Legal expert Dele Farotimi alleges that despite claim to the contrary, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and his collaborators in the All Progressives Congress (APC), may have hatched a plot to write the result of the 2027 presidential election in favour of the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, based on the unexplained contentious glitch of 2023
By Our Correspondent
Nyesom Wike has never won in a free and fair election, this is the opinion of many commentators on the charade that has characterized elections in Nigeria. These alleged that in 2015, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Wike, who congested and won the governorship election in Rivers against his major opponent Dakuku Peterside, was allegedly manipulated into the Rivers Government House by the infamous federal might which was domiciled in the blossom of Goodluck Jonathan as the incumbent President at the time.
Wike had contested under the banner of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which was the ruling party at the time, while Peterside contested on the platform of the then newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC). Jonathan lost his reelection of that year to late former President Muhammadu Buhari, but he ensured that the alleged federal might was deployed to subdue the candidate of then incumbent governor Chibuike Amaechi, Peterside. The governorship election election of 2015 in Rivers State was heavily militarized to the extent that many lost their lives.
Analysts also alleged that Wike may not have won, credibly, his reelection in 2019 during which the result announcement was delayed for days due to alleged shenanigans that were witnessed during the contest.
Wike’s alleged rigging prowess came to fore during the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State during which results were obviously manipulated to favour incumbent President Bola Tinubu against the alleged winner, Peter Obi of then Labour Party (LP). Many evidences presented by international election observers also proved that Obi secured more votes than Tinubu who allegedly came a distant third position in the state. But Wike’s alleged rigging machine delivered the state to Tinubu at a price. Tinubu was to reward Wike with the appointment as the FCT Minister.
Since the build up to the 2027 presidential election of January 16, 2027, Wike has been boasting that no candidate could defeat Tinubu. At the height of the boasting, Wike had appeared on a TVC interview last September where upon he boasted about how himself and his G5 group allocated states’ votes to the three major contenders in the 2023 presidential election to wit: Tinubu, Obi and Atiku Abubakar then of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike, during the said interview, had said that the defunct G5 group of governors used a calculated political strategy to weaken the PDP candidate Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election.
Wike explained that the G5 group tactically allowed LP candidate Obi to win or gain substantial support in parts of the South-South region—specifically citing Edo and Cross River—to neutralize Atiku Abubakar, whom they viewed as the primary political threat. The group deliberately prevented Peter Obi from winning in Rivers State because of the specific political signal and implications such a victory would carry locally.
Defending the G5’s stance, Wike had argued, “If G5 did not take our decision, this country would have been in crisis.”
Wike’s revelation earned him a backlash from across the country where many opinion leaders argued that such action implied election manipulation for which Wike should have been arrested.
But Wike is not done boasting that Tinubu must win in 2027 as if he (Wike) can decide who votes which candidate. Speaking during during a meeting with the members of Apo Mechanics and Traders Association in Abuja on Wednesday, September 30, Wike said his office is tied to his ability to deliver Tinubu in 2027.
Also, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said if Tinubu lost in FCT and Rivers State, he would resign from the cabinet. “If I cannot deliver where I work, then l am not worthy to be here”, Wike had.
Although Wike had since defended his stance, a legal luminary, Dele Farotimi, has alleged that Wike is still a serial election results manipulator. Speaking during a recent online interview, Farotimi stressed that the ‘snatch it, grab it and run with it’ slogan of the APC in 2023 would repeat itself in the coming presidential election.
Farotimi alleged further that there were more than enough physical, audio and viral evidences showing how and where Wike imposing his political will on the sovereign will of the people in Rivers State during election periods. Again, Farotimi said certain personal aide of the FCT Minister is still a top official in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arguing that without a proper reform of the electoral process and judicial system, the 2027 presidential election would be a mere coronation carnival for Tinubu second term.
Voicing his skepticism about the forthcoming 2027 presidential election, Farotimi said, “I’ll not even participate in that election because you can be sure that Tinubu who was not in power that ran and snatched and grabbed it, already has the 2027 election result written. A Tinubu that is busy appointing Wike’s man as Electoral Commissioner. The most violent election rigger in Nigeria today is wike.
“That is the person whose proxy was appointed as a National Electoral Commissioner. There are multiple videos and audios of Wike enforcing his political will in Rivers State over and above the sovereign will of the people of that state, violently too.
“I’m saying that there’s more than enough materials online showing Wike violently suppressing the rights of the people of Rivers State to elect their chosen representatives. And I’m saying that his personal aide, his person, has already been appointed a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) since Tinubu came to power.
“How can you be talking about free and fair election in 2027 when it is already a fait accompli, that without the consequential amendment of the Electoral Act, without consequential reformation of our judicial system, the same madness that took place in 2023 will repeat itself in 2027.
” If we do not tell ourselves this basic truth ahead of time, how can we even hope that anything will change? We have to be unapologetic and unrepentant in pushing the truth into their eyes. As I have told you, the truth is both a sword and shield. I like wielding it as a sword and smashing it on their head, I don’t care about their feelings.
“I don’t know how long any of us is going to live, I’m not going to live my life cow towing to the opinion, sentiments or emotions of worthless human beings who have wreaked the live of thousands and millions by their actions and inactions.
“So, we cannot be talking about election in 2027 in the presence of multiple madnesses that have remained with us. If there’s going to be an election worthy of its name, I’ll be out there supporting Obi. If there will be election, and if we will even have a country the way Bulabu is going with Nigeria, do we what will be left of this country in 2027?
On his part, Wike has dismissed allegations that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South south in favour of President Tinubu against the LP candidate Obi.
Wike made the rebuttal while addressing the media in Abuja on Wednesday, September 30, and described the claim as a “baseless narrative propagated primarily on social media.”
Widespread criticism erupted across the political sphere after Wike’s remarks during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, claiming that his G5 group of governors strategically allowed Obi to win in parts of the South south.
Critics, public commentators and opposition figures argued that Wike’s statement was a public confession of voter manipulation.
However, Wike clarified that the results were the product of a calculated electoral strategy aimed at neutralising major political threats rather than illegal manipulation.
Responding to critics who accused him of altering result sheets in favour of Tinubu, Wike wondered how an individual could single-handedly dictate the outcome across thousands of polling units.
“People who don’t understand, how can they say I rigged the election? How would I have done it? So, I just took the result sheets, wrote it, and gave it to INEC?” he asked.
“I’ve always said social media does not win elections. You have about 176,000 polling units, and probably you have seen 300 polling units and then you rush to the conclusion that so-and-so has won.
“Election outcomes are not predicted this way.
“You remember that when they went to the tribunal, did anybody tender any result from Rivers to say, ‘look, this is the result, we won’?”
Detailing the tactical approach adopted in the South-South, traditionally a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike explained that PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was identified as the primary threat to their political coalition, known as the G5.
To prevent Atiku from securing the region, Wike explained that their strategy involved routing votes towards Peter Obi in specific areas to split the opposition base and suppress Atiku’s margin.
“We felt that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was that, make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes.
“South-South was purely a PDP state and so if we had voted for PDP all through, then Atiku would have won. That was a threat,” he said.
Wike Should Have Been Arrested He Came Out On National TV And Said We Rigged The 2023 Election— Ogun
Speaking on Naija Unfiltered on Symfoni TV, Ogun said Wike’s remarks suggested that Nigeria’s 2023 elections were neither free nor fair. He also referred to a BBC report detailing how the 2023 presidential election unfolded in Rivers State.
Ogun questioned the roles played by the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), expressing concern that Nigerians still do not have clarity about the actual results of their elections.
Former House of Representatives member Sergius Ogun has argued that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike ought to have been arrested over his alleged admission on national television that the 2023 election was rigged.
He said Wike’s alleged admission of election manipulation should have prompted authorities to take action, particularly given existing reports about the conduct of the presidential election in Rivers State. Ogun described the situation as a serious disservice to Nigerians, arguing that citizens deserve to know the genuine outcome of their elections.
But Wike is not done boasting that Tinubu must win in 2027 as if he (Wike) can decide who votes which candidate. Speaking during during a meeting with the members of Apo Mechanics and Traders Association in Abuja on Wednesday, September 30, Wike said his office is tied to his ability to deliver Tinubu in 2027.
Also, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike said if Tinubu lost in FCT and Rivers State, he would resign from the cabinet. “If I cannot deliver where I work, then l am not worthy to be here”, Wike had.
Although Wike had since defended his stance, a legal luminary, Dele Farotimi, has alleged that Wike is still a serial election results manipulator. Speaking during a recent online interview, Farotimi stressed that the ‘snatch it, grab it and run with it’ slogan of the APC in 2023 would repeat itself in the coming presidential election.
Farotimi alleged further that there were more than enough physical, audio and viral evidences showing how and where Wike imposing his political will on the sovereign will of the people in Rivers State during election periods. Again, Farotimi said certain personal aide of the FCT Minister is still a top official in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arguing that without a proper reform of the electoral process and judicial system, the 2027 presidential election would be a mere coronation carnival for Tinubu second term.
Voicing his skepticism about the forthcoming 2027 presidential election, Farotimi said, “I’ll not even participate in that election because you can be sure that Tinubu who was not in power that ran and snatched and grabbed it, already has the 2027 election result written. A Tinubu that is busy appointing Wike’s man as Electoral Commissioner. The most violent election rigger in Nigeria today is wike.
“That is the person whose proxy was appointed as a National Electoral Commissioner. There are multiple videos and audios of Wike enforcing his political will in Rivers State over and above the sovereign will of the people of that state, violently too.
“I’m saying that there’s more than enough materials online showing Wike violently suppressing the rights of the people of Rivers State to elect their chosen representatives. And I’m saying that his personal aide, his person, has already been appointed a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) since Tinubu came to power.
“How can you be talking about free and fair election in 2027 when it is already a fait accompli, that without the consequential amendment of the Electoral Act, without consequential reformation of our judicial system, the same madness that took place in 2023 will repeat itself in 2027.
” If we do not tell ourselves this basic truth ahead of time, how can we even hope that anything will change? We have to be unapologetic and unrepentant in pushing the truth into their eyes. As I have told you, the truth is both a sword and shield. I like wielding it as a sword and smashing it on their head, I don’t care about their feelings.
“I don’t know how long any of us is going to live, I’m not going to live my life cow towing to the opinion, sentiments or emotions of worthless human beings who have wreaked the live of thousands and millions by their actions and inactions.
“So, we cannot be talking about election in 2027 in the presence of multiple madnesses that have remained with us. If there’s going to be an election worthy of its name, I’ll be out there supporting Obi. If there will be election, and if we will even have a country the way Bulabu is going with Nigeria, do we what will be left of this country in 2027?
On his part, Wike has dismissed allegations that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South south in favour of President Tinubu against the LP candidate Obi.
Wike made the rebuttal while addressing the media in Abuja on Wednesday, September 30, and described the claim as a “baseless narrative propagated primarily on social media.”
Widespread criticism erupted across the political sphere after Wike’s remarks during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, claiming that his G5 group of governors strategically allowed Obi to win in parts of the South south.
Critics, public commentators and opposition figures argued that Wike’s statement was a public confession of voter manipulation.
However, Wike clarified that the results were the product of a calculated electoral strategy aimed at neutralising major political threats rather than illegal manipulation.
Responding to critics who accused him of altering result sheets in favour of Tinubu, Wike wondered how an individual could single-handedly dictate the outcome across thousands of polling units.
“People who don’t understand, how can they say I rigged the election? How would I have done it? So, I just took the result sheets, wrote it, and gave it to INEC?” he asked.
“I’ve always said social media does not win elections. You have about 176,000 polling units, and probably you have seen 300 polling units and then you rush to the conclusion that so-and-so has won.
“Election outcomes are not predicted this way.
“You remember that when they went to the tribunal, did anybody tender any result from Rivers to say, ‘look, this is the result, we won’?”
Detailing the tactical approach adopted in the South-South, traditionally a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike explained that PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was identified as the primary threat to their political coalition, known as the G5.
To prevent Atiku from securing the region, Wike explained that their strategy involved routing votes towards Peter Obi in specific areas to split the opposition base and suppress Atiku’s margin.
“We felt that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was that, make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes.
“South-South was purely a PDP state and so if we had voted for PDP all through, then Atiku would have won. That was a threat,” he said.
