Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has explained that his decision to support Peter Obi in Rivers State during the 2023 presidential election was part of a strategy to prevent former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from gaining votes in the state.
“I would say that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was: make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes,” Wike said.
He also dismissed conclusions based solely on social media trends, arguing that online activity could not determine who won an election without actual polling-unit results.
“You see, I’ve always said social media does not win elections. You have polling units, about 7,000, and probably you have seen 300 polling units, and then you run to the conclusion that so-and-so person won,” he said.
According to Wike, his camp had an electoral strategy that it was not obligated to disclose publicly.
He said the South-South had traditionally been a strong PDP region, meaning that a PDP victory in Rivers State would have benefited Atiku.
“South-South was purely a PDP state, purely PDP state. And so, if you had voted for PDP, then Atiku would have won. And that was a threat. Obi wasn’t a threat,” Wike said.
The FCT Minister maintained that political actors consider their major opponents when developing election strategies and work to prevent them from increasing their votes.
“Our major problem, our major opponent, was Atiku Abubakar. And if we didn’t do that, something would have happened,” he added.
Wike also rejected claims that Obi’s performance in Rivers State could be explained by social media influence alone, insisting that electoral outcomes depend on support from voters.
“I’ve always told people, you cannot rig an election where you are not popular. You cannot. If you try that, then you’ll see what will happen. People will resist it,” he said.
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