The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has challenged supporters of Peter Obi to produce the official result sheet showing that the Labour Party candidate won Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election. Mr Wike dismissed claims by Obi’s supporters that their candidate won the state, saying the claim existed only in their imagination. This statement was made during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the basis of the claims made by Obi’s supporters, popularly known as Obidients. He asked, “They won by their own imagination. Who did INEC declare to have won?” Mr Wike challenged those who dispute the declared result to produce the evidence on which they based their claim. He emphasized the need for concrete evidence, saying, “Let them produce that result sheet that says Obi won.”
Mr Wike also questioned why Mr Obi’s supporters did not establish their claim during the legal challenge to the 2023 presidential election. “When they went to the tribunal, were they able to defend their claim?” he asked. This suggests that the minister believes that if Obi’s supporters had substantial evidence, they would have presented it during the legal proceedings.
The minister said claims made on social media could not determine the winner of an election. “You can win on social media; I’m not interested in social media winning,” he said. He argued that the outcome of the election could not be determined from results or observations from a limited number of polling units in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Mr Wike pointed out that Rivers has 23 local government areas and said the overall result had to be considered before declaring a winner. He stated that it was not possible to declare a winner based on results from just one area. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the 25 February 2023 presidential election in Rivers.
In Rivers, Mr Tinubu polled 231,591 votes, while Mr Obi scored 175,071 votes. The Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came third with 88,468 votes. The figures were based on results collated from all 23 local government areas in the state. Tinubu won 14 of the LGAs, Obi won five, and Atiku won four.
Mr Wike was the governor of Rivers when the 2023 presidential election was held. Although he was a member of the PDP, he backed Mr Tinubu, who was then the APC presidential candidate. Mr Tinubu subsequently won Rivers with a margin of 56,520 votes over Mr Obi. Mr Wike has repeatedly attributed Mr Tinubu’s victory in the state to the political structure he controlled at the time.
Key points
- Mr Wike challenges Obi's supporters to produce the official result sheet showing that their candidate won Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election.
- The minister dismisses claims by Obi’s supporters that their candidate won the state, saying the claim existed only in their imagination.
- INEC declared Bola Tinubu the winner of the 2023 presidential election in Rivers, polling 231,591 votes.
