By Joyce Ekeh
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has rejected claims that Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate Atiku Abubakar won Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election, saying the claim was based on social media narratives rather than the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, said neither Obi nor Atiku was declared winner of the presidential election in the state and challenged those claiming otherwise to produce evidence from the appropriate legal process.
He spoke on TVC’s Journalists Hangout programme monitored in Abuja on Monday.
Asked about claims by Obi’s supporters that the Labour Party candidate won Rivers, Wike said: “They won in their imagination. Nobody declared them to have won. I have been in this system; I am in this game.”
He dismissed the argument that crowd reactions or results from selected polling units could establish victory in a state-wide election.
“When Obi went to the Timber Market or somewhere in Rivers State and they were shouting ‘Obi! Obi!’, is that how you win an election?” he asked.
Wike said Rivers had more than 7,000 polling units across its 23 Local Government Areas, arguing that isolated results could not be used to determine the overall winner.
“Out of over 7,000 polling units, until all results have come in, even if 200 polling units come out and say Obi or Atiku has won, it does not convince me,” he said.
He also referred to the legal challenges that followed the 2023 presidential election, saying the courts had provided an opportunity for those disputing the result to present evidence.
“They went to the tribunal, were they able to tender or prove to the court that they won the election? You can win on social media, but I am not interested in social media winning. I am interested practically in the results on the ground, who won, and who was declared,” Wike said.
On preparations for the 2027 elections, the FCT minister dismissed suggestions that opposition politicians were forming alliances against him in Rivers State.
Wike said his political contests had historically involved strong opposition, recalling his victories in the 2015 and 2019 governorship elections.
“I started this game in 1999 as a local government chairman. In all my elections, it has never been easy. In 2015, they said it would be difficult; I won. In 2019, the federal might and soldiers were against me, yet I won,” he said.
He also recalled that his late brother, Herbert Wigwe, had advised him to leave Rivers State ahead of the 2019 election because of the political pressure at the time, but said he chose to remain.
Wike maintained that his political support in Rivers State was based on his relationship with the electorate and his record in office rather than federal influence or political alliances.
“Anybody telling you today that people are fighting me in Rivers and that it will be difficult, brother, I have never had an election that has been easy, but this one will be the easiest election as far as I know,” he said.
He added: “What are you going to tell Rivers people now? What will you present to them that will make them believe that following you will be more beneficial than what they have today?”
Wike said the 2027 political contest would ultimately be determined by what candidates present to voters and how voters assess their respective records and programmes.
