Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has rejected claims that he manipulated the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State and other parts of the South-South to help President Bola Tinubu defeat Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.
Wike made the clarification on Wednesday while speaking with journalists in Abuja, describing the allegation as a false narrative largely circulated on social media.
The minister had earlier triggered controversy during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, where he said the G5 governors adopted a political strategy that helped Obi secure votes in parts of the South-South.
Some opposition politicians and commentators interpreted the remarks as an admission that the election was manipulated in favour of Tinubu.
Wike, however, said that was not what he meant, explaining that the G5’s strategy was aimed at reducing the influence of Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, rather than rigging the election.
Responding to claims that he personally altered election results to favour Tinubu, Wike questioned how one individual could manipulate results from thousands of polling units.
“People who don’t understand, how can they say I rigged the election? How would I have done it? So, I just took the result sheets, wrote it, and gave it to INEC?” he asked.
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Wike also dismissed the reliance on social media trends as an indication of who won the 2023 presidential election.
“I’ve always said social media does not win elections. You have about 176,000 polling units, and probably you have seen 300 polling units and then you rush to the conclusion that so-and-so has won,” he said.
The FCT minister further argued that the opposition had failed to establish in court that the presidential election results from Rivers State were manipulated.
According to Wike, the G5 believed Atiku posed a greater political threat in the election and therefore encouraged voters in some areas to support Obi as part of their strategy.
“We felt that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was that, make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes,” he said.
Wike maintained that the strategy achieved its intended political objective, insisting that discussions about the 2023 election should be based on the actual results rather than social media narratives.
