Mnister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has stated that former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi would have taken credit if Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, had emerged victorious in the 2023 election.
He made the remark during his monthly press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
“In 2023, he (Amaechi) came and said he was going to support Atiku in PDP.
Thank God we did not support PDP,
if we had supported PDP and they won, he would have taken the glory.
We said okay, we won’t support PDP and they didn’t get up to 10 percent,” Wike said.
Despite being a PDP member, Wike openly opposed Atiku’s candidacy during the election, following internal disagreements in the party.
The rift began when the PDP zoned both its presidential ticket and national chairmanship to the North—an arrangement Wike and other southern stakeholders strongly rejected.
They argued the move violated principles of fairness and equity, and pushed for the ticket to be zoned to the South.
In response to the party’s decision, the minister ultimately withheld support from Atiku and instead backed President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
