Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Monday said Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, scored over 6 million votes, trailing Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because Igbo people yearn for presidency, and also owing to the fact he was the youngest among the four frontline candidates.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA, Wike said Obi did not necessarily garner the figures he got because of his alleged integrity.
The former Anambra State governor contested under a platform that is not among the top two main parties in Nigeria, and was mocked as “structureless’ in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election. But he surprisingly won in states like Lagos, Plateau and Nasarawa, and scored more votes than the opposition projected.
“First, it was because of the belief that the presidency should go to the Southeast.
“Secondly, some people wanted a younger person,” Wike said.
