By Ayomide Otitoju
Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Tinubu deliberately allowed the election to proceed without federal interference, suggesting that the outcome could have been different if the president had wanted an APC victory “at all costs”.
“If the president had wanted to win the Osun state election at all costs, I would have been involved and I would have been there and the governor would have known that it would have been different,” Wike said.
The incumbent governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, was declared the winner of the August 15 election after securing 511,067 votes and winning in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas.
The APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes and won the remaining 11 local government areas.
Wike said the election outcome showed that the Federal Government did not deploy its influence or “federal might” to manipulate the process in favour of 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 could have joined the APC if certain political circumstances had been different.
Wike, who has continued to support President Tinubu despite remaining a PDP member, also predicted that Tinubu would face a less challenging presidential election in 2027 than he did in 2023.
The former Rivers State governor attributed his prediction to what he described as the weakened state of Nigeria’s opposition parties.
Wike has remained a member of the PDP while publicly supporting the Tinubu administration.
