We made Makinde governor in 2019, says Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has stated that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, only became governor after he and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party handed over the party structure in the state in 2019.

Wike made the assertion on Monday during an end-of-the-year media briefing in Port Harcourt.

The minister was responding to Makinde’s claims during a media chat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, last week, that he made $1 million in profit in 1997 after receiving a Mobil contract of the same amount, while Wike had only just obtained his law degree.

“The exact first contract that Mobil gave to Makon (Seyi Makinde’s company), I was 29, it was $1 million. Within that one year, I made $1 million in my pocket. I was 29. 1997, Wike, perhaps at that time just left law school. And then his next job after that was local government chairman,” the governor said.

Wike, however, stated that despite Makinde’s claims of his fortune, his ambition to be senator under the then All Nigeria Peoples Party in 2007, and then governor under the Social Democratic Party in 2014, failed until he joined the PDP ahead of the 2019 elections.

He further stated that despite his million-dollar claim, Makinde sought his help to win the election, noting that while the governor chose to be a contractor, he chose power.

“Before 1990, I had my first degree. Law was my second degree. At that time, in 1999, I was the chairman of one of the most important local governments in this country. I have never been a contractor. He chose to be a contractor, I chose to have power, and I had the power.

“First of all, in 2007, Seyi ran under ANPP as senator; he lost. In 2013/2014, Mulikat Adeola, former leader of the House of Reps, one Senator Hosea, whom we call ‘hallelujah’, all brought Seyi to me, to give him the structure of PDP in Oyo State; the man who had $1 million.

“But he came to the man who had no $1 million to help him get structure; we said no, we will not give you. We gave it to Teslim Folarin. He went to the SDP to run as governor, but he failed. Now, it was before 2019 when he came back; we said, now, we are ready to give you the structure. I was already grounded in politics, but I had no $1 million with me. It was when we gave him that structure that Seyi became governor in 2019,” Wike said.

It was reported that both Wike and Makinde were members of the defunct G5 – a group of PDP governors who renounced support for the party following zoning controversies ahead of the presidential elections in 2023 – and were close allies, until recent tensions, resulting from struggles for the control of the PDP, put a strain on their relationship.