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Amaechi Replies Wike, Says I Don’t Join Issues with Children
Former Minister of Transport, and two-term Governor of Rivers State, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has rebutted recent remarks by his immediate successor-turned-political rival, Mr. Nyesom Wike, saying Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was never offered the position of Commissioner for Finance, and rose politically by his own machinations.
Amaechi, who was speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, dismissed claims attributed to Wike that he had declined appointment as finance commissioner.
Amaechi offered a series of clarifications and critiques, signaling a widening rift between the two Rivers State political giants.
He said, “I wanted him (Wike) as Chief of Staff so I could supervise him.
“Mohammed Adoke flew all the way from Abuja to Port Harcourt. That week he asked me to make him commissioner for finance and I said no, he has to work under me. I want him as chief of staff so I can supervise him.
“I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance. You see, I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children. I was once his boss. Whether he likes it or not. I hired him. I could have said no.
“You know, he made himself chief of staff. He made himself governor. He made himself minister. He made himself local government chairman”, he disclosed.
“I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance,” he insisted.
He also defended his own emergence as governor, stating “Nobody made me governor. I went to court. At the end of the day, the judiciary pronounced me governor.” He credited Dr. Peter Odili and the Nigerian judiciary for their roles in his political ascent, maintaining his enduring respect for the former Rivers governor.
Amaechi used the occasion to highlight his record as governor, from building multiple flyovers and schools “copied from the ones I saw in Australia,” to establishing fully residential secondary schools, equipping hospitals, and implementing a free education program that drove many students from private to public schools. He said 400 doctors were hired during his tenure, cars and housing were provided for rural medical staff, and infrastructure projects—including a sports village and a mother and child hospital—were initiated but have since been abandoned.
“That gives me mental disorder,” Amaechi said emotionally, blaming successive administrations for the neglect. “Projects that would make a real difference in the lives of Rivers people have been vandalised and forgotten.”
As Minister of Transportation, he recounted completing or initiating several landmark projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan railway, Lekki deep sea port, Kaduna-Abuja railway, and the Port Harcourt-Kano line. “Don’t give me an assignment if you don’t want it done,” he stated firmly.
On party politics, Amaechi reiterated his disillusionment with both the APC and PDP, stating he will no longer work for either. Despite playing a key role in the APC’s rise to power between 2013 and 2015, he now distances himself from its current direction and leadership. While he expressed appreciation to former President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunities to serve, he criticised the state of governance, the electoral system, and growing poverty, accusing political elites of “weaponising poverty.”
He also criticised the current INEC chairman and the inability of Nigeria’s electoral system to support new political parties, contrasting it with the more transparent process under former INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega in 2015. “Now, it’s state capture using the electoral institution as a machine,” he warned.
In one of the more reflective moments of the interview, Amaechi addressed questions about his ethnic identity, saying his public assertion of being Igbo was political—”in protest” against the treatment of Igbos at a particular time. He challenged those who questioned his identity, saying his community’s cultural and linguistic ties to the Igbo are undeniable.
Arise News
The Supreme Court has vacated the order of the Court of Appeal which barred the recognition of David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The apex court on Thursday held that the preservative order by the Court of Appeal was in bad faith, unnecessary, unwarranted and improper.
In a unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba held that the Court of Appeal ought not to have made such order because it was not sought by any of the parties in the matter.
The Court of Appeal had issued an order of status quo antem bellum upon which the ADC exco under David Mark was de-recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
With the vacation of the order, David Mark and the other national officers are to be recognized as ADC leaders by the electoral body.
The convention produced the Tanimu Turaki-led factional national executives of the party.
Attention has shifted to the Supreme Court, which has fixed April 30 (today) for judgment in the leadership tussle within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
A five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba will resolve the appeal filed by the David Mark-led faction concerning the authentic leadership of the party.
Also on Thursday, the court is expected to determine the leadership dispute rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Two PDP factions—one led by Kabir Turaki and the other by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—are laying claim to the leadership of the party.
The Supreme Court had on April 22 reserved judgment in the ADC crisis to a date to be communicated to the parties involved in the tussle.
However, on Tuesday, the ADC formally wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, pleading for the quick delivery of judgment in the leadership tussle at the national level.
The party claimed it would suffer irreparable harm if judgment in the protracted battle was not delivered within the period allowed by the Electoral Act for fielding candidates for the 2027 general elections.
It stated in part: “Without the delivery of judgment within the next three days from the date of this letter, the ADC stands the grave and irreversible risk of being excluded from participating in the 2027 general elections.
“This would disenfranchise millions of Nigerians who have subscribed to the ideals of the ADC and deny them their constitutional right to freely associate and contest elections through a political party of their choice.”
At the April 22 hearing, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, who represented David Mark, urged the Supreme Court to allow the appeal, arguing that the apex court had earlier, on March 21, 2025, held that “no court has jurisdiction to entertain matters bordering on the internal affairs of political parties.”
During the hearing, Okutepa urged the apex court to hold that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
However, Robert Emukperu, SAN, who represented the first respondent, Nafiu Gombe, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the judgment of the lower court, which held that the suit was premature.
It will be recalled that a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s appeal, ruling that it was premature and filed without leave of the trial court.
In the PDP matter, the first appeal, marked SC/CV/164/2026, stems from a decision of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who restrained the party from proceeding with its planned convention pending the determination of a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido.
On November 14, the court issued a final order restraining the PDP from conducting its national convention.
Justice Lifu held that Lamido was “unjustly denied” the opportunity to obtain a nomination form to contest for national chairman, in violation of the PDP constitution and internal regulations.
The Court of Appeal later upheld the decision on March 9, prompting the PDP to appeal.
The second appeal, SC/CV/166/2026, was filed by the PDP, its National Working Committee (NWC), and National Executive Committee (NEC).
It arose from a judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho, which stopped the party from holding its Ibadan national convention.
The Court of Appeal upheld that decision, agreeing that INEC should not validate the outcome of the convention.
After hearing all arguments, the Supreme Court reserved judgment, stating that the date would be communicated to the parties.
