Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that he and members of the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) G-5 governors deliberately prevented Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi from winning Rivers State during the 2023 presidential election.
Wike made the disclosure on Monday during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, while discussing the political strategy adopted by the G-5 during the 2023 election and the prospects for the 2027 presidential contest.
The G-5 comprised Wike and four other PDP governors who opposed the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2023 election.
According to Wike, the group considered Atiku and the PDP’s strength in the South-South a major political challenge and decided that allowing Obi to win some states in the region would prevent Atiku from benefiting from those votes.
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 treated differently because of what he described as the political implications of an Obi victory in the state.
“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,” Wike said.
The former Rivers State governor also dismissed claims that Obi and Atiku won the 2023 presidential election in the state but were denied victory. Wike maintained that electoral victories are determined by results from polling units and the formal declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“They won in their imagination,” Wike said in response to claims that either candidate had won the state.
Wike further argued that the political circumstances that benefited Obi in parts of the South-South and South-East in 2023 had changed ahead of the 2027 election.
He questioned whether Obi could reproduce his previous performance in states including Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta, and said the political dynamics surrounding the 2023 election were no longer the same.
Wike’s latest comments represent a notable account of the strategy he says the G-5 adopted during the 2023 presidential election, particularly regarding how the group sought to limit Atiku’s advantage in the South-South while allowing Obi to gain ground in selected states.
The remarks have also renewed attention on the role played by the G-5 governors in the 2023 election and their political alignments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
