Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike yesterday reflected on the circumstances surrounding the defeat of the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in Rivers State during the 2023 general election.

He said Atiku was defeated because the G-5 Governors deployed a tactical voting strategy involving the then Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to weaken him at the poll.

Wike said the strategy was designed to prevent Atiku from harvesting the traditional PDP votes in the Southsouth, which he described as a major threat to the objective of the G-5 governors.

The former Rivers State governor reminisced on the 2023 poll while inspecting major projects under construction in Abuja.

Wike and Atiku had parted ways, following the controversial presidential primary of the PDP in Abuja that threw up the former vice president as candidate.

Wike said contrary to the widespread perception that Obi was a major threat in the election, the G-5 identified Atiku as the candidate whose votes needed to be reduced in the region.

Wike recalled: “We felt Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So, our strategy was clear: listen, vote and make sure you vote for Obi to win in certain areas in order to deny Atiku the votes.

“Obi was not the real threat; Obi was merely a trend on social media. Our primary target was to neutralise Atiku’s votes in the Southsouth, the PDP stronghold.”

Wike also said the strategy became necessary because of the potential impact of the Southsouth vote on the presidential contest.

He stresed: “Even as we are, you don’t know the strategy we adopted. Everybody has a strategy. The Southsouth was purely a PDP stronghold. If the South-South had voted for PDP all through, Atiku would have won, and that was the real threat.”

The minister also dismissed claims by opposition figures that the 2023 presidential election results in Rivers State were manipulated.

He challenged those alleging electoral malpractice to produce polling-unit results before the appropriate tribunal, saying that social media projections could not substitute for legally admissible electoral evidence.

Wike said: “You have over 170,000 polling units nationwide, and someone sees 300 polling units on social media and concludes they won? 

“Did anybody tender any result at the tribunal from Rivers State to show they won? You cannot rig an election where you are not popular. If you try it, the people will resist it.”

Wike took a swipe at lawmakers criticising the FCT Administration over borrowing and the execution of capital projects.

He said the administration had pushed the implementation of the 2026 capital budget beyond 60 percent despite delays in its passage and assent.

He said the late release of the budget initially affected payments to some contractors, including Julius Berger, but implementation accelerated once the funds became available.

“If you are a legislator, you know the procedures. Without the budget, these projects wouldn’t go on,” he said.

Wike urged lawmakers seeking re-election to account for their stewardship instead of making the FCT Administration’s borrowing and infrastructure programme an issue.

He said: “Those running for election should go and tell voters what they have done, rather than complaining about whether I took a loan or not.”

Minister sets deadlines for project completion

The minister reviewed the progress of the strategic projects and announced completion targets for some of them.

At Galadimawa District, where Info West is handling road and bridge construction, Wike said the project is expected to be completed by December 15.

At the N5/Life Camp axis, where Julius Berger is undertaking dualisation and access-road works, completion and handover are targeted for December.

The N16/Guzape project, being executed by CCECC Global, is expected to be completed in the first week of January 2027