*Says Cannot Win ADC Ticket, Presidential Bid Dead On Arrival
THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, August 19, dismissed the chances of his predecessor as governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, insisting his presidential bid dead on arrival, adding that he won’t even secure the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ticket for the election.
“He (Amaechi) knows he won’t get the ticket. I read that he said he knows the weaknesses of the President, so he knows how to defeat him, but he also knew the weaknesses of the President in 2022 when the President defeated him mercilessly in the primary.
“Nigerians know the last person they will give a ticket to because they know it (Amaechi’s bid) is dead on arrival.”
Wike said Amaechi’s record in governance disqualifies him from being taken seriously by Nigerians, accusing him of lacking respect for the rule of law during his tenure as governor between 2007 and 2015.
Amaechi recently vowed to stop corruption in Nigeria within one month, if elected president.
But Wike described his remark as “garbage,” claiming that his past antecedents indicted him of corruption, saying: “He cannot fight corruption, he cannot enthrone good governance, because he had no respect for the judiciary and the rule of law when he was Rivers State governor.
“It’s only in Nigeria that we forget things easily, a man comes to tell you that he would end corruption in one month, is the man taking the issue of corruption very seriously?
“Let’s start with his antecedents. He was a governor of Rivers State, right? What can be more corruption when you don’t want an arm of government to exist. Can there be good governance without obeying the rule of law?
“A man who was governor and refused the judiciary to operate, a man who was governor and sealed up the state High Court for almost two years.
“The man who said he would stop corruption was the man who stopped the judiciary from existing for nearly two years.
“You look at Nigerians, any politician can come and speak to you and you listen to such garbage, that somebody will tell you that he will stop corruption in one month in this country.”
Amaechi, in 2025, defected from then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), and has now dumped the ruling APC for the opposition ADC.
He contested the 2022 APC presidential primary, where he came second, behind President Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor.
