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| Rufai Oseni |
Arise Television’s Rufai Oseni has delivered one of his most pointed recent assessments of Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, framing the former Rivers State governor’s recent public boasts about electoral influence as both a personal style of politics and a symptom of systemic decay in Nigeria’s democratic process. Speaking on the “What’s Trending” segment of Arise TV’s Morning Show, Oseni argued that Wike characteristically executes political maneuvers behind the scenes before openly declaring them—often with a tone of defiance that the journalist described as bragging to an audience that should instead be alarmed.
The trigger was Wike’s recent remarks about the 2027 presidential election and his role in the 2024 Edo State governorship poll. The FCT minister has repeatedly projected confidence that President Bola Tinubu will secure strong support in the Federal Capital Territory, citing infrastructure projects in satellite towns, expanded security presence (including new police stations across area councils), engagement with traditional rulers and indigenous communities, and a cross-party “Rainbow Coalition” mobilisation strategy. Wike has positioned himself as a key coordinator or “field commander” for Tinubu’s efforts in both the FCT and Rivers State, at times linking his continued service in the cabinet to delivering those territories and dismissing the idea of settling for a mere 25 percent constitutional threshold as a joke.
More provocatively, Wike has openly recounted intervening against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Asue Ighodalo in the September 2024 Edo governorship election. Despite describing Ighodalo—a former bank chairman—as a quality candidate who visited him more than three times seeking support, Wike said he refused because the contest was effectively against then-Governor Godwin Obaseki, whom he called ungrateful. Supporting Ighodalo, in Wike’s telling, would have amounted to allowing Obaseki to install a successor.
He claimed a coalition of “legacy PDP” elements and All Progressives Congress (APC) actors helped ensure Ighodalo’s defeat by Monday Okpebholo, stating he was “behind it” and had no regrets. “You have to fail,” Wike recalled telling Ighodalo, “and he failed.”
Oseni seized on both sets of comments. He portrayed Wike as someone who acts privately and then announces the outcome publicly, as if daring critics to respond. The journalist questioned the minister’s professed commitment to a “better Nigeria” while prioritising personal or factional grievances over candidate quality. In Oseni’s view, subjugating a capable figure like Ighodalo because of animosity toward Obaseki exemplified a politics that elevates vendettas over competence, leaving voters with poorer options. “Wike doesn’t say what he can’t do,” Oseni observed. “Wike is just a reflection of how bastardised our election system has become.”
The Arise anchor connected this pattern to longstanding controversies, particularly the 2019 Rivers State governorship election. That contest, pitting incumbent Wike (PDP) against African Action Congress candidate Biokpomabo Awara, was marred by violence and disruptions. INEC suspended collation amid reports of widespread interference, hostage-taking of staff, and seized materials. Collation resumed weeks later, and Wike was declared the winner with a substantial margin.
Awara and supporters alleged that results showed him leading in multiple local government areas before the suspension; tribunals later upheld Wike’s victory, finding the petitioners had not sufficiently proved their claims of irregularities sufficient to overturn the outcome. Oseni referenced the episode to ask why Nigerians still express surprise at Wike’s candid admissions of influence. He also alluded to discrepancies between results reported on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and official declarations in other contests, arguing that claims of “structure” by political parties often mask organised capacity for disruption rather than genuine popular mobilisation.
Oseni’s broader point extended beyond one politician. He challenged ordinary Nigerians who cheer such displays—“Enye ndi eba”—arguing that prioritising short-term personal gain (“where you want to chop”) entrenches elite dominance. Drawing on the late M.K.O. Abiola’s observation about water drawers and wood hewers recognising their destiny, he warned that continued acquiescence means serving not only current power-holders but their children and grandchildren. In this framing, Wike’s openness is less shocking than the public’s tolerance of it; the minister is merely articulating what many already practice or enable.
These exchanges occur against a backdrop of heightened pre-2027 positioning. Wike, still formally a PDP member while serving in a Tinubu administration, has cultivated cross-party alliances that blur traditional lines. His Edo intervention and FCT mobilisation efforts illustrate how personal networks, grudges, and resource control can shape outcomes more visibly than party platforms or ideological coherence. Critics see this as the normalisation of godfatherism and transactional politics; defenders may view it as pragmatic realpolitik in a system where institutional weaknesses reward those with organisational muscle and willingness to act.
The episode also underscores tensions within Nigeria’s media and political discourse. Oseni’s confrontational style has previously produced clashes, including with Wike’s aides, and reflects a strand of journalism that prioritises direct accountability over polite distance. At the same time, the readiness of senior political figures to acknowledge—and even celebrate—their role in determining electoral results raises questions about the health of public confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission and the broader process. When influence is asserted so openly, the line between legitimate political organisation and improper interference becomes harder for citizens to discern.
Ultimately, Oseni’s critique is less about one man’s personality than about the incentives that reward such behaviour. Nigeria’s electoral history is replete with disputed outcomes, suspended processes, and post-election litigation. Admissions of private orchestration followed by public celebration do little to rebuild trust. Whether Wike’s confidence about the FCT and Rivers in 2027 proves justified will depend on voters, institutions, and the strength of competing mobilisation. What is already clear is that the conversation he and Oseni are conducting—raw, personal, and unapologetic—mirrors the state of the system itself: contested, personality-driven, and still struggling to place the average citizen at its centre.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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