Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), argued that although the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate lost at the presidential Tribunal on Wednesday, the judiciary was correct when he successfully reclaimed his position as governor of Anambra State in 2007.
On Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday, Wike, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, said he is a realist and he knew Obi won’t win the February 25, 2023 poll. He further asked: “Did Peter Obi not win at the Supreme Court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay bribe? Let him tell the world now.
Sentiments aside, Obi couldn’t have won the election, according to Wike. “Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred that but look at how the votes went,” he said.
“When he was removed as a governor, did he not reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court? Judiciary was right but now that the decision happened, judiciary is wrong.”
READ ALSO: Charly Boy Reacts To Presidential Tribunal Verdict, Says “We Never Really Tire To Suffer”
“I know that he won’t win the election. Let me tell you the truth, I am a realist,” the FCT minister said, explaining that he supported Tinubu rather than Obi or Atiku, who happened to be in the same party as himself (Wike).
“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission).”
“There is this generational change, the young people were tired. So, for them, the only hope they had was to vote for Obi as a younger person compared to other candidates.
“But unknown to them, that is not the reality of Nigerian politics. They didn’t take into cognisance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognisance that religion is a factor, not only competence; that is the reality of Nigerian politics,” the ex-governor of Rivers State said.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the PDP and Atiku Abubakar, as well as LP and Obi’s claims were all rejected by the Presidential Election claims Court in a 12-hour marathon ruling on Wednesday.
Aside from dismissing the PDP, APM, and LP’s combined petitions, the five-person panel headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani also unequivocally confirmed Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election. Tinubu is a former governor of Lagos State.
Both Atiku and Obi have declared they will appeal the Tribunal’s decision to the Supreme Court.
