PEPC: Election Petitions Not Won On Social Media, Says Wike

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), responded to the decision made by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, asserting that elections are not won on social media.

In an appearance with Politics Today on Channels Television on Thursday, Wike stated that an election petition is “a special case and not propaganda.”

READ ALSO: Tribunal Affirms Tinubu As Duly Elected President Of Nigeria, Thrash Out Obi, Atiku’s Petitions

He said: “I’ve always warned people that an election petition is different from a case in any other situation. It is a unique region. Not via disinformation.

“You can’t win it on social media. Presentation of facts and evidence is what it is. The opposite of what you shouted to your followers outside.

“I sat down for at least 10 hours and watched 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 governor of Rivers State added that he was aware that the Labour Party’s, LP, candidate would lose the election.

“I am aware that [Obi] won’t prevail in the election. I’ll tell you the truth; I’m a realist. It was a difficult election for me given how it transpired. I give it to INEC,” he declared.

“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.”