Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist, journalist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, has reacted to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike’s revelation about the role played by the former G5 governors in the 2023 presidential election.
Sowore, who contested the Nigerian presidency under the AAC in 2023, said Wike’s disclosure had vindicated his earlier position that there were political arrangements behind the scenes during the 2023 election that Nigerians were not fully aware of.
He emerged as the AAC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election in May 2026.
Reacting to Wike’s recent comments, Sowore recalled the series of political meetings and interactions involving the G5 governors, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Peter Obi ahead of the 2023 election.
“Remember all those G5 meetings, including the meeting with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in London, @GovWike’s political maneuvering, Mr. @PeterObi’s visits to Rivers State, and all the glowing compliments Wike received from some Obidients like my sister, @AishaYesufu’s ‘Wike Keena’?” Sowore wrote on X.
“Now Wike is singing like a canary about what happened in 2022/2023.”
Wike had disclosed during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout that the G5 governors deliberately worked against the presidential ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in parts of the South-South during the 2023 election.
According to Wike, the governors identified the PDP’s strength in states such as Edo and Cross River as a potential advantage for Atiku and decided that it would be better for Peter Obi to win those states.
He said, “How did he win? When the G-5, we sat, we had our strategy. We said in Edo, PDP is stronger in the South-South. Our problem will be Atiku. Therefore, instead of Atiku to take it, let it go to the Labour Party. That was our strategy. Cross River, the same thing. That’s what we did.”
Wike said Rivers State was deliberately excluded from the arrangement because the G5 believed an Obi victory there could send a wider political signal.
“It was only Rivers that said, ‘No, we have a problem here in Rivers. Obi will not win here because if he wins, he sends a signal somewhere, people may not understand it.’ And we stopped…we stopped it,” he said.
The former Rivers governor further explained that the strategy was aimed at reducing Atiku’s advantage rather than helping Obi win the presidency.
“But we agreed that, look, Atiku is a problem, PDP is strong in the South-South. So if PDP does not win in South-South, it’s a disadvantage to Atiku. Obi winning will not help Obi anywhere. We did that. We did that,” Wike said.
The G5 consisted of Wike, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, former Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The group had opposed Atiku’s emergence as the PDP’s presidential candidate amid its demand for the presidency to be zoned to the South.
Sowore said Wike’s latest revelation should be considered alongside questions he and others raised about the political activities surrounding the 2023 election.
“We said then that more was going on behind the scenes than Nigerians were being told, and that some of these political actors were helping Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT while publicly presenting themselves differently and blackballing any Nigerian with a different opinion,” he wrote.
The AAC candidate added, “I always said it was a packaged fraud, i have now been vindicated.”
Sowore further alleged that the political actors involved were opposed to what he described as revolutionary change.
“They ensured no revolutionary change would happen. They never wanted things to change in the first place. You all know better now!” he stated.
He also accused those who questioned the political arrangement at the time of being subjected to attacks and blackmail.
“Instead of answering those questions, they attacked and blackmailed everyone who challenged the arrangement,” Sowore said.
He urged Nigerians to revisit the political events and statements surrounding the 2023 election and compare them with Wike’s latest account.
“Nigerians should revisit what was said and done at the time and compare it with what Wike himself is saying today,” he wrote.
Wike has also questioned whether Obi would be able to repeat his 2023 performance in the South-South during the 2027 election, asking how the former Anambra State governor would win states such as Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta under the current political circumstances.
“In Cross River now, how will Obi win? In Akwa Ibom, how will he win? In Delta, how will he win?” Wike asked.
He also argued that some of the issues that shaped the 2023 election had changed, particularly the controversy surrounding the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
“It’s no longer there now. It’s no longer there. No more like Muslim-Muslim ticket. Well, it doesn’t work. Tinubu has been able to kill that,” Wike said.
The minister subsequently advised Obi to focus on the 2031 presidential election rather than the 2027 contest.
“For this election, leave it for Tinubu. Prepare for 2031. And that’s the truth of the matter,” Wike said.
