The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revealed the role he played in the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Monday Okpebholo in the 2024 Edo State governorship election.

Speaking on Monday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting of the Rainbow Coalition, Wike said he was determined not to allow then-Governor Godwin Obaseki produce a successor.

He acknowledged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, was a strong contender.

“I said I would not allow Obaseki to produce a successor, even though the candidate was a very good candidate, a very good candidate who was the chairman of a bank,” Wike stated.

According to the minister, Ighodalo visited him more than three times to seek his support.

“He came to see me more than three times, but I told him, ‘Listen, I know you are a good candidate, but for this election, I am sorry because this election is between us and the man who is bringing you, called Obaseki.

‘Returning you would be like bringing him back, so I am sorry, you have to fail.’ And he failed,” Wike said.

Wike added that his Rainbow Coalition contributed to Okpebholo’s success in the September 21, 2024 election, in which the APC candidate defeated Ighodalo.

The remarks mark one of the clearest public admissions by the FCT minister of his active involvement in shaping the outcome of the Edo contest against the preferred candidate of his former political ally, Obaseki.