The Governor of Oyo State and prominent Peoples Democratic Party leader, Seyi Makinde, is currently at the Presidential Villa for a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Makinde arrived shortly after Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, who recently defected from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress, entered the State House and proceeded directly to the President’s office.
Makinde was previously part of the “G5,” a group of five PDP governors who opposed the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and supported President Tinubu during the 2023 elections.
The group had argued that, according to PDP’s rotational arrangement, it was the South’s turn to produce the president after Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure in the North.
Other members of the original G5 include Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
However, tensions have developed between Makinde and Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Makinde recently explained that the rift arose after Wike allegedly told President Tinubu that Makinde would “hold PDP” for him ahead of the 2027 election, an assertion Makinde claims was made 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,” Makinde recounted. “So, we got up, and I asked Wike, did we agree to this?”
While acknowledging Wike’s right to support Tinubu’s re-election, Makinde emphasized that other party members also have a duty to protect the PDP and preserve democratic pluralism.
“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 that 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,” he added.
Makinde maintained that President Tinubu did not request Wike’s commitment, describing it as unsolicited.
“The President did not ask him; do this for me, he was the one who volunteered that I would do this,” Makinde said.
Attempts to persuade Wike to reconsider were unsuccessful, leading Makinde to distance himself from the initiative. “After he didn’t back off, I told him from that day that I would never be part of this,” he said.
He affirmed his independence in political decision-making ahead of 2027. “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,” Makinde concluded.
As of the time of reporting, the agenda of Makinde’s meeting with President Tinubu has not been disclosed.
