By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that the late Chief Daniel Orbih turned down every inducement from the then Governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, to withdraw his support for Wike’s governorship ambition.
Wike spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at a night of tributes in honour of Orbih, the former National Vice-Chairman (South South) of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, who died on August 31 at the age of 64.
“There was nothing in this world that was not done to induce him. My governor then sent people to Dan, offered him everything in this world, but Dan stood firm and said, ‘No, I will not accept, I will not agree,'” the minister said.
Wike traced their bond to the turbulent period between 2013 and 2014, when he said political adversaries made desperate attempts to derail his ambition.
“Today I am a Minister of the FCT; yesterday I was a governor. Who did God use for me to become governor? It was Dan,” he said.
He said Orbih, as South South National Vice-Chairman of the PDP, backed his campaign by donating two bulletproof Mercedes-Benz buses for his security and mobilising massive structural support across the region.
The minister also spoke of Orbih’s selflessness, saying the late politician never sought personal gain, patronage or government contracts throughout Wike’s eight years as governor.
“Dan is not a typical Nigerian politician. Throughout my eight years as governor, he never came for one day, either by phone or coming to my house to say, ‘I need this contract.’ Never,” he said.
According to Wike, loyalty ran in Orbih’s family. “The only way I can identify a politician that is reliable is when that politician has stood in times of crisis. Loyalty, commitment to friendship, and being a brother’s keeper run in Dan’s family,” he said.
Wike stressed that without Orbih’s strength as National Vice-Chairman protecting the region’s interests, many current national and state lawmakers would not have attained their positions.
He noted that Orbih laid the foundation for cross-party collaboration in Edo State and supported many politicians there without benefiting from it. He insisted that Orbih deserves a state burial for his contribution to political developments in Edo and urged stakeholders from the state to act on it.
“I will continue to keep my relationship with Dan’s family. I think I will also discuss with the family on how to keep the legacies of Dan,” Wike said.
Senator Magnus Abe, Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said he is a politician today because Orbih introduced him to politics.
“I was the Director General of his first campaign in the United Nigeria Congress Party, when he ran for governor and I went everywhere in Edo with him.
“Dan was indeed a bridge builder par excellence. We are gathered here today not because Dan is dead. We are gathered because of the life that he lived and that life impacted all of us in so many different ways,” Abe said.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North in the Senate and is a former Governor of Edo State, said Orbih made him a better governor.
“So my happiness today is that Dan and I, whatever our political differences we might have had, the truth is, Dan made me a better governor.
“So, when I’m making a decision, the first thing I’ll ask is, ‘If this goes out today, what is Dan Orbih going to say?’ Each time I abstain from doing something because of what the opposition led by Dan will interpret to the people, before I do it will be better prepared.
“That is why I say Dan helped me to be a better governor,” he said.
He thanked Wike for reuniting him with Orbih after a prolonged political difference.
“It was right at Wike’s residence in Port Harcourt that Dan and I started hugging,” Oshiomhole said.
Addressing the family, he said: “Please take consolation from the fact that your father built bridges of unity, of progress, and he never did that at the expense of family and he was committed to the growth and development of Ogbona kingdom.”
The PDP presidential candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, described Orbih as “a profound public intellectual, a quintessential lover of Edo people, a defender of Edo heritage, a Nigerian patriot and a social colossus.”
“Dan was a great man by every measure, a true family man, a great husband, and a worthy father,” he said.
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