Wike Says Amaechi Can’t Deliver South South Votes

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has publicly dismissed former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as a political liability without the capacity to deliver meaningful electoral support across Rivers State or the wider South-South geopolitical zone. 

The Wike attacks Amaechi South South votes declaration came as Wike questioned the rationale behind Amaechi’s emergence as vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, suggesting the selection reflected financial considerations rather than any honest assessment of his ability to win votes in the region he is now expected to help swing ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Wike backed his assessment with a pointed review of Amaechi’s electoral record across three consecutive election cycles. 

He noted that Amaechi served as Director-General of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaign while still sitting as Rivers State Governor, yet failed to deliver 25 percent of the vote from his home base. 

The same charge was repeated for 2019, when Amaechi held a senior ministerial position during another Buhari campaign and still could not produce the required threshold from Rivers. 

For 2023, Wike noted that Amaechi threw his support behind Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid without producing even 15 percent from the state. 

“He has never won a presidential election after 2011 when I was the Director of Campaign. Never,” Wike said, presenting the numbers as a definitive verdict on the limits of Amaechi’s political reach.

Beyond electoral arithmetic, Wike reached into history to present what he framed as a deeper disqualification rooted in regional loyalty. 

He reminded his audience that Amaechi had played a prominent and unapologetic role in the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid — the only time the South-South produced a sitting president seeking a second term. 

Wike questioned directly whether the region could now be expected to support Amaechi’s own path to the nation’s second-highest office after he actively worked to end Jonathan’s. 

“A South-South person wanted to go for a second term. You were proud you kicked him out. Now, will South-South be happy for you to be Vice President? You think that people have forgotten?” he asked.

For analysts watching the 2027 political landscape take shape, the Wike attacks Amaechi South South votes message carries weight beyond personal rivalry. 

Wike’s own standing within the South-South and his close proximity to power as FCT Minister gives the comments institutional force that goes beyond mere political sparring.