Nyesom Wike says G5 governors deliberately allowed Peter Obi to win South-South states in 2023 to weaken Atiku Abubakar.
Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says the G5 governors deliberately allowed Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, to win parts of the South-South to undermine Atiku Abubakar’s chances.
Wike made the claim on Monday during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout.
He said the strategy was adopted because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which Atiku represented, had traditionally been strong in the South-South.
“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,” he said.
“Therefore, instead of Atiku to take 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 also said several factors contributed to Obi’s performance in some states during the 2023 presidential election, including opposition to the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.