Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has strongly denied claims that he promised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he would weaken the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election.
The denial comes amid growing internal tensions within the Peoples Democratic Party, one of Nigeria’s major opposition parties, following accusations made by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, the elected leader of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria.
Okay News reports that the dispute escalated after Governor Makinde alleged that Wike privately assured President Tinubu, Nigeria’s current head of government and leader of the All Progressives Congress, that he would “hold down” the opposition party to ease the President’s path to re-election in 2027.
Speaking during an end-of-the-year media chat held on Monday, December Twenty-Ninth, Two Thousand And Twenty-Five, Wike dismissed the allegation as false, describing it as a deliberate misrepresentation of events and a product of political frustration.
“Seyi Makinde has never called me Wike. That is the first time I have heard him calling me Wike. It is unfortunate,” Wike said.
“First of all, you ask yourself, what was that meeting? What was the purpose of that meeting? That would have led me to say, Mr President, I will hold Peoples Democratic Party down for you.”
Wike, a former Governor of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, questioned why Makinde failed to raise the allegation immediately if it were true, especially within internal party structures.
“Why did Seyi Makinde not come up all this while to tell the party, see what Wike is doing? I was in a meeting. I saw what Wike said. It is not correct,” he added.
Providing his own account of the events, Wike clarified that the meeting in question took place after Nigeria’s 2023 general elections and involved several senior politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party.
“There was no such meeting. Rather, my humble self, the former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, the former Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, the former Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Seyi Makinde, went to see the President,” he said.
According to Wike, the visit was informal and focused on post-election discussions rather than political negotiations.
“We went to see the President after elections were over, to discuss certain things. While we were there, the Chief of Staff — you should know that the Chief of Staff is always around the President,” he explained.
Wike further stressed that the presence of Nigeria’s Presidential Chief of Staff was routine and did not signify any secret or pre-arranged agenda.
“I was the one who said, look, Chief of Staff, come and sit down, so we can remind the President of what we have discussed. There was nothing like a meeting we booked to go and see Mr President. So, it is completely out of place for anybody to say that in that meeting I told Mr President that I would hold Peoples Democratic Party down for him.”
Describing the allegation as deeply unfair, Wike suggested that Governor Makinde’s comments were driven by personal ambition and frustration.
“I have told everybody, frustration — if you can see it, if you watch Seyi Makinde, you can see frustration. And this young man, we have advised severely,” he said.
“Politics is not like being a contractor with Shell. Politics is not like being a contractor. It has different rules.”
He added that ambition alone was not the problem, but rather how such ambition was pursued.
“When did Seyi Makinde come into politics? There is nothing wrong with having ambition, but the ambition must be pursued according to the rules,” Wike stated.
The controversy originated from remarks made by Governor Makinde during a separate media engagement last week, where he detailed a private meeting held in Two Thousand And Twenty-Three involving himself, Wike, and President Tinubu.
According to Makinde, Wike allegedly pledged to undermine the Peoples Democratic Party in order to support Tinubu’s re-election bid, without any request from the President.
“Wike said he was going to hold the Peoples Democratic Party down for President Tinubu,” Makinde claimed publicly, linking the incident to the breakdown of his political relationship with Wike.
Makinde further said he regretted supporting Tinubu during the Two Thousand And Twenty-Three presidential election and vowed not to back him in Two Thousand And Twenty-Seven, citing concerns about Nigeria’s democratic future.
