Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Monday, September 21, revealed that the G5 governors deliberately allowed Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to win in the south-south during the 2023 election to derail Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike described the move as a political strategy adopted at the time to derail Atiku because the region was the party’s stronghold.
“When you talk of south-south, I can tell you what happened. How did he (Obi) win? We, in the G5, had our strategy. We said, PDP is stronger in the south-south. And our problem would be Atiku,” Wike said.
“Therefore, instead of Atiku taking it, let it go to the Labour Party. It was only in Rivers, I said, ‘No, Obi would not win here because if he does, it would send a wrong signal somewhere and people would not understand it.’ And we stopped it.
“But we agreed that Atiku is a problem and PDP is strong in the south-south. So, if PDP does not win in the south-south, it is a disappointment to Atiku. An Obi win won’t help him anywhere. We did that.”
Wike said several factors, including the clamour from Christians against Muslim-Muslim tickets, contributed to Obi’s victory in certain states in 2023, but that the factors no longer exist.
“In 2023, there was this campaign of Christianity, Muslim-Muslim ticket. And it was serious. My own children had this support for Peter Obi,” he said.
“But now, things have changed. There is no more Muslim-Muslim ticket. It doesn’t work anymore because Tinubu has been able to kill it.”
He added that Obi no longer has the backing of the masses to make a dent in the 2027 race.
“What people need now, Obi does not have it, and he would never have it. So for 2027, leave it for Tinubu. Come back in 2031,” he said.
Wike, a member of the PDP, was appointed minister by president Bola Tinubu in August 2023 and has been campaigning for the president’s second-term bid, urging Atiku, now the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to back off.
His political feud with Atiku dates back to the buildup to the PDP presidential primary in 2022, which he claimed was manoeuvred in favour of the former vice-president.
He opposed the PDP leadership at the time, questioning why the party’s flagbearer in the 2023 election should come from the north when the party’s national chairman was already from the region.
In the heat of the disagreement, Wike and four other PDP governors formed the G5, which refused to support Atiku’s 2023 presidential bid.
The group included Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, Samuel Ortom of Benue state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state.
However, Makinde has since broken ranks with the group after falling out with Wike over the FCT minister’s support for Tinubu’s second-term bid.
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