Trending 
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is free to support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, but made it clear that he will not do the same.
Makinde stated this on Tuesday during a media chat in Ibadan, where he said Wike cannot impose his political choices on others within the Peoples Democratic Party. “Wike can support the president in 2027, but I will not,” Makinde said.
Makinde, recalling a meeting involving himself, Tinubu and Wike, said he was surprised when the former Rivers State governor told the president he would “hold the PDP” for him in 2027.
“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, adding that his priority was the survival of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Wike and Makinde, both PDP members, supported Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress during the 2023 presidential election as part of the G5 group of PDP governors.
The G5 group also included former governors Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu and Samuel Ortom of Benue. They backed Tinubu after the PDP’s then national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, failed to step down for a southerner, following the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.
Relations between Makinde and Wike have since deteriorated. The PDP later held a convention in Oyo State, supported by Makinde, which suspended Wike and other senior party figures, including former Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose, over alleged anti-party activities.
Wike and others affected by the decision have denied the allegations. Despite the internal crisis, Wike has insisted he remains a PDP member and has repeatedly said he will back Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
