FCT Minister says the group allowed Labour Party victories in parts of the South-South but treated Rivers differently to prevent Obi from sending a political signal.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that he and other members of the defunct G-5 governors deliberately worked to prevent Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate in the 2023 election, from winning Rivers State.

Wike made the disclosure during an interview with TVC News on Monday, explaining that the G-5 governors had adopted a political strategy aimed at preventing then-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar from dominating the South-South region.

The former Rivers State governor said the group was prepared to allow the Labour Party to win in some parts of the region because they considered Atiku their major political concern at the time.

According to Wike, Rivers State was an exception because the group believed an Obi victory in the state could have significant political implications.

“We in the G-5 have our strategy. We said the PDP was stronger in the South-South and our problem was Atiku. Therefore, instead of Atiku taking it, let it go to the Labour Party,” Wike said.

He added: “It was only Rivers State where we said, ‘No, we have a problem here in Rivers. Obi will not win here. If he wins, he will send a signal somewhere.’ We stopped it.”

Wike's comments add a new dimension to the controversy that followed the 2023 presidential election results in Rivers State, where Obi's supporters had disputed the outcome and maintained that the Labour Party candidate had significant support in the state.

The G-5 governors, made up of Wike and four other then-PDP governors, had opposed the party's presidential campaign structure ahead of the 2023 election and demanded the resignation of the party's then-national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as part of their grievances over the party's internal power-sharing arrangements.

Wike, who later accepted an appointment as FCT minister under President Bola Tinubu's administration, said the political circumstances have since changed.

“It is no longer the same scenario. I can tell you authoritatively now that Obi can’t win the South-South,” he said.

Wike's latest statement is likely to renew debate over the role played by the G-5 governors in the 2023 presidential election and the extent to which their political strategy influenced voting patterns across the South-South.