Wike, ADC Clash Over Amaechi’s Political Value In Rivers

By IGHO OYOYO, Abuja and Anayo Onukwugha ,Port Harcourt

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State disagreed yesterday over the political value of the ADC presidential candidate, Chibuike Amaechi’s political value in Rivers State.

Speaking yesterday during his monthly media chat in Abuja, Wike, the former Rivers State governor dismissed Amaechi as a politician without electoral value.

Reacting, the ADC Chairman in Rivers State, Dr. Chukwudi Dimkpa, said Wike’s attack on Amaechi, revealed fear of a growing opposition in the country.

Amaechi, a former minister of Transportation, was Wike’s predecessor as governor in Rivers State.

The minister also launched a scathing attack on Amaechi, describing reports linking the former Rivers governor to a possible vice-presidential slot as politically unrealistic.

According to Wike, Amaechi lacks the electoral strength to attract votes either in Rivers State or across the South-South.

“If you are choosing a vice-presidential candidate, the only factor that may have been used to choose Rotimi Amaechi may be financial because the former governor lacks the capacity to deliver votes,” he said.

Wike argued that Amaechi had consistently failed to deliver electoral victories despite occupying strategic political positions, recalling that he served as Director-General of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaigns in 2015 and 2019 and later supported former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2023.

“He has never won a presidential election after 2011 when I was Director of Campaign. He was Buhari’s DG in 2015 when he was governor, yet they didn’t secure 25 per cent in Rivers. In 2019, he was still DG and a super minister but couldn’t achieve it. In 2023, he supported Atiku,…