ABUJA — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has said Governor Ademola Adeleke won the August 15 Osun State governorship election because President Bola Tinubu allowed the poll to be free and fair.

Wike, who spoke on Tuesday during an inspection tour of flood-affected areas in the FCT, dismissed allegations that the Federal Government manipulated the election in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

He said the outcome of the election showed that the Tinubu administration did not use federal power to frustrate the opposition.

According to Wike, Adeleke’s victory would not have been possible if the President had sought to influence the outcome of the election.

“The President called him… congratulating him (Adeleke). What does it tell you? If Tinubu did not allow a free and fair election, would they have won? No!” Wike said.

The minister was reacting to suggestions that the Federal Government had deployed its influence in Osun to secure victory for the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.

Wike dismissed such claims, saying his own political experience showed that allegations of the use of federal might should not be accepted without evidence.

“When you say force of the federal government… ask those who have survived it, though—people like me who survived federal might,” he said.

“It’s not by saying ‘they say, they say.’ It’s not true.”

His comments came after Adeleke, the Accord Party candidate, defeated Oyebamiji in the governorship election.

Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes, giving the incumbent a winning margin of 66,252 votes.

The governor won 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won in 11.

Wike, however, cautioned against interpreting the outcome of the Osun governorship election as a direct indication of what could happen in the 2027 presidential election.

He urged political observers to distinguish between an off-cycle governorship election and a presidential contest, noting that the political dynamics in the two types of elections could be different.

The minister also spoke on the recurring flooding in parts of the FCT, warning against politicising the problem without addressing the factors responsible for it.

He said some critics had used the flooding incidents to attack the administration rather than acknowledge its achievements in other areas.

Wike said both government authorities and residents had responsibilities in addressing flooding, particularly where waterways and drainage channels had been obstructed.

He also rejected claims that poor residents were responsible for major encroachments on waterways and other restricted areas.

According to him, several of the structures obstructing drainage channels were built by wealthy Nigerians and had existed for years before the current administration.

He said addressing the flooding problem would therefore require confronting the real causes and enforcing regulations against unlawful development around waterways.