Did Wike Rig 2023 Election for Tinubu Against Obi? FCT Minister Speaks Out
- FCT Minister Nyesom Wike dismissed claims that he manipulated the 2023 presidential election in the South-South in favour of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
- Wike spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, September 23, calling the allegations a baseless narrative driven by social media
- The minister revealed the G5 group's electoral strategy in the South-South and explained why Peter Obi was not considered a serious threat
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering politics, elections, public affairs, and governance in Nigeria and Africa.
FCT, Abuja - Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has denied claims that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South-South region in favour of President Bola Tinubu, describing the allegations as baseless and driven by social media noise.
As reported by The Punch, Wike spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, September 23, pushing back against a wave of criticism that followed remarks he made on TVC's Journalists' Hangout. In that earlier interview, he said his G5 group of governors had deliberately allowed the then-Labour Party candidate Peter Obi to win in parts of the South-South. Critics, including opposition figures and public commentators, interpreted that admission as a confession of voter manipulation.
Source: Twitter
Per Nigerian Tribune, the minister rejected that reading, saying no single individual could determine outcomes across Nigeria's roughly 176,000 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.
Wike explains G5 strategy
Wike said the G5's true target in the South-South was not Obi but the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who he described as the bigger threat given that the region had historically been a PDP stronghold.
The group's plan, he explained, was to direct votes towards Obi in certain areas to split the opposition and reduce Atiku's share of the vote.
"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. South-South was purely a PDP state and so if we had voted for PDP all through, then Atiku would have won. That was a threat," he said.
On Obi's overall chances, Wike was blunt, saying the Labour Party candidate's surge was mostly online rather than on the ground.
"Obi wasn't a threat. Obi was merely a threat by social media. Even if Obi had secured Rivers outright, it would not have altered the outcome of the presidential race," he said.
Wike points to court record
The minister also challenged opposition parties to point to what they had actually presented in court after the election.
"You remember that when they went to the tribunal, did anybody tender any result from Rivers to say, 'look, this is the result, we won'?" he said.
Source: Facebook
He added that genuine rigging was impossible without grassroots support, arguing that voters would resist any attempt to manipulate results where a candidate lacked real popularity.
"We had our strategy, and that strategy worked well for us. Our major opponent was Atiku Abubakar and if we didn't do that, something would have happened," Wike said.
Peter Obi resigned from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on May 2, 2026, and was ratified as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections on May 29, 2026.
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Wike vows to raise opposition's blood pressure
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Wike said his mission ahead of the 2027 elections is to ensure that opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and NDC presidential candidate Obi, remain politically unsettled and under pressure.
The FCT minister insisted there is currently no credible, organised opposition in Nigeria, saying internal divisions within the PDP had left the political landscape without a clear frontrunner to challenge President Tinubu.
Source: Legit.ng
