Wike Boasts: I Would Have Helped Tinubu Win Osun If He Wanted, Adeleke Could Do Nothing

By Arit Mbeh

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has boasted that he would have deliver Osun State governorship election to the All progressives Congress (APC) if President Bola Tinubu was interested in securing victory for the APC in the recent election and if he had chosen to deploy the full weight of the Federal Government.

Wike, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the outcome of the August 15 election demonstrated that the Tinubu administration deliberately refrained from using federal might to influence the result.

The former Rivers State governor made the remarks on Tuesday while inspecting flood-prone areas in Maitama, Abuja.

According to Wike, he would have personally supported Tinubu to deliver Osun to the APC if the president had decided to pursue victory “at all costs”.

“If the president had wanted to win the Osun State election at all costs, I would have been there and we would have won it, and there’s nothing the governor can do,” Wike said.

Incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord, was declared winner of the election after securing victory in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, won 11 LGAs.

Wike said the result was proof that the Federal Government did not deploy its political and institutional influence to favour the APC.

“There was no federal might used in Osun. When you see the force and might of the Federal Government, you will know,” he said.

The FCT minister also suggested that Adeleke might have ended up in the APC if certain political circumstances had been different.

“Ordinarily, Adeleke would have been with APC if things had worked out well,” he said.

Wike, who has remained in the PDP while openly supporting the Tinubu administration, further predicted that the president would face a much easier contest in the 2027 presidential election than he did in 2023.

“The 2027 elections will be the easiest one for the President compared to 2023,” he declared.

He attributed his prediction to what he described as the weakened state of the opposition.

“This time around, the opposition has been crippled, homeless, no feather,” Wike added.

Wike has consistently backed the Tinubu administration despite retaining his membership of the PDP, placing him among the prominent opposition figures supporting the president ahead of the 2027 elections.