ABUJA — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, has launched a scathing rhetorical assault on his long-standing political rival and former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, over his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election under the banner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Speaking during an interactive session with senior political editors at his office in Abuja yesterday, Wike described Amaechi’s migration to the third-force platform as a “fruitless political experiment.” He asserted that if his old adversary had sought his counsel, he would have saved him from an imminent and embarrassing electoral defeat.
The “Third Force” Mirage
The comments follow the high-profile submission of expression of interest and nomination forms at the ADC national secretariat by both Amaechi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, setting up a titanic battle for the minority party’s ticket.
Wike, who continues to wield immense leverage across multiple party lines while anchoring his current loyalty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election machinery, stated that the APC and the fractured PDP remain the only viable highways to national power in Nigeria.
“If my former governor had asked me, I would have told him clearly: do not waste your time and resources on that platform,” Wike said, with characteristic hand gestures. “Nigerian politics has outgrown the sentiment of running to a relatively minor party every time you lose out in the major leagues. The ADC cannot win a local government election consistently across three geopolitical zones, let alone a presidential election against a consolidated incumbent. It is an exercise in political irrelevance.”
Reopening Old Wounds
The friction between Wike and Amaechi is structural and generational, dating back to their shared history in the Rivers State Government House. Wike served as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff during his first term as governor before their spectacular fallout prior to the 2015 elections, which saw Wike seize the governorship under the PDP while Amaechi migrated north to lead Muhammadu Buhari’s APC campaign.
Reflecting on Amaechi’s claims that the ADC represents the true “salvation” for Nigerians dissatisfied with current economic realities, the FCT Minister dismissed the narrative as hypocritical. He reminded reporters of the outcome of the 2022 APC presidential primary, where Amaechi finished a distant second to President Tinubu.
“When you lose an open, democratic primary contest, you stay inside the house to rebuild or you accept the will of the majority,” Wike argued. “You don’t pick up your bags, run to a fringe party, and suddenly declare that you are the savior of the masses. The electorate reads between the lines. They know the difference between genuine national vision and mere political desperation.”
The Power Base Challenge
Wike also brushed off warnings from the ADC hierarchy that an opposition coalition blending Amaechi’s South-South structure with Atiku’s northern loyalists would unseat the current administration.
The Minister boldly declared that Rivers State—the historic theater of their proxy wars—remains firmly locked down under his administrative and political influence, leaving Amaechi with no home base to leverage at the national negotiating table. He concluded by challenging the ADC to test its popularity in the upcoming off-cycle elections before dreaming of the presidency.
