Written by Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA — Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State and a prominent member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is presently meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential palace.
Governor Makinde arrived at the State House shortly after his colleague from Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, who recently switched from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Party (APC). Mutfwang went directly to the president’s office.
The governor of Oyo State was one of five PDP governors known as the “G5,” who supported President Bola in the 2023 presidential election and demonstrated against the rise of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate.
Following Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year leadership from the North, the governors had insisted that the South should produce the president in accordance with the PDP’s rotational structure.
Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia were among the other members of the G-5 at the time.
Governor Makinde and Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are at odds, nevertheless.
In a recent interview, Makinde clarified that the rupture started when Wike allegedly informed President Tinubu during a meeting that he would “hold PDP” for the President prior to the 2027 election. Makinde claimed that this comment was made without the approval of other party stakeholders.
“I was in a meeting with the President and Wike and a few others, and Wike said to the President that I will hold PDP for you against 2027,” Makinde stated. “After we got up, I asked Wike if we agreed to this.”
While Wike has the right to back Tinubu’s reelection campaign, Makinde pointed out that other party members have the right to defend the PDP and reject any action that would erode democratic pluralism.
“The true problem is that Wike wants to back the President in 2027; that’s okay, he has the right to do that,” he stated.
He said, “But some of us who want democracy to survive in Nigeria, we don’t drift into a one-party state, and we want to ensure that PDP survives, he should also allow us to do our own thing.”
The governor emphasized that the action was unsolicited and that President Tinubu did not ask Wike to make such a promise on his behalf.
“He volunteered that I would do this; the President did not ask him to do this for me,” Makinde stated.
He continued by saying that he decided to dissociate himself from the action because attempts to get Wike to change his mind had failed. I told him that day that I would never be involved in this if he didn’t back down,” he added. In closing, Makinde reaffirmed his autonomy in making political decisions prior to 2027.
I will never back the president in 2027 because of this. Wike has the right to back him, but I also have the freedom to choose who I will back or what I will do in 2027 inside the political sphere,” he continued.
The agenda of Tinubu and Makinde’s meeting was not made public at the time this article was filed.
