- Amaechi’s public appearance diminished after losing the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu in 2022 and later went into political hibernation and self-imposed oblivion after the latter won the presidential election in 2023.
The build-up to the 2027 elections is hotting up across the country and so are the political intrigues, uncertainty, tension and power play. The mending of broken political fences, the forging of new alliances, the reopening of festering political wounds of yore and the reignition of old animosity and rivalry have all characterised and shaped the latest discourse about political happenings in the country.
The former governor of Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi and his successor, Nyesom Wike, have been in the news in recent days. They have been having a public spat that dredges up the long-standing and pent-up mutual resentment they harbour towards each other as they both seek to show that they still matter in the grand scheme of things.
Amaechi’s public appearance diminished after losing the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu in 2022 and later went into political hibernation and self-imposed oblivion after the latter won the presidential election in 2023. Speculation began to spread about his membership of the APC after his absence from major events organised by the party. However, his resurfacing and his public rhetoric in recent days have since put to bed the speculation regarding his continued stay in the APC.
While the former minister of transport has left no one in doubt as to where his political allegiance now lies as he has ditched the APC and is now part of a coalition of opposition parties who are seeking to unseat Tinubu, his adversary, Wike, despite being a member of the opposition PDP has made it known to anyone who cares to listen that he is strongly backing President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking at a public lecture in Abuja titled “Weaponization of Poverty” to mark his 60th birthday, Amaechi expressed his displeasure at the state had said he and Nigerians were hungry.
He said at the event: “We are all hungry. All of us are. If you are not hungry, I am. So, for us the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power (Tinubu), we can remove him from this power.”
Amaechi’s claims that he and Nigerians were hungry drew the ire of Wike, and during his monthly media briefing on Monday, disclosed that the former Minister of Transportation was not lacking.
Wike, who noted that Amaechi and the opposition coalition were only hungry for power, recalled how the former Minister once said he did not like money.
In 2017, Amaechi, while noting that he wasn’t corrupt and didn’t like money, had said: “Is my honesty in doubt? I have told Nigerians, and I repeat to Nigerians today, that I am not corrupt, and I don’t like money. I am not one swayed by money. I have lived a character that most Nigerians can tell you.”
Alluding to Amaechi’s past statement, Wike said “We have no time to listen to nonsense in Nigeria. I don’t understand why a man like Amaechi would choose his 60th birthday to lie to Nigerians about being hungry.
“He was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, Governor from 2007 to 2015, and Minister from 2015 to 2023. He never spoke about hunger during those years.
“Now they are regrouping. They are only hungry for power. This shows his failure. How can you trivialise the issue of hunger? He joined Atiku and claimed hunger. He cannot stay out of power. From 1999 to 2023, Amaechi stood before Nigerians and claimed hunger.”
In his response to Wike, Amaechi described the FCT minister as a child.
Appearing on Arise TV, Amaechi said: “I wanted him (Wike) as chief of staff so I could supervise him. Adoke flew all the way from Abuja to Port Harcourt. Wike asked me to make him the Commissioner for Finance, and I said no, he has to work under me so that I can supervise him.
“I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children. You know, he made himself chief of staff. He made himself governor. He made himself a minister. He made himself local government chairman.”
Origin of Wike, Amaechi rift
After years of friendly and cordial relationship, the duo fell out in 2012, starting a decade-long cutthroat power tussle and a political adversary that continues to this day.
Amaechi is from Ubima in the Ikwerre Local Council Area, while Wike is from Rumueprikon in Obio/Akpor Local Council, all from the Ikwerre area of Rivers State.
Upon return to democracy in 1999, which ushered the fourth republic after 18 years of unbroken military, Wike was elected as chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government.
Many were taken aback when Amaechi decided to make Wike his Chief of Staff and also nominated him as a minister during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
But what many did not know at the was that Amaechi’s seeming and outward show of preference and favour to Wike was not out of the goodness of his heart or that he particularly liked and trusted Wike. His actions then, especially the selection of Wike for plum government jobs, were necessitated by the role Wike played in Amaechi’s emergence as Rivers governor.
Wike was said to have gone all out and was at the forefront of the fierce battle that led to Amaechi’s return as governor of Rivers State by the Supreme Court and also fended off political foes in and outside Rivers who wanted to derail Amaechi’s government and destabilise the State under him.
Reactions trail the latest face-off between Wike and Amaechi
The bickering between the duo has sparked a flurry of reaction.
Commenting on the face-off, lawyer, activist and socio-economic and political commentator Abdul Mahmud said the duo were being economical with the truth about what actually transpired between them.
He said “None is telling the truth between Amaechi and Wike. The truth will expose how the Supreme Court judgment was secured- which will expose the insidious Selectorate @Odinkalu wrote about, exposing CJN Katsina-Alu. Who procured the money? Who delivered it?
“Amaechi knew nothing about how he became the Supreme Court governor. It was only natural that Wike, who facilitated it, became the powerful Chief of Staff until local intrigues began in PH – a triangular struggle for influence: Amaechi/Wike/Abe. And their coterie of yes-men”
He added that Amaechi was not oblivious to the high-stake politicking, dangerous gamesmanship and vicious manoeuvring that characterised his return as Rivers governor.
Speaking further, he disclosed that “Amaechi isn’t telling the whole truth. He knows how he became governor. His fate was sealed by Obasanjo and Odilli. He knows how power was ready to abandon Omehia and how he was asked to abandon his governorship pursuit and recommend someone instead. Who did he recommend? Wike
“He knows how Wike declined. He knows why they decided to move him to Ghana from the battles in Nigeria. He knows what went down before he won at the Supreme Court. All four were responsible for the collapse of friendship: Abe, Amaechi’s wife, Amaechi & Wike. Due to intrigues and pettiness!”
Former presidential spokesman and Arise Television’s anchor, Reuben Abati accused Wike of being rude to the former Minister of Transportation because the latter is his boss in politics.
Abati said: “I think that Nyesom Wike is very rude and disrespectful because Rotimi Amaechi is his boss in politics.
“When he was a local government chairman or was a councillor during Amaechi’s second term, it was Rotimi Amaechi that helped him to become local government chairman.”
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