Hon. Samuel Nwanosike, the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area in Rivers State, has credited the rise of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi to the unwavering support and sacrifices of the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
In an interview with News Central, Nwanosike said that without Wike’s intervention and determination, Amaechi’s 2007 gubernatorial ambition would have failed. “If not for Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who mortgaged his own house, Rotimi Amaechi couldn’t have been the Governor of Rivers State,” Nwanosike said.
According to him, during a period of intense political crisis when Amaechi was under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and fled the country, it was Wike who stayed behind to lead the legal and political struggle to reclaim the mandate.
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“When the crisis broke out, Rotimi Amaechi was chased by EFCC, and he left town and never stepped foot in Nigeria. He was outside the country, in fact, he even wished to join the late president’s government, Yar’Adua. “We followed that case, led by Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and made sure the Supreme Court gave that judgement and Rotimi Amaechi came into office, ” he explained.
Nwanosike noted that despite pressure from the then Governor Peter Odili to drop the case—since Celestine Omehia, a fellow kinsman, had already assumed office—Wike and his group refused to back down.
‘We insisted that he was the right candidate for governor and that we were not going to step down on that pursuit, ” he said. “The then governor, Odili persuaded us that since our brother, Celestine Omehia was already a governor that, we should drop the case, we said no.”
The local government chairman further claimed that Amaechi was not directly involved in the legal proceedings and had little knowledge of the strategies or lawyers that were engaged during the court battle.
“It was Ezenwo Nyesom Wike who did everything. Rotimi Amaechi went to the public, in his church and said people should thank God for a man like Ezenwo Nyesom Wike,” Nwanosike added. The revelation comes amidst ongoing political tension in Rivers State, where the once-close allies—Wike and Amaechi—now belong to rival political camps.
