinde made the remarks during a media chat in Ibadan, where he addressed questions on his political relationship with Wike, a former ally within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Providing context to his relationship with Wike, Makinde recounted his early business success.
“Within one year, I made $1 million. I was 29 in 1997. At that time, Wike had probably just finished law school,” the governor stated, referring to his first major contract from Mobile.
“This was the exact first contract that Mobile gave to Macon. I was twenty-nine. It was one million dollars. Within that one year, I made one million dollars in my pocket. I was twenty-nine. Nineteen-ninety-seven. Wike perhaps at that time just left law school. And then his next job after that was local government chairman.”
@thenigerialawyer “At 29, I Made $1 Million in One Year — Makinde Alleges Wike Promised PDP for Tinubu in 2027, Excluded Me”
The Oyo governor disclosed that his concerns were heightened following a meeting involving President Tinubu, Wike and other political figures, during which the former Rivers State governor reportedly pledged to hold the PDP for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“I was in a meeting with President Tinubu, Nyesom Wike, and others when Wike volunteered to hold the PDP for Tinubu against 2027, and I was in shock,” Makinde revealed.
He provided more details: “I’m saying this, you know, in an open chat. The president’s chief of staff was also in that meeting and a few others. And Wike said to the president that, well, sir, I will hold PDP for you, you know, against twenty-seven. I was in shock.”
Describing his immediate reaction, Makinde said: “So we got up, we got to the veranda, I said did we agree to this?”
The governor explained that he confided in a mutual friend after the meeting.
“I kept thinking okay, I mean the president did not ask him to do this for me, he was the one that volunteered that I will do that. So when I was telling our mutual friend, I said look, maybe he was talking about an errand that the president never sent him. So let’s watch, let’s engage him, let’s see if he will back off, but he never did.”
“So after he didn’t back off, I said well now it’s time to confront him because I told him from that day that I would never be a part of this. And that is why I will not be supporting the president for twenty-twenty-seven,” Makinde stated.
The governor emphasized that while Wike is entitled to back any candidate of his choice, including Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he should not attempt to impose such decisions on others within the party.
“The real issue is that Wike would like to support the president for twenty-twenty-seven. That’s fine, it is within his right to do that. But also some of us that want to, you know, ensure that democracy survives in Nigeria, we don’t drift into a one-party state, and we want to ensure that PDP survives. It should also allow us to do our own thing. That is just the issue between me and Wike,” Makinde explained.
“Wike can support him, it is within his right, but also it is within my own right to decide within the political space who I will support or what I will do in twenty-twenty-seven.”
Makinde also revealed details of a subsequent meeting with President Tinubu where he sought approval for the upgrade of Ibadan Airport.
“A subsequent meeting with the president, I think I must have gone to him to seek approval for the upgrade of Ibadan Airport. He said, I will sign it for you. I’ll give, you know, my nod. But, oh, sit down. What’s happening politically? I heard you’re upset because you were not, your nominee was not given the ministerial slot,” the governor recounted.
Makinde explained his response using a Yoruba analogy: “I said, sir, in Yoruba land, if you don’t want the pregnancy to be aborted you won’t want the baby to die because it’s easier to abort a pregnancy than you know to kill a baby. I said you will decide at the end of the day, you know, who you want to work with. We can only suggest people.”
The governor disclosed that President Tinubu asked him to help organize the APC in Oyo State, a request he firmly declined.
“However, let me say this. If you’ve selected the Minister of Power because you want him to help you organize the APC in your state, he doesn’t have the capacity. I told the president. He said, no, no, no, no, she is you that I want to help me organize APC in Oyo State. I said, no, sir, I can never help you organize APC in Oyo State because I am of the PDP,” Makinde stated.
Recall that Makinde and Wike were prominent members of the G5 group of PDP governors who broke ranks with the party leadership during the 2023 general elections.
The group, which also included former governors Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu and Samuel Ortom of Benue, supported Tinubu after disagreements with the PDP leadership over zoning arrangements.
At the centre of the dispute was the refusal of the then PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to step down for a southerner, despite the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, also coming from the north.
The G5 governors argued that the arrangement violated internal party balance and equity.
Following Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, political realignments within the PDP intensified. Wike later accepted appointment as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in Tinubu’s administration.
Relations between Makinde and Wike have since deteriorated.
The PDP held a convention in Oyo State where disciplinary measures were announced against Wike and other senior party figures, including former Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose.
“We held a convention here in Ibadan. We gave adequate notice to INEC, which is all that we’re required to do under the law,” Makinde stated.
“Wike and the rest of those people were expelled and they’ve been expelled.”
Addressing questions about PDP factions, Makinde insisted: “By the way, the way PDP is today there is no faction in PDP.”
The governor expressed displeasure with how INEC handled a meeting between the warring PDP factions.
“They played our people, they invited them and said, uh, what I gave you, the leadership of PDP, and then they got there and found out that they’ve called their uncle. I said that’s even silly to start with,” Makinde stated.
Citing legal precedent, Makinde said: “The Supreme Court already said: whoever is your secretary is the internal affair of the party. There’s a Supreme Court judgment on SDP how many days ago saying exactly the same thing?”
He added: “Even if the court says: look, the convention is not valid, which I don’t think is possible because up to the supreme court already said: look, internal affairs of the party is internal affairs of the party. So they can only delay things.”
Makinde warned of the consequences of attempts to undermine the PDP.
“There may be unintended consequences for, you know, trying to kill PDP. There’s a danger that if you do that, you may, you know, unknowingly, you know, kill democracy in this country. God forbid,” he stated.
Asked whether PDP stands a chance in 2027 elections, Makinde placed responsibility on President Tinubu.
“The president has the power to call his minister to order. He said: look, allow democracy to survive in Nigeria,” the governor stated.
Makinde stressed that his immediate political priority is the survival and stability of the PDP, urging party members to be allowed to take positions guided by their convictions.
He said political choices should not be dictated by any individual, regardless of influence or past alliances.
Reflecting on what could have been, Makinde said: “If we have a government of national unity, a government of national competence, you know, we would have been in a very different environment right now.”
The faction aligned with Makinde accused Wike of anti-party activities, allegations which Wike and his supporters have denied.
Despite the disciplinary actions, Wike has maintained that he remains a member of the PDP and has repeatedly stated his intention to support Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde, however, reiterated that political loyalty should not override democratic choice. He said his position was not about personal rivalry but about protecting the integrity of the party and ensuring that members are free to decide their political futures without coercion.
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