Oyinlola: Wike My Boy, Not Leader, Says Minister Was in School When He Was Gov

Oyinlola: Wike My Boy, Not Leader, Says Minister Was in School When He Was Gov Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo A former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has rejected the leadership influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that the minister was not his leader. Oyinlola, also a former military governor of Lagos State, who remains a PDP member, made the declaration during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today. When asked whether Wike was his leader in the party, the former governor responded, “No, not my leader. You don’t say that kind of thing. Yes, I am a member of the PDP, but he’s not my leader.” The retired general further suggested that Wike was more appropriately regarded as his junior, recalling that the minister was still in school when he served as military governor of Lagos State between 1993 and 1996. Asked whether Wike could be considered his boy, Oyinlola said, “He qualifies to be. When I was governor in Lagos, where was he? In school.” He also expressed reservations about remaining active in politics amid the prolonged crisis rocking the PDP, saying he would rather retire than continue in an environment where progress was difficult to achieve. “If we cannot go forward positively, smoothly, then you go and sit at home at 76. When I joined politics, I said whatever I did not achieve when I become 65, that I will go and rest,” he said. On whether he was involved in the Rainbow coalition in Osun State, Oyinlola said nobody had approached him about the group. “Nobody has invited me to any rainbow. I don’t know the meaning of rainbow except the one I see,” he stated. Speaking on the PDP’s internal crisis, Oyinlola blamed some members for frustrating efforts to rebuild the party, insisting that certain forces within its ranks were working against its unity. He also acknowledged former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s efforts to revive the party, saying the former Nigerian leader had continued to engage stakeholders on ways to reposition its structure. “We discuss. He’s been trying to ensure that the party is re-engineered. But those who don’t want it are working against it within the party. That’s the much I can say. “He has tried his best, let me say. But there are too many forces working against the unity of the party,” he said. Despite the challenges, Oyinlola maintained that the PDP was not dead, arguing that its grassroots structure across the country’s 774 local government areas could help restore its political strength. “The PDP is not dead. The bone will rise again. If we get our acts together, it’s a thing we can achieve, but the forces making sure we don’t get there are there. They are not sleeping,” he said.