Wike vs Makinde: Who Blinks First?

The ongoing feud between Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and his once close ally, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, is no doubt an interesting dimension and a confirmation of the flexibility of politics.

Only a few years ago, the two were strongly united in a common cause of ensuring that political power returned to the South after the expiration of the tenure of former president Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, in 2023.

In the buildup to the 2023 presidential election, Makinde and Wike were part of the G5 governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that refused to back Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid.

They lived up to their promise as they worked against the candidate of their party and ensured that power indeed returned to the South, with President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the election.

After that feat, nothing less than an impregnable union was expected of the G5, after all, the ‘soup is done’, and it should, expectedly, be time for feasting. But that was not the case. The fire of camaraderie that glowed brightly ahead of the election dimmed so much that it eventually blacked out. The cause of their feud remains unknown.

The war between Wike and Makinde reached its crescendo when Makinde’s faction held a national convention on December 12, 2025, in Ibadan, and elected Kabiru Turaki (SAN) as National Chairman, and expelled Wike and Fayose from the party.

In a tit-for-tat, the Wike group also expelled Makinde, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State and several other leaders.

The war, however, took a new turn when the Oyo governor threw a bomb by opening a can of worms that got Wike infuriated.  

Not one to run away from a battle, Wike shot back at Makinde in an end-of-year media briefing in Rivers State, saying Makinde was a liar and frustrated, among other unprintable names.