Nyesom Wike
Abuja — Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has revealed that the defunct G-5 governors deliberately prevented Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi from winning Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Monday during an appearance on TVC News’ Journalists’ Hangout, Wike said the decision formed part of a broader strategy by the G-5 to weaken the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the South-South geopolitical zone.
The G-5 comprised then-governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Wike (Rivers). The group had opposed Atiku’s candidacy within the PDP, insisting the party’s presidential ticket should have gone to a southern contender after eight years of northern rule under Muhammadu Buhari.
Wike explained the group’s calculation: “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.”
He said Rivers State was deliberately excluded from the arrangement. “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 stated.
According to the minister, the strategy rested on the belief that a PDP defeat in the South-South would hurt Atiku directly, while an Obi victory in those states would not significantly advance the Labour Party candidate’s overall presidential prospects. “But we agreed that, look, Atiku is a problem, PDP is strong in the South-South. So if PDP does not win in South-South, it’s a disadvantage to Atiku. Obi winning will not help Obi anywhere. We did that. We did that,” he added.
In the 2023 presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner in Rivers State with 231,591 votes, ahead of Obi’s 175,071. Obi and his supporters have long maintained that he actually won the state and alleged widespread manipulation of results.
Wike, who was Rivers governor at the time and later joined the Tinubu administration, has previously denied allegations of electoral malpractice. In earlier comments he described Obi as a “hero” of the 2023 election for helping prevent the North from retaining power, while on other occasions he dismissed him as a “social media candidate” with no realistic path to victory.
Looking ahead to 2027, Wike questioned whether Obi could replicate any 2023 gains in the South-South, arguing that political dynamics in the region have changed.
A short clip of the interview, shared widely on X by accounts including @myabiadaily, has been captioned by some users as a confession of “tampering with the election process.” The full remarks, however, frame the decision as a political strategy by the G-5 governors rather than a detailed account of operational interference.
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