Zainab Abioye
Former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu rebuffed Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over political support ahead of the 2027 general elections during a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In a statement personally signed by him on Tuesday and titled, “Untold story of what happened in the Villa during Governor Makinde’s visit to the President today,” Fayose claimed that Makinde lacked the courage to meet the President alone, prompting him to enlist the support of Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang.
Fayose alleged that the meeting, which he described as politically charged, saw Tinubu draw a clear line between official government matters and partisan politics.
According to Fayose, the President told Makinde that while he was willing to discuss governance issues affecting Oyo State, he was not interested in political lobbying.
“The President told him that if it was about official matters regarding Oyo State, he would listen. But if it was about politics, and any claim that it was Wike that angered him to go on television to accuse him of plotting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, he should go back on TV to say whatever he wanted,” Fayose stated.
He added that Tinubu warned Makinde against being inconsistent in his public and private statements, saying he could not “come to the closet on political matters to eat his words while saying another thing to the public.”
Fayose also alleged that Tinubu made it clear he was not expecting any political backing from Makinde in 2027 and that the President would continue to support his party.
“The President told Governor Makinde that he was not expecting any support from him regarding 2027 and that he should also expect that he (the President) would support his party,” Fayose said.
The former governor further claimed that Tinubu reaffirmed his confidence in the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, stressing that any disagreement between Makinde and Wike was a personal matter that should not involve the Presidency.
Fayose suggested that the outcome of the meeting explained why Makinde later told journalists he remained “comfortable in the PDP,” asserting that “there is nothing for him in APC.”
In a separate jab, Fayose challenged Makinde to account for federal intervention funds allegedly received following the January 2023 Ibadan explosion.
“After this meeting, shouldn’t Makinde tell the people of Oyo State if he has returned the N30 billion he admitted to have received from the Federal Government as intervention fund for the January 2023 Ibadan explosion?” he asked.
As of press time, neither Governor Makinde nor the Presidency had responded to Fayose’s claims.
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