Wike Refutes Allegations of Rigging Against Peter Obi in 2023

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed allegations that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South-South region to favour President Bola Tinubu over Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.

Wike described the allegation as a “baseless narrative” largely promoted on social media.

The controversy followed Wike’s recent comments during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, where he spoke about the strategy adopted by the G5 governors during the 2023 election.

His remarks reportedly sparked reactions from opposition figures, commentators and other political observers, with some interpreting his statement as an admission that the election results had been manipulated to favour Tinubu.

However, Wike rejected the interpretation, insisting that his comments were about political strategy rather than electoral malpractice.

According to the FCT minister, the G5 governors strategically positioned themselves to weaken political opponents and manage the political threats they faced during the election. He maintained that this should not be interpreted as an admission that he personally altered election results.

Addressing allegations that he manipulated result sheets in Tinubu’s favour, Wike questioned how one individual could independently determine the outcome of an election conducted across 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.

Wike also challenged the tendency of some commentators to rely heavily on social media trends when assessing election results.

He noted that Nigeria has approximately 176,000 polling units, arguing that observations from a relatively small number of polling units cannot be used to determine the overall outcome of a nationwide 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,” Wike said.

The minister stressed that election results are determined by the totality of votes cast and officially collated, rather than by social media projections or early expectations.

His comments come amid continued debate over the political strategies adopted by the G5 governors during the 2023 presidential election and their decision not to support the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.