Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Hon. Sam Soni Ejekwu, has been conferred with a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree at the 36th Combined Convocation Ceremony of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), marking a rare moment where political ambition and academic pursuit converge on the same podium.
Ejekwu was among 438 doctoral degree recipients celebrated during the convocation held from June 5 to 6, 2026, at the new M&W Convocation Arena in Choba, Rivers State. The university graduated a total of 8,156 students, including 5,822 first degree recipients, 510 postgraduate diploma graduates, and 1,386 master's degree recipients, according to Vice Chancellor Professor Owunari Georgewill. Among the first degree recipients, 120 students bagged First Class honours.
The ceremony featured a convocation lecture delivered by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, who spoke on “Leadership and Infrastructure Development in Nigeria: Lessons for Future Leaders.” Wike urged graduating students to embrace leadership as a platform for service rather than personal enrichment. “Leadership is service. It is not an avenue for self-glorification, but a covenant with the people,” Wike told the audience. He warned that corruption, abuse of office, and self-interest have weakened institutions and slowed national development. “The true leader does not ask, ‘What do I gain from this office?’ but rather, ‘What do the people gain from my stewardship?’” he added.
Ejekwu’s emergence as a doctoral graduate comes just weeks after he was announced as the PDP’s consensus governorship candidate for the 2027 election. The former Rivers State Commissioner for Transport was declared the party’s candidate on May 25, 2026, by an electoral committee headed by Tajudeen Yusuf after affirmation votes from local government areas across the state, according to multiple news reports. PDP Publicity Secretary in Rivers State, Dr Kenneth Yowika, confirmed that Ejekwu was the sole aspirant in a process described as peaceful and transparent.
Ejekwu, who hails from Port Harcourt City Local Government Area in the Ikwerre axis of the state, served twice as Caretaker Chairman of Port Harcourt Local Government Area. He also served as Commissioner for Transportation and later as Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs under the administration of former Governor Nyesom Wike. He previously served as PDP Vice-Chairman for Rivers South-East.
The political context surrounding Ejekwu’s candidacy is significant. He is a known ally of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, who has been described as the political powerhouse behind the “Rainbow Coalition” – an alliance of different parties working for the reelection of President Bola Tinubu and the emergence of Wike-backed candidates across Rivers State. With Ejekwu as the PDP candidate and Hon. Kingsley Chinda as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), both major parties in Rivers State are now led by Wike loyalists.
Ejekwu’s Doctor of Public Health degree adds an academic credential to his political resume. His public health advocacy has previously been documented. In April 2026, he partnered with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Rivers State Chapter to organize a free health outreach in Port Harcourt communities. In January 2025, Dez Mayorz quoted him praising Wike’s infrastructural achievements in Rivers State, describing him as a “political tsunami who did a lot of unbelievable projects, like 10 flyovers in a few years with the available allocation he received.”
The convocation ceremony also had its share of institutional challenges. Vice Chancellor Georgewill disclosed that UNIPORT still struggles with land encroachment, funding shortages, hostel accommodation deficits, need for more staff quarters, internal roads, streetlights, a new central administrative building, and fencing of the university. He expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for his Renewed Hope Initiatives in tertiary education, stating that UNIPORT remains a beneficiary institution of those interventions.
For the academic community, Ejekwu’s dual identity as a politician and a doctoral graduate may provoke questions about the intersection of scholarship and partisan politics. For his supporters, the achievement is straightforward: a man seeking the highest political office in the state now holds the highest academic degree from his alma mater. Either way, when Ejekwu campaigns across Rivers State in the coming months, he will do so as “Dr.” – a title he earned not from a political party, but from the university that trained him.
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