Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has alleged that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, fell out with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after his ministerial nominee was rejected.
Olayinka’s reaction followed Governor Makinde’s recent media chat with selected journalists in Ibadan, where the governor announced that he would not support President Tinubu’s re-election bid. Makinde also accused Wike of working to destabilise the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of Tinubu’s second-term ambition, adding that he might contest against the president in the future.
Responding in a Facebook post, Olayinka claimed that Makinde’s decision was driven by personal political interests rather than principle. According to him, the governor would still be openly supporting President Tinubu if his ministerial nominee from Oyo State had been accepted into the president’s cabinet.
“If Governor Seyi Makinde’s nominee for Oyo State ministerial position was accepted by President Tinubu, he will still be clapping for the President now,” Olayinka wrote.
In a subsequent post, Olayinka further alleged that Makinde lacks loyalty to any political party or individual, citing what he described as the governor’s history of defections and political manoeuvres.
He recalled that Makinde left the PDP for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007 after failing to secure a senatorial ticket, and later moved to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2015 following an unsuccessful bid for the PDP governorship ticket. Olayinka claimed that Makinde only remained in the PDP in 2019 because he secured the party’s governorship ticket.
Olayinka also alleged that Makinde aligned with the PDP G5 governors in 2023 primarily to secure his re-election and worked against Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in 2022 to remain the only PDP governor in the South-West.
Describing the Oyo governor as politically self-serving, Olayinka insisted that Makinde’s actions over the years show a pattern of prioritising personal ambition above party loyalty, adding that the governor would likely switch parties again after 2027.
