Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would have won the Osun State governorship election if President Bola Tinubu had been determined to secure victory at all costs.
Wike made the statement on Tuesday while inspecting areas prone to flooding in Abuja, following the APC’s defeat in the August 15 governorship election.
The minister said he would have travelled to Osun and worked for the APC’s victory if that had been the president’s priority.
“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.
The statement comes after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke the winner of the election.
Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party, secured 511,067 votes from 19 local government areas to defeat APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji.
Oyebamiji won 11 local government areas and polled 444,815 votes, according to the results declared by INEC.
Wike’s comments suggest that the APC’s defeat in Osun was not necessarily the result of an inability to win the election, but rather a consequence of the level of political effort deployed by the party’s leadership.
The minister’s claim is likely to fuel further debate over the role of federal political influence in state elections and the extent to which the APC leadership sought victory in Osun.