Nyesom Wike has reignited the political debate over the Osun election with a stunning claim that he could have delivered victory for President Bola Tinubu if the President had been determined to win the poll “at all costs”. The FCT Minister made the claim while speaking to journalists on Tuesday during an inspection of flood-prone […]

Nyesom Wike has reignited the political debate over the Osun election with a stunning claim that he could have delivered victory for President Bola Tinubu if the President had been determined to win the poll “at all costs”.

The FCT Minister made the claim while speaking to journalists on Tuesday during an inspection of flood-prone locations in Maitama, Abuja.

Although Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, he has maintained his support for Tinubu and the ruling APC, particularly on issues concerning the 2027 presidential election.

According to him, Tinubu deliberately allowed the Osun election to proceed without using the full political machinery of the Federal Government to influence the result.

Wike said he would have personally joined efforts to secure an APC victory if the President had decided that winning the election was an absolute priority.

He stated that the power available to the Federal Government could have produced a different outcome, insisting that there was no deployment of “federal might” during the Osun poll.

The claim followed the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke, who won the August 15 election after securing 511,067 votes across the state.

Adeleke, who contested under the Accord platform, defeated APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes, while ADC candidate Najeem Salaam finished with 17,180 votes.

The governor won in 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, a result Wike said should be viewed as evidence that the Federal Government allowed voters to determine the outcome without interference.

“There was no federal might used in Osun,” Wike said, adding that Nigerians would recognise the difference if the full strength of the Federal Government were ever deployed.

The minister also made a striking observation about Adeleke, suggesting that the Osun governor could have been in the APC if political developments had taken a different direction.

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

Wike subsequently turned his attention to 2027, predicting a comparatively easier presidential contest for Tinubu than the one he faced in 2023.

He attributed his confidence to what he described as the deteriorating condition of the opposition, which he said had become “crippled” and “homeless” ahead of the next presidential election.