Dele Momodu dismisses Nyesom Wike’s Osun election claim as an “empty boast” and warns of the political implications ahead of 2027
Dele Momodu, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has dismissed Nyesom Wike’s claim that his presence in Osun State could have secured victory for the All Progressives Congress, APC, describing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory’s assertion as an “empty boast”.
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Momodu, publisher of Ovation Magazine, made the remarks during an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday while responding to comments made by Wike about the recently concluded Osun State governorship election.
Wike had suggested that he would have travelled to Osun to help the APC secure victory if President Bola Tinubu had wanted him to intervene in the contest.
Momodu rejected the suggestion, arguing that Wike’s political influence could not reasonably be considered greater than that of the Senate President and several serving governors who had already campaigned in Osun on behalf of the APC.
“I knew that was an empty boast. If he had been in Osun, he would not have achieved anything,” Momodu said.
The ADC chieftain described Wike’s comments as unusual and unfortunate for a serving minister, while suggesting that the remarks carried implications beyond the Osun election.
“I think it was a very unusual, uncommon and unfortunate statement for a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make,” Momodu said.
He argued that the political lesson from Osun was that the presence of senior politicians, governors or other influential figures could not automatically translate into electoral victory.
Momodu also pointed to the experience of the G-5 governors, a group of five former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors whose internal disagreement with the party’s presidential campaign became one of the defining political stories of the 2023 election.
According to Momodu, three members of the group subsequently attempted to secure senatorial victories in their respective states but were unsuccessful.
“I need to also remind Wike, in case he has already forgotten, that five of them abandoned the PDP in the last election, and three of them were from Abia, Enugu and Benue states,” he said.
Momodu’s argument was that the experience demonstrated the limits of political control, particularly when voters make independent choices at the ballot box.
“Governors don’t have the power of life and death,” he said.
The comments come as Nigeria’s political parties begin positioning themselves for the 2027 general elections, with the APC seeking to consolidate its position nationally while opposition parties work to build broader alliances.
Momodu also warned that Wike’s remarks should be viewed carefully in the context of the approaching election cycle.
“The danger in his statement must be noted, especially as we approach January 2027,” he said.
The former presidential candidate suggested that replicating an aggressive mobilisation strategy would not necessarily guarantee success for the governing party.
“The only way the APC can win the next presidential election and all the governorship elections is very simple. They will need to repeat what they attempted in Osun and failed woefully,” Momodu said.
He further used a pointed analogy to question the practicality of Wike personally attempting to influence electoral outcomes across the country.
“Wike would have to divide himself into 36 states plus Abuja for him to perform the kind of magic he thinks he can perform,” Momodu said.
The exchange reflects the increasingly sharp political rhetoric surrounding the 2027 elections, particularly over the ability of influential politicians to transfer personal political capital into votes.
For Wike, whose political influence has remained a subject of considerable attention since his break with the PDP’s presidential campaign and subsequent appointment to the federal cabinet, the comments underline the continuing debate over the extent of his electoral reach.
For Momodu and the ADC, the Osun contest offers a different lesson: that political prominence does not necessarily override local dynamics, voter preferences and the strength of individual candidates.
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The dispute is therefore likely to remain part of a broader political conversation as Nigeria’s major parties prepare for another fiercely contested election cycle.
