A former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has responded to the claim by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, that he (Amaechi) is not his boss.

Wike, during a media chat in Abuja, dismissed his former boss, saying the former Minister of Transportation is not influential.

He claimed that Amaechi, even as the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign, could not deliver Rivers State to former President Muhammadu Buhari in both the 2015 and 2019 elections.

Later, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike also criticized former presidential spokesman Reuben Abati for describing him as rude.

Abati had asserted that Wike was very rude, stressing that former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi was his political boss.

The Arise Television anchor made the comment in reaction to Wike’s statement that Amaechi was power-hungry and failed to deliver 10 percent of the vote for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election.

Responding, Olayinka questioned how Amaechi could be considered Wike’s boss in politics.

Posting on Facebook, Olayinka recalled how Wike remained in Rivers State to help Amaechi retrieve his mandate after the latter fled to Ghana in 2007.

In response, during an Arise News interview on Thursday, Amaechi was asked if he is still friends with Wike. He replied, “Why go into personal life?”

When asked if he still hangs out with Wike, Amaechi said, “I’ve told you this several times, subordinates. I was once his [Wike’s] boss, whether he likes it or not. I hired him; I could have said no.”

The Peoples Democratic Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Coalition of United Political Parties, and others have strongly criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for openly declaring his plan to lead President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.

During a media chat on Monday in Abuja, Wike described himself as a key asset in helping Tinubu win the 2027 election.

The former Rivers State Governor also insisted he was not involved in any anti-party activities and challenged the PDP to suspend him if they believed otherwise.

In response, the party’s Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, urged Nigerians to disregard Wike’s comments, stating that the party would soon enforce its rules against the minister.

The CUPP’s Publicity Secretary, Mark Adebayo, labelled Wike as the “President’s hatchet man”, accusing him of working to dismantle opposition parties.

The NNPP asserted that Tinubu would be defeated in 2027 despite Wike’s endorsement.

Speaking on Monday during a media parley in Abuja, Wike said, “I am still in the PDP. I worked hard for the party.

I have not seen anybody who has the guts to tell me, ‘Wike, you are not a member of the party.’ Who is that? What is his contribution to the party that is more than mine?”

Wike noted that the PDP violated the agreement for a southern candidacy for President and supported former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, hence his refusal to endorse the party’s 2023 presidential candidate.

“In 2023, did I not tell you that I wouldn’t support their presidential candidate? I said, based on equity, justice, and fairness, the presidency should go to the South because you can’t have that and the national chairman at the same time.

“You, therefore, take one and give us one. Believing that Atiku would win, they said to hell (with it), and I said I was not going to support.

“So, why didn’t I leave the party and join APC? Of all of us then and PDP governors today, who produced National Assembly 100 per ncent? Who produced a governor? Ask them in their various states how many senators they have,” he said.

Wike referred to himself as a valuable asset, emphasising his key role in securing Tinubu’s re-election in the 2027 general elections.

“I am not a liability, I am an asset. Whether you agree or you don’t agree, I am an asset.

Whether you want to die or you don’t want to die, I am an asset. It doesn’t matter, you may not like me. I am an asset to making sure that Tinubu wins his second term,” Wike boasted.

The ex-Rivers governor also spoke on the chances of the PDP in 2027, stating that the PDP has a leadership problem, which was responsible for the mass defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress, particularly in Delta State and Akwa Ibom.

“It’s a party leadership problem. Look at it. You won’t tell me that they didn’t have intelligence that Delta would go. You won’t tell me that they didn’t have intelligence that Akwa Ibom would go.

“Now, as the leadership, what would you do? Send a team, ‘ask them ‘why are you doing this?’ No, you’re making a mistake. Impunity; let them go. Look Opposition does not do impunity.

No, no, no, we try to beg, beg. Put everybody together. You don’t say, let them go. Let me tell you, I cannot do that,” the minister insisted.

In response, a senior PDP official described the party as one that upholds law and order, stating that it would soon take disciplinary action against Wike in accordance with its rules.

He stated, “This party is a party of process. We have the structures, processes, and laws that we’re following. At the right time, we shall enforce our laws on him and others.

“When somebody says nobody can remove him from the party, that is just his view. The PDP is bigger than any individual. And my answer is very simple: opinion is free, but facts are sacred.

Policies are sacred. Rules and regulations are sacred. While he is entitled to his view, I can tell you that, at the right time, the party will enforce its rules.

”The PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Osadolor called on Nigerians and party members to disregard Wike.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has reacted over the recent comments by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, Bode George, asserting that his own efforts brought prominence and electoral success to the party, rather than the other way around.

Speaking during his monthly media briefing in Abuja on Monday, Wike responded to George’s claim that the PDP had made him a nationally recognized figure.

The former Rivers State governor acknowledged the role the party played in his rise, but maintained that it was his own work and influence that led to tangible victories for the PDP particularly where others, including George, had failed.

“It’s true the party gave me a platform,” Wike said.“But platforms don’t win elections people do. Ask yourself, who has PDP made relevant in Lagos since 1999?”

Wike criticized George for allegedly contributing little to the party’s electoral strength in Lagos, pointing to his own record of building the PDP into a formidable force in Rivers State and beyond.

He suggested that George, given his age and current position, might be better off stepping back from political commentary.

“If he has no role anymore, perhaps it’s time he stayed home and read newspapers,” Wike remarked, in a pointed rebuke.

The minister also addressed criticism surrounding the temporary sealing of the PDP’s national headquarters over unpaid ground rent.

He clarified that he is not the property’s owner and cannot be held accountable for the liabilities, emphasizing that even resolving the issue had required intervention from the highest levels.

“There were claims that the sky would fall—yet the matter couldn’t be resolved without the President’s involvement,” he said.

In a final jab, Wike reflected on past struggles to strengthen the PDP during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, suggesting that despite their efforts, support in Lagos remained elusive.