By RismadarVoice Media
December 23, 2025
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has revealed details of a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, where Wike allegedly pledged to “hold” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the President ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Makinde said the remark left him “in shock” and marked a turning point in the deepening crisis within the main opposition party.
Speaking during a media chat on Tuesday, the governor disclosed that he was present at a meeting attended by President Tinubu, Wike, the President’s Chief of Staff, and other top government officials when Wike made the statement.
“I was in a meeting with the President and Wike, and Wike said to the President, ‘Sir, I will hold PDP for you against 2027.’ I was in shock,” Makinde said.
According to the Oyo governor, the statement was neither discussed nor agreed upon beforehand. He said he immediately confronted Wike after the meeting.
“We got to the veranda and I asked him, ‘Wike, did we agree to this?’ I don’t like talking about people, but I will talk about the real issue,” he stated.
Makinde stressed that while Wike has the constitutional right to support President Tinubu’s re-election bid, other PDP members also have the right to resist any attempt to weaken the opposition and push the country toward a one-party system.
“Wike would like to support the President for 2027. That’s fine. It is within his right to do so. But some of us want to ensure that democracy survives in Nigeria and that we don’t drift into a one-party state,” he said.
The Governor said he made it clear to Wike that he would not be part of any arrangement aimed at subordinating the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“I told him from that day that I would never be a part of this. And that is why I will not be supporting the President for 2027. Wike can support him. That is his right. But it is also my right to decide what I will do politically in 2027,” Makinde declared.
Makinde further suggested that Wike’s move was unsolicited, noting that President Tinubu did not ask him to make such a commitment on behalf of the PDP.
“He volunteered something the President did not send him to do. I told a mutual friend of ours that maybe he was running an errand that he was never sent on,” he said.
The Oyo Governor added that efforts were initially made to quietly observe and engage Wike in the hope that he would reconsider his position, but when that failed, he chose to confront the matter openly.
