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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has challenged supporters of Peter Obi to present official result sheets proving that the Labour Party candidate won Rivers State during the 2023 presidential election.
Wike dismissed persistent claims from Obi’s supporters, known as Obidients, asserting that allegations of a Labour Party victory in the state exist solely in their imagination.
The former Rivers State governor addressed the issue on Monday during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout while discussing his political standing in Rivers State and the disputed 2023 election figures.
“They won by their own imagination. Who did INEC declare to have won?” Wike said.
He urged critics disputing the official outcome to produce concrete evidence substantiating their claims.
“Let them produce that result sheet that says Obi won,” he said.
Wike further questioned why the Labour Party leadership and its legal team failed to validate their victory claims during the post-election litigation.
“When they went to the tribunal, were they able to defend their claim?” he asked.
The minister emphasized that commentary on social platforms does not translate to election success.
“You can win on social media; I’m not interested in social media winning,” he said.
He added that electoral outcomes cannot be deduced from isolated reports across select polling units in Port Harcourt, noting that Rivers State comprises 23 local government areas whose total returns must be evaluated together.
“You don’t stay in one place in Port Harcourt and say Obi has won,” he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, securing 231,591 votes ahead of Peter Obi’s 175,071 votes and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 88,468 votes.
The official collation across the 23 local government areas showed Tinubu winning 14 LGAs, Obi securing five LGAs, and Atiku taking four LGAs, resulting in a 56,520-vote margin of victory for Tinubu.
Despite the declared numbers, supporters of Peter Obi have maintained that collation irregularities altered the outcome, pointing to individual polling unit records uploaded online.
Wike, who served as governor of Rivers State during the 2023 polls, broke with his party, the PDP, to support Tinubu’s presidential campaign, consistently attributing the APC’s success in the state to the strength of his political structure.
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