FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has admitted that he worked against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, despite considering him a good candidate, because he did not want former Governor Godwin Obaseki to choose his successor. Wike made the remarks on Monday at a stakeholders' meeting of the Rainbow Coalition in Abuja, where he credited an alliance between legacy PDP figures and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the APC's victory in the state.
Wike's Admission and Rationale
Wike said he was behind the effort to ensure Ighodalo's defeat, stating, "I was behind it, and I don't have any regrets about it." He described Ighodalo, a former bank director, as a very good candidate who visited his house more than three times to ask for his support. However, Wike told him that the election was a contest between his camp and Obaseki, whom he called an ungrateful person, and that returning Ighodalo would be like bringing Obaseki back.
"I said I will not allow Obaseki produce a successor even though the candidate was a very good candidate; very good candidate who was the chairman of a bank. He came to see me more than three times but I told him 'listen, I know you are a good candidate, but for this election I am sorry; because this election is between us and the man who is bringing you, called Obaseki. Returning you would be like bringing him back so I am sorry, you have to fail'. And he failed," Wike said, according to a post by Nigeria Stories on X (formerly Twitter).
Alliance with APC and Election Outcome
Wike dismissed claims that no such coalition existed, saying people who made them were not telling the truth. He said Governor Monday Okpebholo and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North, could attest to the role the alliance played in the election. Okpebholo, the APC candidate, defeated Ighodalo, who was backed by Obaseki, in the September 2024 election.
Wike remains a PDP member while serving in President Bola Tinubu's administration. The comments come amid renewed attention on the Rainbow Coalition and efforts by political actors to build alliances ahead of the 2027 general elections. There has been no response from Ighodalo, Obaseki, or the PDP regarding Wike's account.
