Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has told the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, lacks the capacity to deliver Rivers State to the party.
He made the assertion on Friday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, while interacting with journalists.
While stressing that the ADC chieftain cannot win the state for the party in the forthcoming 2027 general elections, Wike referenced past elections in which Amaechi was defeated.
He argued that despite having federal backing as Director-General of the presidential campaign for former President Muhammadu Buhari, Amaechi failed to deliver Rivers to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 and 2019 elections.
Wike added that even with what he described as “federal might” deployed during those polls, he still won the governorship elections in the state.
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According to the FCT minister, the oil-rich state is politically resistant to such projections.
“Are we saying today, if an election is conducted in Rivers State, that Rotimi Amaechi will deliver Rivers State to the ADC?” Wike asked.
“Remember, he was a governor. When I came to run as governor, he was in the APC. Who defeated him? And he was the DG of the campaign then.
“Remember, in 2019, when I was running for my second term, he was the Minister of Transportation and was the DG of Buhari’s campaign.”
Wike also challenged the ADC’s prospects nationally, stating that former Senate President David Mark—now the party’s National Chairman—cannot deliver his home state of Benue.
“Take, for example, Benue, where the former Senate President, their so-called chairman of the party… his daughter won under the APC, and he was in the PDP,” the former Rivers governor added.