Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has challenged former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi to identify a single election he has won in Rivers State since the two politicians parted ways in 2011.
Wike issued the challenge on Saturday, October 3, 2026, during an interactive meeting with the Uzugbani Ekpeye National Executive Council, leaders and stakeholders from Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Government Areas at Ekpeye House in Ahoada, Rivers State.
The latest exchange is part of a renewed political confrontation between the two former allies as politicians and political groups position themselves ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
Wike’s remarks came a day after Amaechi appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where the former governor and former Minister of Transportation criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu over its record of infrastructure delivery.
During the television interview on Friday, October 2, Amaechi challenged the Federal Government to identify a major project it had completed since taking office in 2023. He compared the administration’s record with that of former President Muhammadu Buhari, under whom Amaechi served as Minister of Transportation.
Amaechi cited the Abuja-Kaduna railway as an example of a major project completed during Buhari’s first term and argued that the current administration should be able to point to comparable achievements.
He also criticised the Tinubu administration over the rising cost of living and alleged that corruption was more pronounced under the present government than under Buhari. Amaechi denied that he was involved in corruption during his time in government.
Wike responded by turning Amaechi’s challenge back on him, asking the former governor and his supporters to examine his own political and administrative record in Rivers State.
“Since I left him in 2011, after 2011, mention one election that he has ever won in Rivers State,” Wike said.
The minister was referring to the breakdown of his political relationship with Amaechi after years in which the two worked closely within Rivers State politics.
Wike played a prominent role in Amaechi’s political rise. He served as Director-General of Amaechi’s 2011 re-election campaign, which secured another term for Amaechi as Rivers governor.
Amaechi had previously become governor through a Supreme Court decision in 2007 after he was declared the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in circumstances that prevented his name from appearing on the ballot. He was subsequently elected governor in the 2011 governorship election.
The relationship between the two men later deteriorated. Wike eventually succeeded Amaechi as Rivers governor in 2015, defeating the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in that election. Wike was re-elected in 2019.
Wike’s latest comments therefore focus on Amaechi’s political influence in Rivers after their alliance ended. His argument is that Amaechi has not secured an electoral victory in the state since their political split, despite later serving as a senior federal minister and occupying influential positions within the APC.
Amaechi, who is now the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 election, is seeking a return to the centre of national politics. His emergence as the ADC running mate to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has brought him back into direct political competition with allies of President Tinubu, including Wike.
Wike has recently positioned himself as a leading supporter of Tinubu’s 2027 re-election effort through the Rainbow Coalition. He has repeatedly questioned whether Amaechi and other ADC figures can deliver Rivers State for their party.
At Saturday’s meeting, however, Wike went beyond Amaechi’s electoral record and questioned projects and spending associated with the former governor’s eight-year administration in Rivers State.
He specifically raised questions about the Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Specialist Hospital, a project initiated under Amaechi. Wike referred to a reported payment of about $39.2 million to a contractor and questioned why the hospital was not completed.
The issue is not new. A judicial commission of inquiry established by the Rivers State Government during Wike’s administration previously examined the payment and the circumstances surrounding the stalled hospital project. Amaechi had challenged the commission and criticised the inquiry at the time.
Wike also questioned the fate of the Rivers State monorail, another major infrastructure project initiated under Amaechi. The minister referred to the project as costing about N68 billion and asked what became of the investment.
He further raised questions about a malaria-control and fumigation programme involving Cuban partners, alleging that $10 million was spent on the initiative. Wike used the issue rhetorically to question whether the programme had achieved its intended purpose.
The minister also attacked Amaechi’s record in relation to the Ekpeye area, noting that the former governor spent eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, eight years as governor and eight years as Minister of Transportation.
Wike asked residents to identify what he described as tangible development or political empowerment Amaechi brought to the area during those 24 years in prominent public positions.
The exchange comes as Rivers State becomes an increasingly important battleground ahead of the 2027 elections. Amaechi is now part of the ADC presidential campaign, while Wike remains influential within the political coalition supporting Tinubu.
The two politicians have frequently exchanged accusations since their alliance collapsed, with their disagreements often extending beyond personal rivalry into competing claims about governance, infrastructure, elections and political influence in Rivers State.
For now, neither side has indicated that the dispute is likely to end. Wike is using Amaechi’s electoral record and projects from his tenure as governor to challenge his credibility, while Amaechi continues to criticise the Federal Government and present the ADC as an alternative ahead of the 2027 contest.
Wike’s latest question remains direct: identify one election won in Rivers State since their political separation in 2011. With the next general election approaching, the answer—or Amaechi’s response—could become another flashpoint in the increasingly heated political contest over Rivers State.
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