• Says Wike free to support Tinubu
• Admits error in 2023 endorsement
• “I made $1m while Wike was still in law school”
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has asked FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to allow others make their political choices, insisting that, unlike his former ally, he won’t be supporting President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
The governor spoke on Tuesday during a media chat in Ibadan, Oyo State, where he explained that Wike cannot dictate political choices to others.
Makinde, who recalled a meeting between him, Tinubu, and Wike, claimed that the former Rivers State governor told the president he would “hold the PDP” for him in 2027, expressed surprise at the minister’s comment.
“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,” the governor said. “Wike can support the president in 2027, but I will not.”
The governor asked Wike to “allow us to make our choice” and said his immediate goal is to ensure that “PDP survives”.
Wike and Makinde, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), supported Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections.
Both were members of the G5, which comprised five PDP governors as of then — Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).
The group supported Tinubu after the then-PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, failed to step down for a southerner to replace him. They argued that since Atiku Abubakar, the party’s candidate for that election, is from the same region as Ayu, it was right for the Benue-born to step aside.
But after the election, which was won by Tinubu, Wike’s relationship with Makinde has deteriorated. In fact, the PDP held its convention a few months back in Oyo and suspended Wike and other high-ranking members of the party, such as ex-governor Ayodele Fayose.
The group, which enjoys Makinde’s backing, accused the former Rivers governor of anti-party activities, claims Wike and others have denied.
Despite the move, Wike has insisted he remains a member of the PDP and has repeatedly said he would back Tinubu in the next presidential election.
Wike had just left law school when I made $1m, says Makinde
Recounting his early professional life, Governor Makinde said his career trajectory had been shaped long before his entry into partisan politics.
According to him, at the age of 29, he secured his first major contract with oil giant Mobil, valued at about $1 million, a milestone he described as transformative.
Makinde noted that at the time he clinched the deal, Wike, now a central figure in the PDP’s internal crisis, had “probably just left law school.”
He described the contract as a turning point that laid the foundation for his success in business and later informed his approach to leadership and governance.
The governor used the reflection to underline his independence, insisting that his political decisions were guided by conviction rather than patronage or pressure.
