Rivers 2023: Wike Explains G5 Strategy, Raises Fresh Questions Over Obi, Atiku

ABUJA – FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s recent comments on the 2023 presidential election have revived debate over the role played by the five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors in the South-South and their calculations involving Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.

Speaking on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, Wike explained that the G5 governors viewed Atiku as the bigger political factor in the South-South because of the PDP’s traditional strength in the region.

“How did he (Obi) win? We, in the G5, had our strategy. We said, PDP is stronger in the South-South. And our problem would be Atiku. Therefore, instead of Atiku to take it, let it go to the Labour Party,” Wike said.

The strategy, as described by Wike, was to ensure that votes that could have gone to Atiku were instead won by Obi, thereby reducing Atiku’s advantage in the region.

Wike said the approach was used in Edo and Cross River, but not in Rivers State.

‘Obi would not win here’

Explaining the decision, Wike said the G5 believed Atiku posed a greater concern than Obi in the election.

“We felt that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was to make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes,” he said.

But he said Rivers was deliberately excluded from the strategy.

“It was only in Rivers, I said, ‘No, Obi would not win here because if he does, it would send a wrong signal somewhere and people would not understand it.’ And we stopped it,” Wike said.

Wike did not elaborate on what the “wrong signal” meant.

His comment has consequently raised questions about why an Obi victory was considered useful in other states but was opposed in Rivers.

A possible explanation could be the special political significance of Rivers to Wike, although the source does not establish that as the reason.

What is clear from Wike’s account is that Rivers was treated differently from the other states where the G5 strategy was deployed.

What the official result showed

INEC declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election in Rivers with 231,591 votes. Obi polled 175,071 votes, while Atiku received 88,468 votes.

Tinubu therefore defeated Obi by 56,520 votes.

The Rivers result has remained the subject of controversy. The BBC’s 2023 election project published the declared results using INEC data, while later scrutiny of polling-unit result sheets available on the IReV portal raised questions about discrepancies in some results.

However, questions over discrepancies do not independently establish that Wike or the G5 manipulated the election.

Wike himself rejected such an interpretation of his comments on September 23, describing allegations that he rigged the presidential election for Tinubu as a “baseless narrative”. He maintained that the G5’s actions were political manoeuvring directed at Atiku.

This leaves a central question: did the strategy Wike described amount to ordinary political mobilisation, or did it interfere with voters’ choices?

Calls for investigation

The Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education, CHRICED, has called for an investigation into Wike’s disclosure.

The group wants relevant authorities to examine what the G5 strategy entailed and whether it had any effect on the integrity of the 2023 presidential election.

CHRICED Executive Director, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said the disclosure raised serious questions about popular sovereignty.

“If state officials can ‘allow’ or ‘prevent’ candidates from winning in their states, then the fundamental principle that sovereignty belongs to the people is gravely undermined,” he said.

According to the organisation, elections should not become processes in which influential political actors decide which candidate should benefit from voters’ choices.

Obi’s role in the G5 calculation

The G5 governors were PDP members who were embroiled in a dispute with Atiku and the party’s national leadership.

According to Wike, that conflict made Obi’s growing support politically useful in some South-South states.

The strategy did not necessarily amount to an alliance with Obi. Rather, his votes could serve the G5’s objective of denying Atiku votes in a region where the PDP had traditionally been strong.

Rivers, however, was treated differently.

That exception has become particularly significant because Wike has not publicly explained what he meant by preventing an Obi victory to avoid a “wrong signal”.

Reactions to Wike’s disclosure

The minister’s comments have attracted reactions online.

Morris Monye wrote on X: “Look at what Wike is saying on national television. Does he not know that suppressing votes of the people is also treason? Just look at that. This makes me so upset. He’s already shared the votes and said, ‘Oh, we won’t see votes in Delta, Edo, etc.’”

Another X user, Roy, alleged that Wike suppressed the popular will, writing:

“When you say you stopped Peter Obi winning Rivers State, you are saying you stopped the will of the people. You used INEC ad hoc staff, law enforcement, dogs, the courts, up to the Supreme Court, to keep Nigeria in oppression. Nothing shouts treason louder than this. But go on, keep talking.”

Those statements represent political opinions and are not independent evidence that the election was manipulated.

Arise TV broadcaster Rufai Oseni also questioned whether similar political calculations extended to other states.

“But I’m sure Wike, too, should tell us how we also helped Obi win Lagos, you know, in all of this, because when people talk, they just think that they’re everything,” Rufai said.

The comment was a question and does not constitute evidence of coordinated intervention in Lagos.

Wike’s account has nonetheless shed light on the political calculations surrounding the G5 during the 2023 presidential election. According to him, the governors wanted Obi to take votes from Atiku in parts of the South-South but deliberately prevented the same outcome in Rivers.

The unresolved part of the account remains the meaning of the “wrong signal” Wike said an Obi victory in Rivers would have sent.

That unanswered question now sits at the centre of renewed debate over the 2023 Rivers presidential election result.

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