The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that Rotimi Amaechi cannot deliver Rivers State to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 elections.
Speaking during an interview with journalists, Wike reflected on previous elections, noting that despite Amaechi’s influence and positions within the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party failed to achieve significant victories in Rivers State.
He cited the 2015 and 2019 elections, pointing out that even with federal backing when Amaechi served as director-general of the presidential campaign of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC struggled in the state.
The former Rivers governor maintained that despite what he described as “federal might” deployed during those elections, he emerged victorious, insisting that the state has remained politically resistant to such influence.
“Are we saying today, if an election is conducted in Rivers state today, that Rotimi Amaechi will deliver Rivers state to ADC?” Wike asked.
“Remember, he was a governor. When I came to run as governor, he was in the APC. Who defeated him? And he was the DG of the campaign then.
“Remember, in 2019, when I was running for my second term, he was the minister of transportation and was the DG of Buhari’s campaign.
“Of all the federal might that came, I won. The late President Buhari never got 25 percent. In 2015, he didn’t get it. In 2019, he didn’t get it. How do you now say that he will win?”
Wike also urged opposition parties to focus on strengthening their structures instead of relying on prominent political figures to influence electoral outcomes, stressing that voters ultimately determine results.
“So, we should stop saying there’s one party. So many parties have been registered. Why do you say that this party is not opposition? All other parties are there. You should encourage them to do what the opposition is supposed to do,” he said.
“I will be very glad that they are on the ballot. Let them contest the election. Let the stories be over. The only thing you hear next time is, ‘Oh, the election was rigged.’ That’s the only thing you hear. That’s the only language they will come and tell you.”
The minister also questioned the ADC’s prospects in Benue State, arguing that former Senate President David Mark, now the party’s national chairman, cannot deliver the state.
“Take, for example, Benue, where the former senate president, their so-called chairman of the party, his daughter won under APC, and he was in PDP,” he said.
“Will you now say former senate president David Mark will deliver Benue to ADC in 2027?”