Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has rejected allegations that he manipulated the 2023 presidential election in the South-South to favour President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.
Wike addressed the allegation on Wednesday in Abuja while inspecting ongoing infrastructure projects.
He described the claim as a narrative largely driven by social media and disputed the characterisation of his role in the election.
The controversy follows Wike’s recent comments about the strategy adopted by the G5 governors during the 2023 presidential election.
Wike had explained that the group, made up of five Peoples Democratic Party governors, sought to prevent the party’s presidential candidate at the time, Atiku Abubakar, from benefiting from the PDP’s traditional strength in the South-South.
He said the strategy involved allowing Obi to secure votes in some parts of the region rather than allowing those votes to strengthen Atiku’s candidacy.
Those remarks subsequently generated interpretations that Wike and the G5 had deliberately worked to secure Tinubu’s victory in the region.
Wike has now rejected the description of the strategy as election rigging.
He has maintained that the political calculations were directed at preventing Atiku from benefiting from the PDP’s regional support rather than manipulating the electoral process.
The distinction is significant because political strategy and electoral manipulation are different claims and require different evidence.
The 2023 presidential election was conducted by INEC, which declared Tinubu the winner. Any allegation of electoral manipulation would require evidence beyond a politician’s retrospective account of campaign strategy.
Wike’s latest comments therefore represent his response to the allegations and his interpretation of the political strategy employed by the G5 governors.