The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revealed that he would have fled the country had former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won the immediate-past presidential election conducted in February 2023.
News About Nigeria reports that the former Rivers State governor disclosed this during a media chat with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
Wike stated that loyalists of Atiku had planned to harm him if Atiku had become president. According to the Rivers politician, he was aware of plots against him for opposing Atiku as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and supporting President Bola Tinubu’s bid. Wike added that he had his international passport in his pocket on the day the presidential election was announced and was ready to run away from the country if Tinubu had lost. He also informed his wife to manage his affairs while he was in exile.
In 2023, Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of the presidential election, securing 37% of the vote. His main opponent, Atiku, garnered 29%, while Peter Obi received 25%.
Atiku and Obi’s legal challenges to the election were dismissed by the court due to a lack of merit.
It’s worth noting that Wike and four other PDP governors, known as the ‘Integrity Group,’ had opposed Atiku in the run-up to the 2023 election. These governors didn’t support Atiku and didn’t attend his campaigns. Instead, they actively campaigned for Tinubu and Obi.
This publication earlier reported that the fate of Wike, within the PDP, will soon be revealed as the party has set a date for its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
The meeting is scheduled for April 18, 2024.
