The Media Adviser to former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has questioned the authority of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to declare President Bola Tinubu the winner before voting began.
NEWSNGR reports that Ibe raised the concern in a statement on Monday, citing a declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it alone has the authority to declare official election results.
He questioned why Wike had proclaimed victory for Tinubu in the FCT in the 2027 election.
“INEC says it alone can declare official election results. Yet Wike has already proclaimed victory for Tinubu in the FCT: “We have won.”
“Who appointed him Returning Officer before a single vote was cast? Ibe asked.
He also questioned whether security agencies would have reacted differently if an opposition leader had made a similar declaration, insisting that the same law that applies to opposition leaders must apply to Wike as well.
“Had an opposition leader said this, would security agencies not be scrambling to issue invitations? Mum has been the word in the circle of security agencies,” he said.
Ibe argued further that if Wike could declare victory before voting, citizens should not face intimidation for publishing verifiable figures from polling units after the exercise.
“If Wike can proclaim victory before voting, nobody should intimidate citizens for publishing verifiable polling-unit figures afterwards. The heavens will not fall!” he said.
Ibe added that the 2027 election is too consequential to be left to what he called the “whims and caprices of Wike and the APC anti-democratic forces.”
He emphasized that the same rule must apply to everyone in the country, stating that “There cannot be one law for Wike and another for everyone else.”
Ibe’s query comes about two weeks after INEC warned media organizations against announcing election results based on privately collated figures during the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, gave the warning in Abuja while speaking at a national stakeholders’ meeting organized to mark 100 days to the 2027 general election, NEWSNGR reports.
Amupitan said media organizations must verify election-related information with the commission before publishing or broadcasting such results.
