Wike Mocks Obi “Judiciary Right When Obi Reclaimed Mandate As Gov, Wrong When He Lost”
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has mocked the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, for losing the presidential election and challenging the result at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
Wike, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Obi was being hypocritical for questioning the integrity of the judiciary when he had benefited from it in the past.
Wike made these remarks on Thursday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
He said Obi had no moral ground to accuse the judiciary of being biased or corrupt when he had won his governorship election in Anambra State in 2007 through a Supreme Court judgment.
“Did Peter Obi not win at the Supreme Court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay a bribe? Let him tell the world now,” Wike said.
“When he was removed as a governor, did he not reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court? Judiciary was right but now that the decision happened, the judiciary is wrong.”
Wike also said he was not surprised that Obi lost the presidential election to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said he was a realist and he knew that Obi stood no chance of winning the election given the political realities in Nigeria.
“I know that he won’t win the election. Let me tell you the truth, I am a realist,” Wike said.
He said he supported Bola Tinubu, the APC national leader and former governor of Lagos State, rather than Obi or Atiku Abubakar, who was the PDP presidential candidate and his leader.
“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission),” he said.
Wike said Obi could not win the election based on sentiments or generational change alone. He said Obi failed to consider other factors that influence Nigerian politics such as ethnicity and religion.
“Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred that but look at how the votes went,” he said.
“There is this generational change, the young people were tired. So, for them, the only hope they had was to vote for Obi as a younger person compared to other candidates.
“But unknown to them, that is not the reality of Nigerian politics. They didn’t take into cognisance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognisance that religion is a factor, not only competence; that is the reality of Nigerian politics,” Wike said.
Wike, who is a former governor of Rivers State, said he was not bothered by Obi’s loss or his party’s defeat. He said he was focused on delivering good governance to the people of FCT.
