Wike denies rigging claims, says G5 plan outsmarted Atiku

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, has rejected claims that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South-South for President Bola Tinubu against the Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi.

Wike spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday. He called the allegations a “baseless narrative propagated primarily on social media.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that many people criticized Wike after he said in an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout that his G5 group of governors allowed Obi to win in parts of the South-South.

Critics and opposition figures said Wike’s comments showed he was admitting to manipulating the vote.

In response, Wike said the election results were from a smart strategy, not illegal actions. He said they aimed to reduce major political threats, not to cheat.

Wike reacted to claims that he changed result sheets to favor Tinubu. He questioned how one person could control outcomes 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.

He pointed out that social media often does not show the true picture of Nigeria’s voting system.

“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.

“Election outcomes are not predicted this way,” he said.

Wike also mentioned that even after the election, opposition parties could not prove their rigging claims in court.

“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 asked.

Wike explained their tactical approach in the South-South, which is usually a stronghold for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said they saw PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar as a major threat to their group, the G5.

To stop Atiku from winning in the region, Wike said their plan involved directing votes to Peter Obi in certain areas to weaken Atiku’s support.

“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.

Wike downplayed Obi’s national popularity, saying they needed to focus on real numbers instead of online fame.

“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.

“Assuming Obi won Rivers, add it for him. Would he have won the election?” he asked.

Wike also said trying to rig an election without real grassroots support is not possible in Nigeria today.

“When you talk about rigging, you cannot rig an election where you are not popular. You cannot. If you try that, then you see what will happen to you. People will resist it,” he said.

Wike urged political analysts and the public to look at the facts and the real workings of elections instead of social media comments.

“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,” he said.