Former Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, has criticised Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over his claim that he would have secured victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Osun State governorship election “at all costs” if he had been engaged.
Dalung said Wike should understand that political power ultimately belongs to the electorate and that the people of Osun State do not need the permission of either the FCT Minister or President Bola Tinubu to choose their governor.
Wike, who recently returned from a holiday abroad, had criticised the APC in a media interview for failing to deploy its best political resources in the Osun governorship election.
Reacting, Dalung described Wike’s comments as a “faux pas,” arguing that the minister’s political influence has limits and that Nigerian voters cannot be taken for granted.
Dalung cited the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, where Wike was governor and openly supported Tinubu against the candidate of his former party, Atiku Abubakar.
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According to him, Tinubu secured 231,591 votes out of 523,651 valid votes cast in Rivers, while Peter Obi polled 175,071 votes and Atiku Abubakar received 88,468 votes.
“A good result, certainly. But not exactly the political magic one would expect from the man now suggesting that, if he had simply shown up in Osun, the outcome could have been arranged ‘at all costs,’” Dalung said.
He argued that despite Wike’s influence as governor and his support for Tinubu, the 2023 result showed that voters could not simply be directed according to the wishes of political leaders.
“So perhaps Wike should forgive Nigerians if they are not entirely persuaded by this new theory of electoral omnipotence,” Dalung added.
The former minister reminded Wike that political power belongs to the people, stressing that political machinery, financial resources and access to government officials do not guarantee control over voters.
“You can have political machinery. You can have money. You can have influence. You can have access to Abuja. You can even have the confidence to tell everyone that you know how elections are won,” Dalung said.
He maintained that the electorate remains the ultimate force in any democratic contest and urged political leaders to respect the choices made by voters.
