The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed claims by supporters of Peter Obi that the former Labour Party presidential candidate won Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election, while also declaring that he would never support Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma to become President of the Senate.
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Wike made the remarks on Monday during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, amid his continuing political disagreement with Uzodimma and other All Progressives Congress governors over the structure and objectives of his Rainbow Coalition ahead of the 2027 elections. Earlier in the day, Wike had said his principal political objective remained the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and promised to address the controversy surrounding the coalition during the television interview.
Speaking on the 2023 presidential election in Rivers, Wike rejected the position maintained by some supporters of Obi, popularly known as Obidients, that the Labour Party candidate actually won the state.
“They won by their own imagination,” Wike said.
“Who did INEC declare to have won?”
Wike said the claim should be measured against the officially declared results and the subsequent election litigation rather than social media narratives.
“When they went to the tribunal, were they able to defend their claim?” he asked.
“You can win on social media; I’m not interested in social media winning,” he added.
According to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission after collation from Rivers State’s 23 local government areas, Tinubu, then the APC presidential candidate, polled 231,591 votes, while Obi received 175,071 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 88,468 votes.
Obi and the Labour Party subsequently challenged the outcome of the presidential election. Their petition included allegations concerning the figures announced in Rivers State, but the Presidential Election Petition Court ultimately dismissed their petition alongside other challenges to Tinubu’s election. The Supreme Court later dismissed Obi’s appeal and affirmed the election.
Continuing his argument, Wike said political conclusions about Rivers could not be drawn merely from what happened in one part of Port Harcourt.
“You don’t stay in one place in Port Harcourt and say Obi has won,” he said.
He challenged those insisting that Obi won Rivers to produce documentary evidence supporting their claim.
“Let them produce that result sheet that says Obi won,” Wike said.
The FCT minister also turned to his increasingly public disagreement with Uzodimma, saying he would never support the Imo governor to become Senate President.
The remark comes amid political speculation surrounding Uzodimma’s future in the National Assembly. INEC’s final candidate list for the 2027 elections has Uzodimma as the APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District. Reports have also linked his name to possible interest in the Senate Presidency, although the reports cited political sources and allies rather than a formal declaration by Uzodimma himself.
The disagreement between Wike and Uzodimma has intensified over the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party political arrangement promoted by Wike to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election while allowing members to support candidates of their respective parties in governorship and legislative contests.
Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressive Governors Forum, had announced that APC governors would not participate in or endorse any political arrangement capable of weakening the ruling party, creating divided loyalty or adversely affecting APC candidates at any level.
Wike has rejected the suggestion that his coalition is designed to destabilise the APC, insisting that it has no organisational relationship with the ruling party and is focused principally on mobilising cross-party support for Tinubu.
“What I said and stand for is that I will mobilise support for the re-election of the President. I never promised anyone that PDP will not field candidates to contest governorship, National Assembly and state house of assembly elections,” Wike had said.
He has also criticised Uzodimma over the APC’s performance in Imo during the 2023 presidential election, questioning why the party performed better in some National Assembly contests held alongside a presidential election in which Tinubu recorded a comparatively smaller share of the state’s votes.
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