“Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the FCT, stated that the G5 governors rigged the 2023 election.”

The claim originated from social media posts, specifically an X (formerly Twitter) post by user @firstladyship, which alleged that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike confessed that the G5 governors rigged the 2023 election. A review of the primary source—an interview Wike gave on TVC’s 'Journalists’ Hangout' in September 2026—reveals that Wike discussed a deliberate political strategy. He explained that the G5 governors, aiming to weaken the chances of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the South-South, allowed the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, to win in certain states. Wike explicitly denied allegations of rigging, stating, 'You cannot rig an election where you are not popular.' He argued that the outcome was a result of strategic political maneuvering and grassroots influence rather than electoral fraud. Fact-checking organizations, including Fact Check Africa, have investigated this claim and concluded that it misrepresents Wike's comments regarding political strategy as a confession of rigging.