Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has declared that he would have travelled to Osun State and ensured an All Progressives Congress victory in the recent governorship election had President Bola Tinubu demanded a win “at all costs.”
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday while inspecting flood-prone areas in Maitama, Wike responded to questions about the outcome of the poll, which was won by Governor Ademola Adeleke. “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,” he said.
Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party while serving in the Tinubu administration and publicly backing the President, insisted the Osun contest was allowed to proceed freely. He dismissed suggestions that the result represented a defeat for the Federal Government, arguing that Tinubu had chosen not to deploy the full weight of federal influence. He also claimed the 2027 presidential election would prove far easier for Tinubu than 2023 because the opposition has been “crippled.”
The remarks have drawn sharp criticism. Observers and critics have asked pointed questions of the minister: Does this statement amount to an admission that he functions as Tinubu’s hatchet man? Does it confirm a readiness to act as a rigging agent when required? Why would Wike, a Rivers State politician and PDP member, position himself as the decisive force capable of determining the outcome in Osun if the President so desired? Is he an Osun voter, or a self-appointed super voter whose presence alone can override local democratic preferences?
Further questions have followed. By publicly asserting that he could have delivered the state for the APC against the will of its sitting governor and voters, is Wike testing the limits of political power and divine accountability? And given his continued formal membership of the PDP while openly offering his services to secure APC victories, is he in substance a member of the ruling party?
Some commentators have reminded Wike to remember that power is transient, and that he should nor try God.
Wike’s intervention comes days after Adeleke’s re-election and against a backdrop of long-standing accusations that the FCT minister operates as a strategic asset for the Tinubu presidency while retaining opposition-party credentials. His claim that federal restraint, rather than popular will alone, determined the Osun result has intensified debate over the boundaries between partisan loyalty, federal influence, and democratic process in Nigeria.
By Johnson Dave
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