‘I’m PDP member but Wike is not my leader’ — Oyinlola

Former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has dissociated himself from the Peoples Democratic Party leadership purportedly under the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, saying the minister is not his leader. Oyinlola, a retired general, stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

When asked whether Wike was his leader in the PDP, the former governor said, “No, not my leader. You don’t say that kind of thing.” He added, “Yes, I am a member of the PDP, but he’s not my leader.” Oyinlola also suggested that Wike was young enough to be his political subordinate, citing their different stages of life when he served as military governor of Lagos State between 1993 and 1996.

Asked whether Wike was his boy, he said, “He qualifies to be. When I was governor in Lagos, where was he? In school.” Wike, a PDP member, was appointed FCT minister by President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He subsequently established the Rainbow coalition, a political structure backing Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. The coalition has attracted criticism from some PDP members who accuse Wike of working against the party’s interests by supporting the president.

Oyinlola, who governed Osun from 2003 to 2010, also blamed the crisis rocking the opposition party on internal forces working against efforts to restore its unity. Speaking about former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s efforts to rebuild the party, Oyinlola said the former president had been working to re-engineer its structure, but some members were frustrating the process.

“He’s been trying to ensure that the party is re-engineered. But those who don’t want it are working against it within the party. That’s the much I can say,” he said. Oyinlola maintained that the PDP remained capable of recovering from its internal crisis, noting that it had structures across the country. “The PDP is not dead. The bone will rise again,” he said.

He added that the party had a presence in all 774 local government areas and could regain its strength if members resolved their differences. “If we get our acts together, it’s a thing we can achieve, but the forces making sure we don’t get there are there. They are not sleeping,” Oyinlola said.