Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did all he could to support Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, despite political differences that emerged after the 2023 election. Wike stated this on Monday during an interview on TVC News’ Journalists’ Hangout, while responding……
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did all he could to support Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, despite political differences that emerged after the 2023 election.
Wike stated this on Monday during an interview on TVC News’ Journalists’ Hangout, while responding to a question on whether Tinubu had treated Makinde fairly considering the governor’s support for him in the 2023 presidential election.
The FCT Minister said he was directly involved in discussions concerning Makinde’s interests and had interfaced with President Tinubu alongside other former governors.
According to Wike, the President’s support for Makinde included a financial intervention of about N50 billion, which he said was considered because of the governor’s support for Tinubu.
“If the president had any ulterior motive, or had anything against my brother (Seyi Makinde), Mr. President wouldn’t have, as a matter of fact, offered to give that assistance,” Wike said.
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“Indeed, we’re working with some 50 billion Naira. Mr. President, consider that this is one of the persons who supported me. And this is what you want. And it’s available for me to provide.”
Wike said political support should not be viewed solely through the appointment of a ministerial nominee, arguing that having access to the President and being able to raise the concerns of a state were also important.
“I don’t think that the major problem is me bringing a minister. Ah, you could bring a minister. So many people have brought ministers. So what? So what has happened?” he said.
The FCT Minister also dismissed the suggestion that the failure to secure a ministerial appointment for Oyo State should be interpreted as a failure by Tinubu to honour any understanding with Makinde.
He said other states, including those whose governors supported the President, also did not produce ministers of state.
“For me, it’s about you, as long as you have anything in your mind. If you have something, you have something that nobody knows. If we are sincere to ourselves, I will put the case on the table,” Wike said.
He added that he did not believe the President deliberately withheld support from Makinde.
“I don’t think there’s any way we can say the president intentionally did not want to help anybody. I don’t think that is correct,” he said.
Wike also acknowledged that political relationships involve several factors and said disagreements or mistakes should be addressed through direct communication with the President.
“We all agree to work with this president. And for me, if there are issues, we should be able to resolve,” he said.
He further recalled the support given to Tinubu by Makinde during the 2023 presidential election, saying political considerations had to be viewed alongside other circumstances.
Wike said he had interfaced with Tinubu and other political leaders on the matter, stressing that “all areas have their own peculiarities.”
Makinde, who is the Oyo State governor, supported Tinubu’s presidential bid in the 2023 election while remaining a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Wike was one of the five PDP governors known as the G5 who opposed the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 election and backed president Bola Tinubu of the APC in their respective states.
Makinde, had sometimes in 2025 expressed dissatisfaction with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for rejecting the Oyo State indigene he nominated for ministerial appointment.
During a media chat with journalists, the governor revealed that he had nominated a qualified indigene of the state for the role, after Tinubu told him he wanted an Oyo indigene to occupy the position.
“When the President said nominate somebody who may be appointed as a minister, I said, sir, what position do you want to give us? Then he said that we are looking for developmental economists who can be ministers of budget and economic planning.
“I looked for the best, and I sent somebody’s name who is a state indigene, and I said it to him. The individual wasn’t selected. Rather, they selected the current minister of power. He wasn’t taken into the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. He was taken to the Ministry of Power,” said Makinde.
He added that the President revisited the topic when he (Makinde) went to the President to seek approval for the upgrade of the Ibadan airport.
“A subsequent meeting with the President, actually, I think I must have gone to him to seek approval for the upgrade of Ibadan airport. He said, ‘I will sign it for you; I’ll give you my nod. But sit down. What’s happening politically? I heard you’re upset because your nominee was not given the ministerial slot.’
“I said, sir, in Yoruba land, if you don’t want the pregnancy to be aborted, you won’t want the baby to die, because it’s easier to abort a pregnancy than to kill a baby. I said you will decide at the end of the day who you want to work with. We can only suggest people, but if it’s about the kind of individual you want in your cabinet, we are just here to support you,” Makinde added.
