FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has rejected claims that he manipulated the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State and other parts of the South-South to help President Bola Tinubu defeat Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.

Wike spoke on Wednesday while addressing journalists in Abuja, saying the allegations were based on a false story spread mainly on social media.

The minister had earlier sparked controversy during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, where he said the G5 governors used a political strategy that helped Obi gain votes in some parts of the South-South.

Some opposition politicians and commentators interpreted the remarks as an admission that the election had been manipulated.

Wike, however, said that was not what he meant. He explained that the G5 had adopted a strategy to reduce the influence of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, rather than rig the election.

Responding to claims that he personally changed election results to favour Tinubu, Wike questioned how one person could manipulate results from thousands of polling units.

“People who don’t understand, how can they say I rigged the election? How would I have done it? So, I just took the result sheets, wrote it, and gave it to INEC?” he asked.

Wike also dismissed the idea that social media trends could accurately determine the winner of a nationwide election.

“I’ve always said social media does not win elections. You have about 176,000 polling units, and probably you have seen 300 polling units and then you rush to the conclusion that so-and-so has won,” he said.

According to him, the opposition also failed to prove in court that the election results from Rivers State had been manipulated.

“We felt that Atiku was more of a factor in that election than Obi. So our strategy was that, make sure that you vote for Obi to win in order to deny Atiku the votes,” he said.

Wike maintained that the strategy was successful and said political discussions about the 2023 election should be based on actual results rather than social media claims.