{"id":23809,"date":"2025-04-10T15:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=23809"},"modified":"2025-04-10T15:36:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:36:21","slug":"wike-speaks-on-edo-election-relationship-with-states-inec-rec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=23809","title":{"rendered":"Wike speaks on Edo election, relationship with state\u2019s INEC REC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Wike says Governor Obaseki has been begging him to support the PDP candidate.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Saviour Imukudo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister in charge of Nigeria\u2019s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that he has a family relationship with the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha.There had been speculations that Mr Onuoha was Mr Wike\u2019s associate. But speaking on a Channels TV programme, Politics Today, on Friday night, Mr Wike said the Edo INEC REC is his cousin who, however, has the wherewithal to act independently, unencumbered by family relationships or political interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described Mr Onuoha as a personality whose decisions on duty cannot be influenced by anyone. He said the REC would do what is right in his handling of the Edo governorship election no matter the preferences of anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Wike also said he told Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State that he would not support Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next Saturday\u2019s election in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told him (Governor Obaseki) I am not going to support Ighodalo,\u201d Mr Wike stated on Friday in an interview<\/a> on Channels television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said Governor Obaseki brought the PDP candidate to his house in Abuja two times and asked for his support, which he declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While serving as governor of Rivers State, Mr Wike was the chairperson of Mr Obaseki\u2019s re-election campaign in Edo State in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former Rivers governor recalled how a former inspector general of police ordered him to leave Edo State, where he was campaigning for Mr Obaseki\u2019s second term, but he refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After winning the election, Mr Obaseki fell apart with Mr Wike. Mr Obaseki told <\/a>Mr Wike then that the PDP was not his personal property and that \u201cIn Edo, we don\u2019t accept political bullies and overlords.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why he turned down Mr Obaseki\u2019s request to support the PDP candidate, Mr Wike said, \u201cThe one I supported never helped me; rather, I was insulted.\u201d This suggests that he turned down Mr Obaseki\u2019s request based on his 2020 experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INEC REC<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The chairperson of the PDP in Edo State, Anthony Aziegbemi, on Thursday, demanded<\/a> the redeployment of the INEC REC in the state, Mr Onuoha, alleging that the REC is Mr Wike\u2019s associate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Wike acknowledged that the REC is his \u201ccousin\u201d, but said that even the chairperson of INEC cannot influence the decision of the REC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He reminded the Edo PDP chairperson that he (Mr Wike) played a role in his becoming the party\u2019s chairperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen his governor came to meet me to support Mr Ighodalo, was he there? They didn\u2019t know that the REC was my cousin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Mr Obaseki brought Mr Ighodalo to my house two times to support him, they didn\u2019t know that the REC was my cousin? It is just today that they just knew that he is my cousin? He was posted more than one year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Wike said after supporting Mr Obaseki in 2020, he (Wike) \u201cbecame a stupid man\u201d and added that he does not \u201clike ingrate in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he would also not support the APC candidate for the Edo governorship election because he (Wike) is not a member of the APC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culled from premium times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr Wike says Governor Obaseki has been begging him to support the PDP candidate. By Saviour Imukudo The Minister in charge of Nigeria\u2019s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that he has a family relationship with the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha.There had been speculations that Mr Onuoha was Mr Wike\u2019s associate. But speaking on a Channels TV programme, Politics Today, on Friday night, Mr Wike said the Edo INEC REC is his cousin who, however, has the wherewithal to act independently, unencumbered by family relationships or political interests. He described Mr Onuoha as a personality whose decisions on duty cannot be influenced by anyone. He said the REC would do what is right in his handling of the Edo governorship election no matter the preferences of anyone else. Mr Wike also said he told Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State that he would not support Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next Saturday\u2019s election in the state. \u201cI told him (Governor Obaseki) I am not going to support Ighodalo,\u201d Mr Wike stated on Friday in an interview on Channels television. The minister said Governor Obaseki brought the PDP candidate to his house in Abuja two times and asked for his support, which he declined. While serving as governor of Rivers State, Mr Wike was the chairperson of Mr Obaseki\u2019s re-election campaign in Edo State in 2020. The former Rivers governor recalled how a former inspector general of police ordered him to leave Edo State, where he was campaigning for Mr Obaseki\u2019s second term, but he refused. After winning the election, Mr Obaseki fell apart with Mr Wike. Mr Obaseki told Mr Wike then that the PDP was not his personal property and that \u201cIn Edo, we don\u2019t accept political bullies and overlords.\u201d Asked why he turned down Mr Obaseki\u2019s request to support the PDP candidate, Mr Wike said, \u201cThe one I supported never helped me; rather, I was insulted.\u201d This suggests that he turned down Mr Obaseki\u2019s request based on his 2020 experience. INEC REC The chairperson of the PDP in Edo State, Anthony Aziegbemi, on Thursday, demanded the redeployment of the INEC REC in the state, Mr Onuoha, alleging that the REC is Mr Wike\u2019s associate. Mr Wike acknowledged that the REC is his \u201ccousin\u201d, but said that even the chairperson of INEC cannot influence the decision of the REC. He reminded the Edo PDP chairperson that he (Mr Wike) played a role in his becoming the party\u2019s chairperson. \u201cWhen his governor came to meet me to support Mr Ighodalo, was he there? They didn\u2019t know that the REC was my cousin? \u201cWhen Mr Obaseki brought Mr Ighodalo to my house two times to support him, they didn\u2019t know that the REC was my cousin? It is just today that they just knew that he is my cousin? He was posted more than one year ago.\u201d Mr Wike said after supporting Mr Obaseki in 2020, he (Wike) \u201cbecame a stupid man\u201d and added that he does not \u201clike ingrate in life.\u201d He said he would also not support the APC candidate for the Edo governorship election because he (Wike) is not a member of the APC. Culled from premium times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-minister-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23811,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809\/revisions\/23811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}