Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has denied claims that he promised President Bola Tinubu he would deliver the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Gatekeepers News reports that Wike dismissed the allegation during a media chat at his office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, describing Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, as “frustrated.”
The denial followed comments by Makinde, who accused Wike of being responsible for the internal crisis rocking the PDP and the wave of defections of party members to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Makinde, who said he regretted supporting Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, claimed his fallout with Wike began after the FCT minister allegedly told the president he would “hold PDP” for him ahead of 2027.
“I was in a meeting with the president and Wike… the president’s chief of staff was also there,” Makinde said.
“And Wike said to the president that, ‘Sir, I will hold PDP for you in 2027.’ I was in shock.”
Makinde said he confronted Wike shortly after the meeting and made it clear he would not be part of such an arrangement.
“I told him from that day that I would never be a part of this. Wike can support Tinubu if he wants; that is his right. It is also my right to decide who I will support and the role I will play in 2027,” he said.
According to the Oyo governor, he later raised the matter with a mutual friend in the hope that Wike would reconsider.
“I felt maybe he was running an errand the president did not send him. I thought he would back off, but he never did,” Makinde added.
Responding, Wike denied ever making such a statement, insisting no such meeting took place in the manner described by Makinde.
“First of all, Seyi Makinde has never called me ‘Wike’ before. That was the first time I heard him do that, and it is unfortunate,” he said.
“You must ask: what was that meeting about that would make me say I would hold PDP for Tinubu? Why didn’t Makinde come out at that time to tell the party what he claimed happened?”
Wike explained that after the 2023 election, he and some former PDP governors — including Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Makinde — visited President Tinubu to discuss post-election issues.
“While we were there, I only called the Chief of Staff to remind us of what we had earlier discussed. It is completely unfair for anyone to claim that I told the president I would hold PDP for him. That never happened,” Wike said.
Describing Makinde as politically inexperienced, Wike added:
“If you watch Seyi, you will see frustration. Politics is not like dealing with contractors; it has different rules.”
He also accused the Oyo governor of harbouring presidential ambitions without openly declaring them.
“He does not have the guts to tell us he wants to run for president. Let him say it openly. We are not kids — there are things you do, and you think people don’t know, but they do,” Wike said.
Makinde, however, maintained during his own media chat at the Government House in Ibadan that he had the capacity to contest for the presidency if he chose to do so.
