Chief Wike spoke on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists on the controversy surrounding his role in the 2023 presidential election.

The controversy followed his recent appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, where he disclosed that the G5 governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) adopted a political strategy aimed at preventing the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, from benefiting from the PDP’s traditional dominance in the South-South.

According to Chief Wike, the strategy involved allowing Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mr Peter Obi, to pick up votes in some parts of the region rather than allowing Alhaji Abubakar to enjoy the PDP’s established support base.

He, however, rejected the interpretation that the strategy amounted to his personally rigging the election in favour of President Tinubu.

“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?”, Chief Wike asked.

The FCT minister also cautioned against drawing conclusions about presidential election outcomes from limited polling-unit results circulated on social media.

“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,” he said.

Chief Wike argued that allegations of electoral manipulation should have been substantiated with evidence during the legal challenges that followed the 2023 presidential election.

“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’?”, he questioned.

Explaining the calculations behind the G5 strategy, Chief Wike said the group considered Alhaji Abubakar a greater political threat than Mr Obi because of the PDP’s established grassroots support across the South-South.

“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,” he said.

He said the strategy was implemented in parts of the region, including Edo and Cross River, while Rivers was treated differently because of concerns about the political consequences of an outright Mr Obi victory in the state.

Chief Wike further dismissed the argument that Mr Obi’s strong social-media presence necessarily translated into the votes required to determine the presidential election.

“Obi wasn’t a threat. Obi was merely a threat by social media. Even if Obi had secured Rivers outright, it would not have altered the outcome of the presidential race,” he said.

The former Rivers State governor also rejected the suggestion that election results could simply be manipulated in favour of a candidate without corresponding grassroots support.

“When you talk about rigging, you cannot rig an election where you are not popular. You cannot. If you try that, then you see what will happen to you. People will resist it,” Chief Wike said.

He maintained that the G5 governors deliberately pursued their political strategy during the 2023 election and expressed satisfaction with the outcome.

“We had our strategy, and that strategy worked well for us,” he said.

STATE POLICE BILL RECEIVES EDO ASSEMBLY’S CUNCURRENCE

The Edo State House of Assembly has approved the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking the establishment of State Police.

The Bill was transmitted to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yekini Idaiye, following the National Assembly’s decision to forward the proposed alteration to the 36 State Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration and approval, in line with legislative procedure.

Presenting the Bill, the Majority Leader and member representing Esan South-East, Hon. Sunday Ojiezele, highlighted its significance and urged members to support it.

The member representing Akoko-Edo II, Hon. Donald Okogbe, said the bill would create employment opportunities, in his contribution.

In the same vein, the member representing Ovia North-East I, Hon. Charity Iguodala Aiguobarueghian, argued that the creation of State Police would enhance security at the community level.

On his part, the member representing Oredo West and Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Richard Edosa, advocated the establishment of an Edo State Police Service Commission, while Hon. Kingsley Ugabi (Etsako East) and Hon. Maria Edeko (Esan North-East II) expressed the view that the Bill would help restore peace to communities.

The Bill was then passed by the House as moved by the Majority Leader, Hon. Ojiezele, and seconded by the Minority Leader, Hon. Natasha Osawaru.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yekini Idaiye, described the bill as germane, saying it would address security challenges and provide jobs.

He thereafter directed the Clerk of the House, Alhaji Yahaya Omogbai, to forward clean copies of the concurrence resolution to the National Assembly.