Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has delivered a scathing assessment of his predecessor and political rival, Rotimi Amaechi, accusing the former Rivers State governor of spending 24 years in top public offices without attracting any tangible development or political empowerment to Evo Kingdom in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area or to Rivers State as a whole.
Speaking during an interactive session with leaders and stakeholders of Evo Kingdom on Friday, October 2, 2026, Wike challenged the people of the kingdom to point to a single project or initiative that Amaechi facilitated during his tenure as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of Transportation. “Someone was Speaker of the House of Assembly for eight years, Governor for eight years, and Minister for eight years – that is 24 years in top leadership positions! What can anybody point to that he attracted to Evo Kingdom or Rivers State in all those 24 years? Nothing! Not one single thing!” Wike said. He contrasted Amaechi’s record with his own, noting that as Minister of State for Education he could count the projects he brought to Rivers State and his people. “But somebody was Speaker, Governor, and headed a very lucrative ministry as a full Minister for eight years, yet brought nothing back home! How can someone who spent 24 years in power without empowering his people or raising new leaders now turn around to tell you he loves you?” he asked.
The FCT Minister accused Amaechi of monopolising power and deliberately preventing others from his community from attaining leadership positions. “You don’t want anybody in Obio-Akpor to be governor again because you have become governor. God will not be happy with me,” Wike said. He argued that leadership should be measured by the quality of successors and institutions left behind, warning against a system in which progress depended entirely on one individual. “What leadership, as you are leaving, what’s the leadership you have kept behind to continue with where you have stopped? Because our problem here is that you just want only yourself. When you die, everything crumbles. That is not our own case,” he said.
Wike also used the occasion to reaffirm his loyalty to President Bola Tinubu and his commitment to the administration’s re-election effort, reiterating his earlier declaration that he would resign as minister should the President lose in Rivers State and the FCT in 2027. “My interest in Rivers State is for God to use me as a vessel to help our people. I am back here not for what I will get, but for what I will be to raise my people,” he said. He dismissed claims that traditional politics or native charms could intimidate him, and recounted how his administration restructured the chieftaincy institution to give Evo Kingdom adequate representation in the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers. He told political actors in the state not to be distracted by social media criticism of his open-door policy towards former detractors, saying true political strength lies in numbers. “There is no permanent enemy in politics; what we have is permanent collective interest,” he said. “Whether you are a politician, whether you are a traditional ruler, whether you are a pastor, or whether you are a native doctor, I need everybody now. For the purpose of voting and elections, we must bring everyone together.”
The attack marks the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Wike and Amaechi that has shaped Rivers State politics for more than a decade. Amaechi served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015, and Minister of Transportation from 2015 to 2023. Wike, who succeeded Amaechi as governor, served from 2015 to 2023 before being appointed Minister of the FCT by President Tinubu. The two men were once political allies, with Wike serving as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff and later as Minister of State for Education under President Goodluck Jonathan. Their relationship soured during their time in office, and they have been bitter rivals ever since.
The feud has intensified ahead of the 2027 general elections. Amaechi is the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, running alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and is seeking to unseat President Tinubu, whom Wike is actively campaigning for. The Rivers State chapter of the ADC has repeatedly accused Wike of launching attacks on Amaechi out of fear of the growing opposition. In August, the ADC said Wike’s outbursts showed he was anxious about the strengthening opposition ahead of the 2027 polls. In September, the party accused Wike of taunting Amaechi during his mother’s burial and insisted that only the Independent National Electoral Commission can declare election results. Wike, for his part, has claimed that Amaechi would call on his supporters to boycott the 2027 presidential election before 11 a.m. on election day, a claim the ADC has rejected.
The political stakes in Rivers State are considerable. The state is one of the most consequential battlegrounds in Nigeria’s South-South, with substantial oil revenues and a complex political landscape that has been shaped by the Wike-Amaechi rivalry for more than a decade. The 2027 elections will test whether Wike’s political machinery can deliver Rivers State and the FCT for President Tinubu, and whether Amaechi can translate his position on the ADC ticket into electoral support in his home state. The latest exchange between the two men underscores the personal dimension of a political contest that will have significant implications for the national outcome.
Amaechi has not issued a direct response to Wike’s latest remarks. His campaign has consistently maintained that it will not be drawn into a war of words with the FCT Minister, and the ADC has framed Wike’s repeated attacks as evidence of desperation rather than strength. For the people of Evo Kingdom and Obio-Akpor, the exchange between two of their most prominent sons is a reminder of the depth of the division that has defined Rivers politics for a generation. Whether the 2027 elections will finally settle the score or deepen the rift remains to be seen. For now, Wike has made his position unambiguous: after 24 years in power, Amaechi brought nothing home, and the people of Rivers State deserve leaders who will leave a legacy behind.
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