“Presidential election in Rivers was clearly rigged by Wike” – Atiku’s aide

Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of rigging the 2023 presidential election in the state for President Bola Tinubu.

Shaibu also accused Tinubu of planning to reward Wike with a ministerial appointment.

According to Shaibu, the ministerial appointment was to appreciate Wike for rigging the presidential election in Rivers State to favour Tinubu.

In a statement he signed, Shaibu said “It’s tragic that Tinubu is planning on rewarding Wike with a ministerial portfolio despite the pending petition against the former Governor which has attracted nearly 300,000 votes.

“The Presidential election in Rivers State was clearly rigged as evidenced by what INEC has uploaded on IREV.

“So far, nearly 300,000 Nigerians have signed a petition on change.org demanding visa bans against Governor Wike.

“Tinubu is now on the verge of appointing Wike as a minister as a reward for that disgraceful election.

“What a shame. And this is the character who claimed to have fought for the actualisation of June 12?”

Recall that Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, dumped his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for Tinubu of the APC.

Following Wike’s commitment to ensure that Tinubu won the presidential election, a chieftain of the APC and former Chief of Staff, Rivers State Government House, Chief Tony Okocha stated that Wike deserves to reap what he sowed in making President Bola Tinubu victorious in the 2023 presidential election.

Okocha who was the Coordinator of the BAT-Vanguard, an acronym for the disbanded Bola Ahmed Tinubu Vanguard in the South-South said Wike has the right to join any party.

Okocha stated, “We are noticing that some persons who abandoned Tinubu when Tinubu needed them most and voyaged outside the shores are now relying on their personal relationships one way or the other to begin to make some sense of entitlement.

“That they are entitled to whatever. In the leadership of the Tinubu family in Rivers State, we are at peace 100 per cent with His Excellency, Barr Nyesom Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State as our leader.

“He who pays the Piper dictates the tune. When it was difficult, even when the national body could not oblige us with funds for the national rally here, the magic was done by somebody.”