Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike on Wednesday night declared that the late Chief Daniel Orbih was the divine instrument that secured his path to the Rivers State governorship in 2015.
Speaking at a night of tributes for Orbih, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Vice-Chairman (South South) who died on August 31 at 64, Wike laid bare the fierce political battles of 2013–2014.
“Today I am a Minister of the FCT; yesterday I was a governor. Who did God use for me to become governor? It was Dan,” Wike said.
He revealed that the then Rivers governor and other powerful opponents threw everything at Orbih including money, pressure, inducements of every kind — to force him to abandon Wike’s ambition. Orbih refused.
“There was nothing in this world that was not done to induce him. My governor then sent people to Dan, offered him everything in this world, but Dan stood firm and said, ‘No, I will not accept, I will not agree.’”
As South South National Vice-Chairman, Orbih threw his weight behind Wike’s campaign. He donated two bulletproof Mercedes-Benz buses for security and mobilised massive structural support across the region.
Wike described the late politician as a rare breed. Throughout his eight years as Rivers governor, Orbih never once asked for a contract, favour or personal gain.
“Dan is not a typical Nigerian politician. Throughout my eight years as governor, he never came for one day either by phone or coming to my house to say, ‘I need this contract.’ Never.”
Loyalty, Wike said, ran in Orbih’s blood. “The only way I can identify a politician that is reliable is when that politician has stood in times of crisis. Loyalty, commitment to friendship, and being a brother’s keeper run in Dan’s family.”
Without Orbih’s firm grip on the South South structure, many current national and state lawmakers would not be in office today, the minister insisted.
He also credited Orbih with laying the foundation for cross-party collaboration in Edo State, support that never translated into personal benefit for the late leader.
Wike called for a state burial for Orbih and pledged to work with the family to preserve his legacies.
Senator Magnus Abe, Chairman of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said Orbih introduced him to politics.
Abe served as Director-General of Orbih’s first gubernatorial campaign under the United Nigeria Congress Party and travelled the length of Edo with him.
“Dan was indeed a bridge builder par excellence. We are gathered here today not because Dan is dead. We are gathered because of the life that he lived.”
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, former Edo governor and now Senator for Edo North, said Orbih made him a better governor.
Even at the height of their political rivalry, Oshiomhole admitted he constantly asked himself: “If this goes out today, what is Dan Orbih going to say?”
“That is why I say Dan helped me to be a better governor,” he said, adding that it was at Wike’s Port Harcourt residence that the two men finally reconciled and embraced.
PDP presidential candidate Senator Sandy Onor described Orbih as “a profound public intellectual, a quintessential lover of Edo people, a defender of Edo heritage, a Nigerian patriot and a social colossus.”
“Dan was a great man by every measure, a true family man, a great husband, and a worthy father.”
