Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that he turned down a request from President Bola Tinubu to assist organize the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state because he is loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Yesterday, in a media engagement in Ibadan, the state capital, Makinde said what he had to say.
According to Daily Trust, he claimed the subject came up after he had talked to Tinubu about picking a minister from Oyo State to join the federal cabinet.
He said that the president came to him directly for help.
Makinde added, “He said, ‘Seyi, I want you to help me organize the APC in Oyo State.'”
Makinde claimed he would not do what was asked of him since he could not go against his party.
“I told him, ‘No, sir, I can’t help you organize the APC in Oyo State because I’m a member of the PDP,'” he recalled.
The governor further revealed that he was at a meeting where Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, said openly that he will assist President Tinubu politically in 2027.
“I was in a meeting with Wike and the president. I am saying this in a public chat. Makinde added that Wike told the president, “Well, sir, I will hold PDP for you against 2027,” and that the president’s chief of staff was also there.
He said the comment shocked him.
“I was in shock. He remarked, “So we got up, went to the verandah, and I asked, ‘Wike, did we agree to this?'”
Makinde said that Wike has the right to back President Tinubu, but he won’t be part of any deal that makes the opposition weaker or puts Nigeria’s democracy at risk.
“The main problem is that Wike wants to back the president in 2027. That’s okay. He has the right to do that. But some of us also want to make sure that democracy stays alive in Nigeria and that the PDP stays alive so that we don’t become a one-party state. He should also let us do what we want, he remarked.
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