Politics

Wike Denies Promising Tinubu To “Hold PDP” Ahead of 2027

ByTitilope Adako

PublishedDecember 29, 2025

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has denied claims by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, that he promised President Bola Tinubu to “hold” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 presidential election, describing the allegation as false and unfair.

Wike accused Makinde of being responsible for the internal crisis rocking the PDP, saying the Oyo governor’s ambition plunged the party into its current troubles.

OSUN DEFENDER had reported on December 23, 2025, that Makinde disclosed details of a private meeting involving President Tinubu and Wike, where the FCT minister allegedly volunteered to deliver the PDP to the President ahead of the 2027 polls.

Makinde said the revelation left him “in shock” and marked the beginning of the deepening crisis within the opposition party.

Speaking during a media chat last Tuesday, Makinde said he was present at a meeting attended by President Tinubu, Wike, the President’s Chief of Staff and other top officials, where Wike openly told the President, “Sir, I will hold PDP for you against 2027.”

“I was in shock,” Makinde said, adding that the comment was neither discussed nor agreed upon beforehand.

According to him, he confronted Wike immediately after the meeting, saying, “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.”

Makinde stressed that while Wike has the constitutional right to support President Tinubu for a second term, others within the PDP also have the right to resist what he described as attempts to weaken the opposition and push Nigeria towards a one-party state.

However, speaking during a media chat on Monday, Wike questioned the basis of the claim and denied that such a meeting ever took place.

“What was that meeting? What was the purpose of that meeting that would have made me tell Mr President that I will hold PDP for him?” he asked.

He also criticised Makinde for not raising the issue earlier within the party, saying, “Why did Seyi Makinde not come up all this while to tell the party what Wike is doing, that he was in a meeting and this is what Wike said?”

“Let me put the record straight,” Wike added. “There was no such meeting.”

Insisting that the account being circulated was inaccurate, the FCT minister said, “It is not correct. To put the record straight, there was no such meeting.”

He explained that the visit to President Tinubu involved several former and serving governors and was not a special or private meeting as portrayed.

“Rather, myself, 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 about certain things,” Wike said.

According to him, the visit was informal and by appointment. “While we were there, the Chief of Staff was present, and I was the one who told him that we needed to remind the President of what we had discussed,” he stated.

Wike maintained that no commitment was made to President Tinubu regarding the PDP, saying, “It is completely out of place for anybody to say that in that meeting, I told Mr President that I will hold PDP for him. That is very unfair.”

Turning to Makinde, Wike described the Oyo governor’s comments as a sign of frustration.

“You can see frustration in Seyi Makinde’s media chat. This is a young man we have advised severally. Politics is not like being a contractor with Shell; it has different rules,” he said.

While acknowledging that ambition is not wrong, Wike said it must follow due process, adding, “There is nothing wrong with having ambition, but your ambition must be tailored according to the rules.”

He further alleged that Makinde harbours presidential ambitions but has not been open about them, saying, “Seyi Makinde doesn’t even have the guts to tell us that he wants to run for president. Let him say that he has told anybody. But we know. We are not kids.”

Blaming Makinde for the PDP’s internal crisis, Wike said, “How did PDP enter this crisis? It is Seyi Makinde’s ambition.”

He also faulted the legal actions taken during the dispute, saying Makinde “made people go to the state high court in Enugu when he knew that the state high court had no jurisdiction over that matter.”

According to him, the issue was later resolved at the appellate court. “Samuel Anyanwu went to the Court of Appeal and won. We all agreed for the party to move on. Convention would be coming, allow this to go on. We have only one year, and at the convention, we would make sure that those we don’t want to come back will not come back,” Wike added.

Titilope Adako

Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.