I knew Peter Obi won’t win – Wike reveals Labour Party lost

The immediate past Governor of Rivers and now minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, don’t know politics.

The former Rivers helmsman said this on Thursday during an interview on Channels TV, a day after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal upheld Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 2023 presidential election.

Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, publicly declared support for the All Progressives Congress, APC’s candidate, Tinubu and worked for his victory in Rivers State.

The former Governor has now been rewarded with an appointment as minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

“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.”