Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that a strategy has been put in place to counter opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general election.
Wike, however, said the details of the strategy would not be made public.
The FCT Minister spoke on Wednesday after inspecting several ongoing road and infrastructure projects in Abuja, including Road S1 in Kaura District, Collector Road C2 in Life Camp, Arterial Road N16 in Gwarinpa, the IBB Golf Course project and the Gudu (Jereton Mariere Street) project by Apo Legislative Quarters.
Wike also revisited the political calculations that influenced the 2023 presidential election, particularly the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) G5 governors to work against the presidential ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in parts of the South-South.
According to him, Atiku was considered the major political threat at the time, rather than the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Wike explained that the South-South had traditionally been a stronghold of the PDP and argued that a unified vote for Atiku in the region could have significantly altered the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
He said the G5 had deliberately adopted a strategy aimed at reducing Atiku’s votes in the region.
“Our strategy was that, listen, you vote, make sure that you vote for Obi to win, in order to deny Atiku the votes. 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,” Wike said.
The former Rivers State governor also rejected claims that the political strategy amounted to rigging the election in Rivers State.
He argued that no evidence was presented before the election tribunal to establish that the Labour Party had actually won the 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 said.
Wike further explained that political actors routinely assess their opponents and develop strategies aimed at limiting the influence of their strongest rivals during elections.
“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,” he said.
Speaking about the 2027 election, Wike maintained that his current political strategy would remain undisclosed.
He also dismissed the notion that Peter Obi was the primary threat to his political interests during the 2023 election, describing the perception of Obi’s strength at the time as largely driven by social media.
Wike further stated that electoral manipulation cannot simply be imposed in an area where a politician lacks popular support, arguing that voters would resist such an attempt.
“You cannot rig an election where you are not popular. You cannot! If you try that, then you see what happens; people will resist it,” he said.
