BY: Abdulrasheed Akere
Claim:
A claim ascribed to the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike has been circulating online that he said the G5 governors rigged the 2023 election.
Verdict:
The claim that Wike said the G5 governors rigged the 2023 election is false.
Full Text:
On Saturday, September 26, 2026, an X user, NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) made a controversial post that the incumbent minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike said the G5 governors rigged the 2023 election.
The post contains the picture of the minister with a block letters content that reads thus: “We rigged the 2023 election, Yes we did it with our full chest and there’s nothing Nigerians can do about it — Wike.” As of time of the press, the post has garnered 34.7K views, 1.8K likes, 1.3K retweets, and 133 comments.
Through review of the comments, it was observed that many users believe the claim. An X user, nnana chukwu (@chuzzyflint) commented on the post, “Impunity, see finish. So, Nigerians una don hear am ooooo. Nigerians Wike say una no fit do anything.” Voice of the Voiceless reacted, “In a sane country, Wike belongs to prison.”
Another user, Myk Ola (@Mykoladoo) said, “What will Nigerians do about it? Once beaten twice shy right? Let wait and see how the 2027 election goes.” Lilian Nzube Ahmodu said, “He’s right, Nigerians can’t do sh!t about it and it’s so painful.”
Tony Ajah (@tonyajah) said, “Wike and APC have declared war against Nigerians. We MUST not allow them get away with 2027 election.”
Verification:
FactCheckAfrica subjected keywords of the claim to search engines and observed that reputable media outlets did not make any publication as such. The claim was found to be a misconception of the Minister’s statements during a recent interview with TVC in Abuja. The Minister did not explicitly state that he rigged the 2023 election, but his comments about the G5 governors’ strategy led critics to accuse him of a public confession.
During an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout, Wike stated that his G5 group of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors implemented a political strategy that allowed Labour Party candidate Peter Obi to win in parts of the South-South region. He explained that the goal was to outsmart the PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and prevent him from capitalizing on the party’s traditional strongholds in the area.
However, in a recent publication, the minister has dismissed the allegations that he rigged the 2023 presidential election in the South-South in favour of President Bola Tinubu against Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi. The minister asked rhetorically, “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?”
Conclusion:
Based on the available evidence, including the FCT Minister’s denial of the allegations, the claim is false.
