Fresh evidence has emerged confirming that Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, was absent from Thursday’s Council of State meeting, contrary to denials from his aides, as tensions between the former Rivers governor and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu continue to escalate over the appointment of the new INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN).
A video obtained by Chronicles Reporters shows that Wike delegated the Minister of State for the FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure, to represent him at the Council meeting, held at the State House, Abuja, while he proceeded to attend a road construction flag-off event in Katampe District.
In the footage, the event’s compère, veteran broadcaster Eugenia Abu, announced that Bunkure had to leave the venue on Wike’s instruction to attend the Council of State meeting.
“Some of you who arrived earlier would have seen the Honourable Minister of State in situ, but the Honourable Minister (Wike) has requested her to attend the Council of State meeting, and in order for her not to be late, she departed quite early before the Minister (Wike) arrived,” Abu stated.
This visual confirmation directly contradicts the claims of Lere Olayinka, Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media, who dismissed reports of the minister’s boycott as “ignorant propaganda.”
“Shameless Sowore does not even know that the FCT Minister is not a member of the Council of State. Or how do you boycott a meeting of an organization you don’t belong to?” Olayinka posted on Facebook.
However, Chronicles Reporters’ findings indicate that while the FCT Minister is not a statutory member of the Council, he was formally invited as a top cabinet representative and expected to attend, given the Council’s deliberations on national administrative and security issues affecting the capital territory.
The controversy follows the Council’s approval of Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), replacing Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose decade-long tenure recently ended.
Sources within the Presidency revealed that Wike had lobbied intensively for Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman of the Court of Appeal to clinch the position, but his choice was overruled by Tinubu, who opted for Amupitan—a development that has reportedly widened the political gulf between both men.
Wike, according to sources, viewed the rejection of his nominee as “a political slight,” and had allegedly reached out to several former Nigerian Heads of State, encouraging them to boycott Thursday’s meeting in protest.
The widening rift comes amid Wike’s deepening political and personal troubles, following revelations about his undisclosed foreign real estate assets in Florida, USA, exposed by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
The exposé reportedly rattled Wike’s political base and family circle. Before the scandal broke, Wike had just returned from a medical trip to the United Kingdom, where sources said he received treatment for a heart infection.
Re-energized and defiant upon return, Wike reignited his bitter feud with Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his former protégé, after months of political tension that left the state government in paralysis.
But Wike’s troubles intensified when he publicly threatened Sowore for describing President Tinubu as “a criminal.” In response, Sowore released damning evidence of Wike’s alleged corruption, prompting a reassessment of his role within the Tinubu administration.
According to insiders, President Tinubu has grown increasingly wary of Wike’s behavior, describing him as “unstable and untrustworthy” during private conversations with aides. The President’s rejection of Wike’s preferred INEC candidate is said to have been the final straw.
In the aftermath, Tinubu’s team allegedly ordered Wike to suspend his monthly press briefings, citing concerns over his combative rhetoric and its impact on the government’s image. Wike, angered by the directive, appealed to Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, warning that “silencing him would only make Sowore too powerful.”
Meanwhile, sources within the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) disclosed that Wike had recently approached the agency to amend his asset declaration, apparently seeking to regularize the foreign properties exposed in the media. His request was reportedly declined, as the documents had already been forwarded to the EFCC for investigation.
Thursday’s Council of State meeting — which saw a notable absence of several former Heads of State — is now viewed by political observers as symbolic of the fracturing alliance between Tinubu and Wike.
Inside sources told Chronicles Reporters that the INEC appointment was not initially listed on the Council’s agenda, but President Tinubu allegedly introduced it abruptly, instructing Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo to present Amupitan for ratification.
“Most attendees were caught off guard,” one insider said. “There was no debate — just quick endorsement. Wike saw it as a humiliation.”
As the fallout deepens, analysts say Wike’s absence from the Council meeting — now confirmed by video evidence — could mark the clearest sign yet that the once strategic alliance between Wike and Tinubu is crumbling under political pressure and mistrust.