Makinde: Wike promised to hold PDP for Tinubu ahead of 2027 — that wasn’t our agreement

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says he will not support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election because of concerns about the survival of democracy in the country.

In the buildup to the 2023 presidential election, Makinde was part of the G5 governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who refused to back Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid.

The G5 governors, led by Nyesom Wike, current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), insisted that the party’s presidential candidate should not come from the same region as the party’s national chairman.

Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the presidential vote in Oyo, a state controlled by the PDP.

But the relationship between Makinde and Wike later became frosty.

‘WIKE PROMISED TO HOLD PDP FOR TINUBU’

Speaking on Tuesday during a media chat at the Government House in Ibadan, Makinde detailed the political disagreement between him and Wike.

He said the rift began after Wike told Tinubu during a meeting that he would “hold PDP” for the president ahead of the 2027 election without consulting 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; I was in shock,” Makinde said.

“So, we got up, and I asked Wike, did we agree to this?”

Makinde said while Wike is free to back Tinubu’s re-election bid, other party members also have the right to defend the PDP and resist actions that could weaken Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.

“The real issue is that Wike would like to support the President in 2027, that’s fine; it’s within his right to do that,” he said.

“But also, some of us who want democracy to survive in Nigeria, we don’t want to drift into a one-party state, and we want to ensure that PDP survives; he should also allow us to do our own thing.”

Makinde said Tinubu did not request such a commitment from Wike.

“The President did not ask him; do this for me. He was the one who volunteered that I would do this,” the governor said.

He added that efforts to get Wike to withdraw the decision failed, and he therefore decided to “confront him”.

“After he didn’t back off, I told him from that day that I would never be part of this,” he said.

Makinde said his refusal to support Tinubu in 2027 is rooted in his right to make independent political choices.

“That is why I will never support the President for 2027. Wike can support him; it is within his right, but it is also within my right within the political space to determine who I will support or what I will do in 2027,” he added.