Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of rigging the 2023 presidential election in the state in favor of President Bola Tinubu. Shaibu further alleged that Tinubu plans to reward Wike with a ministerial appointment. In a statement, Shaibu expressed his disappointment over Tinubu's intention to appoint Wike as a minister despite the pending petition against him, which has garnered nearly 300,000 votes. He claimed that the presidential election in Rivers State was clearly rigged, citing evidence from the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) uploaded data on IREV. Shaibu also highlighted that approximately 300,000 Nigerians had signed a petition on change.org demanding visa bans against Governor Wike. He criticized Tinubu for considering such an appointment, questioning the character of someone who claims to have fought for the actualization of June 12. It should be noted that Wike, a member of the PDP, had switched support from his party's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to back Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In response to these accusations, a chieftain of the APC, Chief Tony Okocha, acknowledged Wike's right to join any party and stated that Wike deserves to benefit from his support for President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. Okocha, who was the Coordinator of the BAT-Vanguard in the South-South, expressed his satisfaction with Wike's leadership and attributed the success of their national rally, even in the absence of sufficient funds from the national body, to Wike's contributions.
