Chieftain of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Aisha Yesufu, has accused FCT Minister Nyesom Wike of lying over his claim that the G5 governors deliberately allowed Peter Obi to win South-South states in the 2023 presidential election to reduce Atiku Abubakar’s chances.

Wike recently said the G5 had a strategy of allowing Obi to take votes in the South-South because the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was stronger in the region and they considered Atiku a threat.

He said Rivers was excluded from the arrangement because the group did not want Obi to win the state.

Reacting in a post on X on Wednesday, Yesufu questioned Wike’s claim of political influence, pointing to the 2023 senatorial elections involving three members of the G5.

She wrote: “Wike LIED!!!!! 3 of the G5 Governors ran for Senate. They all lost!

“If Wike was that powerful how come he couldn’t give them a win on an election that was on the same day and time!

“Wike is petrified of life outside of government!!!! E don dey clear for I’m eye!”

Wike had earlier maintained that the G5 strategy contributed to Obi’s performance in the South-South, while insisting that Rivers was deliberately kept out of the arrangement.

Immediate past Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says he is not defecting from the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Adelabu made this known in a statement by his media office on Tuesday.

He made the clarification after his media aide, Ajiboye Akande, dumped the APC for the Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

DAILY POST reports that Adelabu was an Oyo APC governorship aspirant but was defeated in the party’s primaries.

The ex-minister stressed that Akande has ceased to be his personal assistant and holds no official or political relation with him.

He further clarified that their relation ended when he decided to associate with another political party.

“I remain a member of APC and have no intention of leaving the party. My disagreement with aspects of the Oyo governorship nomination is about the process and the need for transparency and legitimacy, and not an excuse to abandon the party.

“I will not betray President Bola Tinubu, whom I regard as my political mentor and benefactor, or abandon the party that provided me the opportunity to serve,” he said.