…Says Wike was a mere errand boy in government house
ABUJA — The political gladiators from Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and Rotimi Amaechi, are back in the ring — and this round is personal, brutal, and revealing.
During a public event in Abuja earlier this week, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, declared that he was the political force behind Amaechi’s rise to power, saying
“I made Amaechi governor. If not for me, he would have been nowhere. I stood by him when everyone abandoned him. But some people forget too quickly.”
The statement triggered a political tremor — and the response was swift, sharp, and unfiltered.
Rotimi Amaechi, Nigeria’s former Minister of Transportation, fired back live on Arise TV Prime Time on Tuesday night, dismissing Wike’s claims as laughable and historically dishonest.
“Wike was just a Chief of Staff in my government — a glorified personal assistant,” Amaechi said during the explosive interview. “He’s rewriting history because power has gotten to his head. If anything, I made Wike politically relevant. He was a local player until I brought him to the big stage.”
Amaechi, visibly calm but firm, added:
“I was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years. I became Governor not by his making but through the law and the courts. Wike was running errands and struggling for political visibility under my leadership.”
In the same interview, Amaechi dismissed Wike’s governance style as “theatrics and media drama without substance”, insisting that the FCT Minister’s obsession with his political past was a sign of insecurity and desperation.
“He keeps talking about me because that’s the only name that gives him relevance. The truth is, if I sneeze today in Rivers politics, Wike will catch cold,” Amaechi said pointedly.
The decades-old rivalry between the two former allies has long defined the volatile political terrain of Rivers State. What began as a close alliance in the early 2000s turned into a bitter war after Amaechi defected to the APC, and Wike emerged as the PDP’s strongman in Rivers.
Wike’s recent claim and Amaechi’s daring response on national television have now reignited speculations of a potential 2027 political showdown between the two, either directly or through loyal proxies.
With both men holding key national appointments and refusing to back down, the question in political circles remains: Who really made who — and who will outlast who?
One thing is clear: the Wike-Amaechi drama is far from over, and Nigerians are watching.
