Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has disclosed that a new political strategy is in place to counter former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking after inspecting ongoing road projects in the FCT, Wike clarified his earlier comments on the 2023 presidential election, which continue to generate controversy. He explained that the Peoples Democratic Party’s G5 bloc, of which he was a member, deliberately worked to deny Atiku votes from the South-South.
“Our strategy was that, listen, you vote, make sure that you vote for Obi to win, in order to deny Atiku the votes,” Wike said. He argued that the South-South was traditionally a PDP stronghold and that a solid party vote would have delivered victory to Atiku.
Wike rejected claims that the strategy amounted to manipulation of results in Rivers State. “Did anybody tender any result from Rivers State that, ‘Look, this is the result, we won’? Did anybody? It’s unfair. It’s unfortunate there’s nothing we can do,” he stated. “We have our strategy in this election, and whether you like it or not, it’s not for us to let the cat out of the bag.”
The minister insisted his main target in 2023 was Atiku, not Obi, describing perceptions of Obi’s strength as largely a social media creation. “When you are strategizing to win an election, you look at a lot of factors: who is my threat? If this is my threat, this is a lesser threat, and I know what to do so as to make sure that the vote of my major threat does not increase. You cannot rig an election where you are not popular,” he added.
On the projects inspected, Wike said the Kaura District road and bridges, as well as the Life Camp collector road, would be completed and handed over in December. The Arterial Road N16 in Gwarinpa is expected by early January.
