Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike has reacted to the judgment delivered by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, saying election petitions are not won on social media.
Wike, in an interview on a Channels Television political programme, Politics Today, on Thursday, said election petition is ‘’a special case and not propaganda.”
His words: “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.”
The former Rivers State governor also said he knew the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, would not win the election.
“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.”
Wike also stated that when Obi reclaimed his mandate as Anambra state governor, the judiciary was right, but wrong when the decision of the judiciary didn’t ‘favour’ him as regards the verdict of the PEPC on Wednesday.
He said, “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.”
“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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