Arise Television’s Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has questioned the political popularity of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, asking why he could not defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2022 presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Oseni made the remarks on Wednesday while discussing claims by Wike about his political influence and ability to deliver electoral victories for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Wike, a member of the PDP, currently works for Tinubu.

Governors under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, have recently expressed concern about Wike ahead of the 2027 election.

Speaking about the matter on Wednesday, the journalist questioned the circumstances surrounding Wike’s victory in the 2019 Rivers State governorship election, particularly the delay in the announcement of the result.

Oseni also referred to a BBC report on the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, which he said raised questions about the official results.

“When politicians beat their chest that they delivered somebody, it’s a total fallacy.

“Like I have said before on this show, Minister Wike, let’s x-ray your 2019 governorship victory.

“Why was the counting of that election stopped midway?

“At a point, there was a certain person up there, and the counting of the results stopped, and it took about 22 days before INEC announced the victory in favour of Mr Wike.

“Based on the BBC’s report, while the official result in the state gave a majority to Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, our tally suggested that Peter Obi of the Labour Party actually received more votes in the state by a wide margin,” he said.

He questioned what politicians meant when they referred to having “structure” that enabled them to win elections.

“So, what is this strange structure that they say they have that they won based on?

“What is it? Is it the structure that we can turn INEC around? Is it because INEC is not as independent as an institution as it should be?

“Yes, we can say INEC’s official result, but we’ve also seen shenanigans in the official result.”

Oseni further challenged Wike’s repeated claims of delivering electoral victories, arguing that such claims should not automatically be interpreted as proof of widespread popular support.

He then questioned why Wike failed to secure the PDP presidential ticket in 2022 if he was as politically popular as claimed.

“So, I keep hearing, ‘I delivered this, I delivered that, I delivered it,’ and it’s as if they say it as if they have the full recognition of the people.

“If Wike was that popular, why didn’t he win the primaries in the PDP and beat Atiku Abubakar? He didn’t beat Atiku Abubakar in the PDP primaries, and we keep hearing the conversation here. Politicians keep acting as God,” Oseni said.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, faulted the Progressives Governors Forum’s stance on the Rainbow Coalition in Rivers State.

Wike said the APC governors stance on the Rainbow Coalition has no basis.

The APC Governors Forum, chaired by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, had warned that the Rainbow Coalition could undermine President Bola Tinubu’s reelection in 2027.

Uzodimma also said the coalition could threaten APC and it’s candidates’ chances in the 2027 elections.

Reacting, Wike, in an interview with Arise Television’s Politics Today, said: “Now what is the crisis of sponsoring candidates, Soludo is supporting President Tinubu, does it mean he won’t support APGA candidates for the National Assembly elections? Governor Adeleke is supporting the president. Does it mean he won’t support Accord National Assembly candidates.

“Alex Otti is supporting President Tinubu from what he said. Does it mean the Labour Party won’t have National Assembly candidates. You can see the whole thing they’re talking about has no basis.”