By Omeiza Ajayi – ABUJA
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, described former Minister of Transportation and vice presidential candidate of the opposition African Democratic Congress, ADC, Chibuike Amaechi, as a political liability with no electoral value in the state or the wider South-South region.
Also, Wike declared that President Bola Tinubu is the only candidate who can win Rivers State in the 2027 general election.
The minster said these at his monthly media chat monitored in Abuja. He urged political observers to discount Rivers entirely from their calculations unless they were counting votes for Tinubu.
“If anybody is counting Rivers, go now and cancel it. The only person that can count Rivers is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am not talking because I want to talk; I am talking as a political realist, because I know my people,” he said.
On Amaechi, Wike questioned the basis for his emergence as a vice presidential candidate, suggesting it could only be financial rather than a reflection of voting strength. “I am sure the only factor that has been used to choose Rotimi Amaechi may be financial because the former governor lacks the capacity to deliver votes,” he said.
… on Amaechi
Citing Amaechi’s electoral record, Wike argued that he had failed to deliver significant votes in Rivers across successive election cycles despite holding high-profile positions.
“He has never won a presidential election after 2011 when I was the Director of Campaign. Never! He was the Director-General of Buhari in 2015 when he was governor; why did he not get 25%?
“He was the DG in 2019 when he was a Super Minister; why did he not get 25%? He supported Atiku in 2023; how come he didn’t get 15%?” he queried.
Wike also accused Amaechi of political inconsistency, noting his earlier condemnation of the ADC primaries as corrupt before going on to participate in the same process.
“This was the same man, just one month ago, who said the ADC primary was manual, irregular, and corrupt.
“How can we talk about removing a government that we are saying there is no election, and then we are in another election? The same man now is benefiting from the corruption, from irregularities of the same system,” he said.
He further pointed to Amaechi’s opposition to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid as reasons the South South region would reject his national ambitions.
“A South-South person wanted to go for a second term. You were proud you kicked him out. Now, will South-South be happy for you to be Vice President? You think that people have forgotten?” Wike asked.
Contrasting his administration’s record with that of his predecessors in Rivers State, the minister cited infrastructural projects such as the Bonny Road as evidence of unprecedented federal attention to Rivers State.
“Never in the history of Rivers State, from 1999, of those who claimed to be very close to the President, have we had the type of attention that Rivers State has now,” he said.
‘Rivers coalition spreading like wildfire’
The former Rivers State governor said a broad coalition spanning the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; the All Progressives Congress, APC; the Labour Party, LP; the Action Alliance, AA, and other groups had resolved to work together in the state’s interest while backing Tinubu’s re-election, with candidates fielded across parties for the House of Assembly and National Assembly.
“Today, we have PDP, APC, Labour Party, AA all together. Whoever emerges should not be seen as APC or PDP; the person should be seen as the coalition’s candidate,” he said, adding that the arrangement was “spreading like wildfire” across Rivers.
He dismissed suggestions that the coalition was designed to strengthen any single party, insisting the goal was development for Rivers State.
“If Rivers State is relevant because projects are coming and people are benefiting from government, then I am satisfied.
“It is not about personal ambition; it is about the interest of the state,” he said, pointing to his years in politics since 1999 and recalling what he described as an unprecedented deployment of federal force against him during the 2019 governorship election.
“I saw what federal might means. Military personnel came with battalions as if Rivers State was at war. We survived it by the grace of God and fought back,” he said.
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