Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has reacted to Wednesday’s judgment delivered by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) affirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stressing that election petitions are determined by facts and evidence, not social media.
In an interview on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, Wike also said he knew the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, wouldn’t win the February 25, 2023 poll.
“I have always told people that election petition is not like any other case. It is a special area. It is not by propaganda. It is not won on social media. It is a presentation of evidence and facts. Not what you said to your supporters outside.
“I sat down for not less than 10 hours and to look at how the justices painstakingly took each item one by one, from the preliminary objections to the motions, down to the objections on documents and exhibits, down to substantial issues.”
He added, “I know that he (Obi) won’t win the election. Let me tell you the truth, I am a realist. For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC,” he said.
“Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred that he won but look at how the votes went.
“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.”
He also asserted that his decision not to support his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was because “I believe their position was wrong, I believe in equity, I believe in fairness, and I believe in justice.”
Wike also said there was no need for the petitioners to appeal the judgment because the Tribunal affirmed the will of Nigerians.
Similarly, he said that when Obi reclaimed his mandate as Anambra State Governor, the judiciary was right, but wrong when he lost at the presidential Tribunal on Wednesday.
“Did Peter Obi not win at the Supreme Court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay 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, judiciary is wrong.”
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