Tensions Rise Between Makinde and Wike Over $1 Million Contract Claim
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, were at the center of a public spat on Wednesday after Wike’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, mocked Makinde’s claim of earning $1 million from a contract at the age of 29.
Makinde had told journalists in Ibadan on Tuesday that his company, Makon, earned its first $1 million from a Mobil contract in 1997, around the time Wike had just completed law school.
In a Facebook post the following morning, Olayinka shared a picture of Makinde prostrating in a white agbada bearing the Social Democratic Party insignia and ridiculed his business achievement. “Seyi Makinde in 2015, 18 years after he made $1m profit from a $1m contract. He needs to teach Nigerians how to get a $1m contract and make $1m profit from it,” he wrote.
Reacting to the post, Makinde’s Special Adviser on Federal Constituency Matters, Dare Adeleke, called Olayinka a “rabble rouser, ignorant and illiterate,” defending the governor’s wealth and integrity. Adeleke stressed that Makinde’s humility and simple dressing are often misunderstood as a lack of wealth and noted that the governor had been financially established long before entering politics.
“Makinde’s wealth predates his political career. He has managed oil contracts across Nigeria, West Africa, and globally, and built properties in Lagos and the United States many years ago,” Adeleke said. He added that Makinde has consistently supported community development and business ventures, highlighting his reputation as a humble and principled leader.
Olayinka, however, continued to ridicule Makinde, claiming that the governor’s lifestyle years after his alleged business success did not reflect such wealth. He alleged that Makinde lived in a “two-room low-cost house in Ikolaba, Ibadan” despite the $1 million profit.
Addressing this, Adeleke clarified that the house belonged to Makinde’s mother, while the governor’s own residences are in Victoria Garden City, Lagos, and Houston, Texas. “Lere is just politicising personalities. Makinde’s honesty is his defining trait,” Adeleke said.
Adeleke also contrasted Makinde’s early business achievements with Wike’s early career, noting that while Wike had just left law school in 1997 and started as a local government chairman, Makinde had already managed large-scale businesses and infrastructure projects, including a gas turbine serving West Africa.
He further highlighted Makinde’s support for former Oyo Governor Rashidi Ladoja in 2003 and the construction of a hall at his alma mater, inaugurated by Governor Lam Adesina, as evidence of his business acumen. Adeleke concluded that the spat was politically motivated, suggesting that Wike was being used by President Bola Tinubu to destabilize the opposition rather than due to personal grievances.
