The Labour Party which Peter Obi belongs to can chronicle the events that took place in Rivers State on the day of the presidential election.
As the 2023 Presidential Election results were being presented, Peter Obi of the Labour Party was leading most of the local governments in Rivers State.
This was until the results of the Obio-Akpor and the Degema Local Government Areas were announced.
The Obio-Akpor and Degema LGAs are the LGAs of state governor Nyesom Wike and his deputy respectively.
Obi lost in those polling units and Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won there which led him to win in the state.
While the collation was rounding up, the State Collation Officer for the Presidential election (SCOPs) made a revelation.
The SCOPs in Rivers State, Professor Charles Adias alleged that there was a threat to his life by unnamed party supporters.
This led him to postpone the collation of the last two LGAs.
Wike Delivered Rivers For Tinubu
A viral audio recording that was said to have been of Wike claimed that he bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to rig the presidential election.
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However, Wike defended himself and said the report of rigging in the state being circulated on social media was the handiwork of his adversaries.
In dismissing the claims, he had claimed that his decision not to support Obi in Rivers was different.
Wike explained that the Southern Governors Forum had agreed that power must shift to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari.
Therefore, he said he could not support Obi, who is from the South-East, which is why he supported Tinubu.
Obi Accuses Wike
But for Mr Obi, the story is different.
The Labour Party presidential candidate claims governor Wike was against him in Rivers state during the elections.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV, Obi alleged that despite the antagonism, he won the state by “over 50%” in the presidential poll if the “real votes” were counted.
The result from the state led some political actors and stakeholders to accuse Wike of manipulating the election against the LP candidate.
Addressing the situation, Obi insisted that he won the presidential election in Rivers despite “that the governor came out against me”.
“In the southeast, people know me, what I stand for, and that I have kept to my promises. It is a simple thing.
“It is like people saying I won Lagos because of the Igbos there.
“How many Igbos live in Lagos? I got more votes from the indigenes in Lagos than those you can call visitors,” the LP candidate said.
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“In Rivers, where you know that the governor came out against me, I still succeeded.
“If the real votes of Rivers were counted, I won”.
Obi claims that he had over 50% of the votes and that the other two parties shared the remaining figures.
