Rivers, South South Will Pay Amaechi Back For His Betrayal Of Jonathan In 2015 – Wike

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said that the Presidential running mate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Rotimi Amaechi , does not have what it takes to sway votes in Rivers State and South South region.

This is as he maintained that Amaechi’s betrayal and frustration of the second term ambition of former president Goodluck Jonathan will surely hunt him both in Rivers State and the South South region ahead of the 2027 elections.

At his monthly media chat on Tuesday, Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers state, while questioning the selection of Amaechi as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 polls, insisted that the immediate past Minister of Transportation does not have any political value in Rivers state.

According to him, the only variable that could have informed the decision to pick Amaechi as a presidential running mate is money for campaign and not expectation of votes from the people of Rivers state.

The FCT Minister emphasized that after leading the battle that prevented Jonathan from securing a second term in office in 2015, Amaechi should not expect the people of Rivers State and South South region to reward him in 2027 with their votes.

His words: “Jonathan, your brother from the South South, wanted a second term, but you boldly came out and kicked him out.

“Now you want Rivers and South South people to kick you in”.

He maintained that Amaechi is bound to reap the political fruits he sowed in Rivers State and the South South region.

This is as he described as politically unrealistic the choice of Amaechi as the ADC presidential running mate, noting that he does not have the political strength and  goodwill to attract votes both in Rivers state and the South South region.

” If you are choosing a vice-presidential candidate, the only factor that may have been considered in settling for Rotimi Amaechi by the ADC may be financial, because he does not have the capacity to deliver votes”, the FCT Minister added.

According to him, Amaechi has never known to have control over the electorate or won elections in Rivers state   since 2015 , even with the full compliment of federal might.

Wike noted that as the Director -General of Buhari campaign Organization and as a sitting Governor, with all the instruments of state power at his disposal, Amaechi could not deliver even 25 percent votes to late President Mohammadu Buhari both in 2015 and 2019.

“He ( Amaechi) has never won an election after 2011 when I was Director of Campaigns. He was Buhari’s DG Campaign in 2015 when he was Governor, yet they didn’t secure 25 percent of votes in Rivers state.

“In 2019, he was still DG and super Minister, but couldn’t deliver 25 percent votes. In 2023, he supported Atiku, and they still couldn’t get up to 15 percent of votes in Rivers State”, Wike noted.

He stated that Amaechi does not have any political goodwill in Rivers State, adding that he can not point to landmark Federal projects that he  attracted to the State throughout his eight-year tenure as a super Minister under late President Buhari’s administration.

The FCT Minister equally derided Amaechi for going back to his vomit ,by accepting the Vice presidential slot after his initial braggadocio.

He expressed surprise and shock that after criticizing the conduct of the ADC presidential primaries, as well as telling the whole world that he was not contesting to become Vice president, Amaechi still happily accepted to be Atiku’s running mate.

However, not a few have argued that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu played a more potent and decisive role in shoving Jonathan out of office in 2015.

Although Amaechi served as the DG Campaign, Tinubu is strongly believed to have not only provided a substantial part of the financial war chest that oiled the  APC campaign in 2015, but mobilized South West votes against Jonathan.

Ironically, while Wike vilifies Amaechi for his alleged role in ousting Jonathan, he has on the other hand gone ahead to form what he described as” Rainbow Coalition” to drum Rivers State and South South region support for Tinubu ,” a co-conspirator” in the Jonathan-must-go project.