By Parrot Newspaper 
Ooni of Ife: Political Scientists Should Study How Wike Joined Tinubu’s Government
By Parrot Newspaper Staff Writer
Ile-Ife, Osun State — The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, has called on political scientists and academic institutions to closely examine the political trajectory of Nyesom Wike, Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), describing his alliance with President Bola Tinubu’s administration as “a mystery worthy of study.”
The monarch made the remarks on Thursday at the 2025 Obafemi Awolowo University Distinguished Personality Lecture held in Ile-Ife, where Wike served as the keynote speaker.
Despite Wike being a prominent figure in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he has emerged as a central player in President Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government—an unusual alignment that has stirred intrigue across Nigeria’s political landscape.
“For your career, I will particularly say that I give a very strong honour to the father of the nation, President Bola Tinubu. You belong to a different political party and yet are able to work together,” the Ooni said.
“It’s still a mystery; I don’t even know how it happened. For me, it is something that universities should be studying, and I mean it. It’s very important,” he added, pointing to Wike’s political resilience over the last two decades.
“Whether you like him or not, what will be, will be. He is a politician to be studied,” the Ooni emphasized.
Wike, who served two terms as governor of Rivers State under the PDP, played a controversial but influential role in the 2023 elections. He has since continued to wield considerable political clout—so much so that he has pledged to spearhead President Tinubu’s reelection campaign in Rivers State.
“Nigeria is for all of us, and you are playing your part and making history,” the monarch concluded.
Wike’s political survival and growing influence in an administration led by a rival party remain a significant case study in Nigeria’s evolving democratic experiment.
Ooni of Ife says Political scientists should study how Wike became part of Tinubu’s govt