The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has mocked the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, for claiming he does not need to campaign in Rivers State, warning that the former governor should not cry foul when he loses at the polls.
Wike made the remark on Saturday during the presidential campaign rally for President Bola Tinubu at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
According to a report by Metrowatchxtra, Wike told the crowd: “Your Excellency, yesterday I overheard somebody on News Central, who was ranting that we are worried and that’s why we are campaigning every day, that he does not get worried because he is very popular and he doesn’t need to campaign” .
“So, let it be on record that the vice-presidential candidate of ADC has told the world that he does not need to campaign in Rivers State; let it not be tomorrow, he will say that he campaigned and the election was rigged, he did not campaign, and nobody is going to vote for him” .
Wike also challenged Amaechi’s political record, referencing a past statement where the former governor defined brotherhood in politics.
“Remember in 2023, that the same vice-presidential candidate defined who your brother is and said, ‘your brother is a man who identifies with you when you are in trouble, and he said brotherhood in politics has nothing to do with blood relationship.’ Now, who is our brother now? So our brother is Bola Tinubu because he identifies with the people of Rivers State” .
The remarks are the latest in a bitter war of words between Wike and his predecessor. The two men have clashed repeatedly since the campaign season began, with Wike accusing Amaechi of financial impropriety during his tenure as Rivers governor.
Wike has alleged that Amaechi spent N14 billion on mosquito fumigation, paid N53 billion for a specialist hospital that was never built, and sold the Omoku gas turbine for N419 billion.
In October, Wike warned that Amaechi would find it difficult to campaign in Rivers if he continued to make inflammatory comments against Tinubu, saying: “If he continues this line, it will be difficult for him to campaign in Rivers. We will not take that. If security agencies and INEC can fold their hands, that’s their business, but we will not allow it”.
The ADC has repeatedly dismissed Wike’s threats, insisting that Rivers State is not his private estate and that Amaechi does not need his permission to campaign.
In a statement issued by the party’s Rivers State Publicity Secretary, Chizy Eneyi, the ADC said: “Difficult to campaign? Since when did Rivers State become a private estate requiring the permission of Nyesom Wike before citizens can exercise their constitutional rights? Rivers State belongs to Rivers people, not to any individual, however powerful he imagines himself to be”.
The party also questioned why Wike, who served as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff and later governed Rivers for eight years, had not pursued prosecution if he truly had evidence of wrongdoing.
“Television studios are not courtrooms, political insults are not evidence, and shouting allegations into microphones does not amount to securing a conviction,” the ADC said .
While Wike focused his fire on Amaechi at the rally, his broader political offensive has also targeted other opposition figures.
He has dismissed the NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, declaring that the “Obi wave is dead and buried” and that Obi is only fit to be “president of social media”.
Wike also ruled out the possibility of a run-off in the 2027 presidential election, asking: “Run where? Run-off between who and who?”
