FCT Minister Nyesom Wike dismissed claims that he manipulated the 2023 presidential election in the South-South in favour of President Bola Ahmed TinubuWike spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, September 23, calling the allegations a baseless narrative driven by social mediaThe minister revealed the G5 group’s electoral strategy in the South-South and explained why Peter Obi was not considered a serious threatPAY ATTENTION: Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng! Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering politics, elections, public affairs, and governance in Nigeria and Africa.FCT, Abuja – Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has denied claims that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South-South region in favour of President Bola Tinubu, describing the allegations as baseless and driven by social media noise.As reported by The Punch, Wike spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, September 23, pushing back against a wave of criticism that followed remarks he made on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout. In that earlier interview, he said his G5 group of governors had deliberately allowed Labour Party candidate Peter Obi to win in parts of the South-South. Critics, including opposition figures and public commentators, interpreted that admission as a confession of voter manipulation.FCT Minister Nyesom Wike denies allegations that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in favour of President Bola Tinubu.
Photo credit: s Source: TwitterPer Nigerian Tribune, the minister rejected that reading, saying no single individual could determine outcomes across Nigeria’s roughly 176,000 polling units.PAY ATTENTION: From breaking news to viral moments. Follow Legit.ng on Instagram!”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 explains G5 strategyWike said the G5’s true target in the South-South was not Obi but Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who he described as the bigger threat given that the region had historically been a PDP stronghold.The group’s plan, he explained, was to direct votes towards Obi in certain areas to split the opposition and reduce Atiku’s share of the vote.”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.On Obi’s overall chances, Wike was blunt, saying the Labour Party candidate’s surge was mostly online rather than on the ground.”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,” he said.Wike points to court recordThe minister also challenged opposition parties to point to what they had actually presented in court after the election.”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 said.Nyesom Wike explains his strategy during the 2023 presidential election and argues that genuine rigging would be difficult without grassroots support. Photo credit: Nyesom Ezenwo Wike – CON, GSSRS Source: FacebookHe added that genuine rigging was impossible without grassroots support, arguing that voters would resist any attempt to manipulate results where a candidate lacked real popularity.”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,” Wike said.Peter Obi resigned from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on May 2, 2026, and was ratified as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections on May 29, 2026.Read more on WikeWike vs Fubara: Governor’s top ally speaks on Rivers politician contesting against Tinubu in 2027Tensions grow in Rivers as Wike, Fubara’s supporters clash, baby hurt, details emergeRivers crisis thickens as pro-Wike, Fubara lawmakers hold parallel sittingsWike vows to raise opposition’s blood pressureEarlier, Legit.ng reported that Wike said his mission ahead of the 2027 elections is to ensure that opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and NDC presidential candidate Obi, remain politically unsettled and under pressure.The FCT minister insisted there is currently no credible, organised opposition in Nigeria, saying internal divisions within the PDP had left the political landscape without a clear frontrunner to challenge President Tinubu. Source: Legit.ng Ridwan Adeola Yusuf (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content writer with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng.
He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion.
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