Nigerians rejected Obi because Tinubu was a better option - Wike

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has explained why Nigerians chose President Bola Tinubu over the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the 2023 general elections.

The fiery politician declared this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

The former Rivers State governor argued that if Obi was a better candidate, Nigerians would have voted for him instead of Tinubu.

The Minister also admitted that he supported the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the expense of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the torchbearer of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the controversial poll.

When asked whether Obi would have adopted a better approach to resolving Nigeria's knotty economic challenges if he had been elected, Wike tried to shy away from the question.

“I don’t want to discuss social media issues,” the FCT minister said.

When pressed further, the Minister said, “I don’t discuss about presidential candidate any longer; I discuss about the economy, the President, what he has to offer.”

“If he (Obi) would have been better, Nigerians would have voted for him.”

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, gave Tinubu and Atiku a run for their money in the February 25 election, where he finished third.

However, the Labour Party candidate, alongside his PDP counterpart, has approached the court to challenge the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Tinubu as the winner of the poll.