“In Nigerian Politics, Ethnicity, Religion More Important Than Competence”  – Wike On Why Obi Lost

By Gideon Njoku

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike said he knew the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, was going to lose the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election.

He gave two reasons why he knew. Firstly, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State said, Obi’s supporters are not vast in politics; they do not know how to play politics.

Secondly, according to Wike, in Nigerian politics, competence does not matter as much as ethnicity and religion. For Wike, ethnicity and religion are more important than competence.

Wike disclosed these in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, the day after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, dismissed the case brought before it by Obi and LP, to challenge the declaration of the Candidate  of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, as the winner of the Election.

In a unanimous judgment on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the five-member Panel of Judges said Obi and LP’s case was without merit.

On why Obi lost the Presidential Election, Wike said: “I knew that he won’t win the elections. Let me tell you the truth. I am a realist.

“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC.

“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 cognizance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognizance that religion is a factor. It is not only competence. That is the reality of Nigerian politics.”

Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party Governor at the time of the Presidential election, worked for Tinubu against his Party’s Candidate, Atiku Abubakar. He was rewarded with a Ministerial slot – Federal Capital  Territory’s Minister.