PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has launched a sharp political critique against his predecessor and vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, declaring that voters in Rivers State will reject the ADC ticket and deliver their mandate to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, political leaders confirmed on Saturday, September 5, 2026.
The remarks reignite the long-standing rivalry between the two former Rivers State governors, occurring on the same weekend both political heavyweights converged in the oil-rich state for the final funeral ceremonies of Amaechi’s late mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah-Amaechi.
Okay News reports that Wike invoked Amaechi’s own political rhetoric from the buildup to the 2015 elections, recalling how the former transportation minister justified defecting from the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party to support Muhammadu Buhari against then-President Goodluck Jonathan by defining brotherhood through shared alignment rather than biological origin.
Addressing political stakeholders, Wike argued that the same definition must now be applied against Amaechi’s current vice-presidential ambitions alongside ADC presidential flagbearer Atiku Abubakar.
“In 2014, Amaechi defined who a brother is. Other speakers didn’t want to call his name. Well, I have the capacity to call his name all the time,” Wike said. “Amaechi defined a brother as one who identifies with us in terms of problems. He said brotherhood is not blood relation. So, we are going to copy that definition for the 2027 presidential election.”
The FCT minister questioned Amaechi’s stewardship during his nearly eight-year tenure as Minister of Transportation under the Buhari administration, contending that the former governor failed to direct major federal legacy infrastructure to his home state.
“Amaechi said Jonathan never cared for us and that Buhari was our brother because he would identify with us,” Wike stated. “If that’s the case, he now wants to run for Vice President. When he was minister, what did he do for us? Rather, he took the transportation university to Daura in Katsina State, thinking that it would make him president. Did they make him president?”
Contrasting that record with the current federal administration, Wike argued that President Tinubu has actively addressed long-standing demands in Rivers State by ensuring prominent indigenous academic appointments to head tertiary institutions in the Niger Delta.
“Now, Asiwaju has identified with us. Our sons are now Vice Chancellors of the University of Port Harcourt and the newly established University of Environment, which Amaechi denied us,” Wike added. “That means Tinubu is our brother, and we have adopted him as our brother. So, we are going to follow Amaechi’s definition and vote President Tinubu over him and the ADC.”
The verbal duel underscores the intense battle for supremacy over Rivers State’s substantial voting bloc, with opposition coalitions and ruling party loyalists actively competing to consolidate grassroots machinery across the Niger Delta ahead of the next nationwide electoral cycle.
