Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has claimed he could have delivered Osun State for President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in the recent governorship election if the president had chosen to deploy full federal influence.

Wike, a prominent member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said Tinubu consciously allowed the poll to run its course without using the power of the central government to tilt the outcome. He spoke while inspecting flood-prone areas in the Maitama district of Abuja, using the Osun contest as an example of what he described as the president’s restraint.

“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,” Wike said, suggesting he was ready to lend his political weight to an APC push if Tinubu had demanded it.

The election produced Ademola Adeleke of the Accord as governor, after he secured victory in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas. Adeleke polled 511,067 votes, defeating APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam of the ADC finished a distant third with 17,180 votes.

For Wike, those figures are proof that the presidency did not interfere. “There was no federal might used in Osun. When you see the force and might of the Federal Government, you will know,” he said, arguing that the result undercut opposition claims that the ruling party routinely manipulates elections.

The minister also hinted at an alternative political trajectory for the governor, saying, “Ordinarily, Adeleke would have been with the APC if things had worked out well,” without elaborating on the circumstances that might have led to such an alignment.

Wike, a former Rivers State governor who has maintained a controversial alliance with Tinubu despite remaining in the PDP, further predicted that the president’s path to re-election in 2027 would be smoother than his initial victory.

“The 2027 elections will be the easier one for the President compared to 2023,” he said, attributing his confidence to what he described as the disarray within rival parties. “This time around, the opposition has been crippled, homeless, no feather.”