Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has disclosed details of a private political meeting involving him, President Bola Tinubu and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, saying he was shocked by Wike’s declaration to “hold PDP” for the President ahead of the 2027 general election, a move Makinde says he firmly rejected.
Speaking during a media chat on Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party governor said he was present at a meeting where Wike openly declared his intention to support President Tinubu politically in 2027, including working against the interests of the PDP.
“I was in a meeting with the president and Wike… and I’m saying this, you know, in an open chat. The president’s chief of staff was also in that meeting and few others… and Wike said to the president that, well, sir, I will hold PDP for you, you know, in 2027,” Makinde said.
He said the comment left him stunned.
“I was in shock. So we got up, we got to the verandah and I said, Wike did we agree to this?” he added.
Makinde stressed that while Wike has the right to support President Tinubu, he would not be part of any arrangement that weakens the opposition or threatens Nigeria’s democratic space.
“The real issue is that Wike would like to support the president for 2027. 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,” he said.
He said he later raised the issue with a mutual friend, hoping Wike would reconsider his stance.
“I confided in a mutual friend of ours after that meeting. And I kept thinking, OK, the president did not ask him to ‘do this for me’. He was the one that volunteered to do that,” Makinde said.
“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 engage him. Let’s see if he will back off. But he never did.”
Makinde said Wike’s refusal to retreat forced him to take a clear position.
“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,” he said.
“That is why I will not be supporting the president for 2027. 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 2027.”
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The Oyo governor also spoke on his interactions with President Tinubu over ministerial nominations and party politics following the formation of the federal cabinet.
Seyi Makinde also said he rejected any suggestion that he would help organise the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State.
“He said, ‘it’s you that I want to help me organise APC in Oyo State. I said, no, sir, I can never help you organise APC in Oyo State because I am of the PDP,” he said.
He added that Nigeria would be better served by a more inclusive political arrangement.
“So 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,” Makinde said.
The governor maintained that his disagreement with Wike is rooted in principle and the future of opposition politics in Nigeria, insisting he will not compromise his stance ahead of 2027.
