Headline

2023: Why Nyesom Wike is the Beautiful Bride

Published

4 years ago

July 2, 2022

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, is neither the presidential candidate nor presidential running mate of any party as far as the 2023 general elections are concerned, but the amiable governor has since the presidential primaries of the various political parties become a one man consultative assembly to all parties eyeing the presidential seat. His Port Harcourt home has in the last couple of days played host to major presidential candidates and or their cronies. Though not much of their discussions are in the public domain, it is believed that they are not unconnected to the 2023 elections.

Recall that Wike lost the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on May 28/29, 2022 at the Velodrome of the MKO Abiola Stadium to eventual flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, coming a distant second. However, the turn of events proved that Wike may likely emerge as the running mate of Atiku, but after a few days when the former Vice President announced his running mate, Wike was not on the list. Reports have so far shown he was shortchanged. The governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, was chosen instead. Ever since, Wike has maintained a dignified silence, creating panic in the PDP camp, and giving leverage to other parties to seek his ‘hand in marriage’. And that prompted the pilgrimages to Port Harcourt of prominent party men and presidential candidates.

The rising profile of Wike prompted a now denied report that the Rivers governor visited the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in France. The report, which has now been proved false, emanated from the Special Adviser to Lagos State governor on drainages, Mr. Joe Igbokwe. The official has since taken down the tweet, making Nigerians wonder where he got the information from.

Tinubu’s spokesperson, Tunde Rahman, said on Friday, that Tinubu did not meet Wike in France, describing Igbokwe’s reports as “fake news”.

Rahman’s statement read, “We have seen a viral social media post made by one of the chieftains of All Progressives Congress in Lagos State and media reports emanating from same about a supposed meeting in France between APC Presidential Standard-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

“It has become imperative to set the record straight. Although Asiwaju Tinubu is presently in France, he didn’t have any meeting with Governor Wike whether in that country or anywhere whatsoever.

“This, however, does not detract from the fact that the APC presidential candidate holds Governor Wike in high esteem…,” the statement said.

Before the debunked report that the Rivers governor met with Tinubu, Wike’s had been seen entertaining some opposition politicians.

The governor had on June 24 hosted the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in Port Harcourt. He visited in company of a former governor of Ekiti State and former presidential aspirant, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

The visit occurred a day after the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, visited Wike, sparking speculations about their intentions and the Rivers governor’s plans.

Though Wike has refused to speak publicly since he lost the running mate slot to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, his recent meetings with political bigwigs have strengthened speculations that he may leave the PDP.

But the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, was the first to visit the governor, in a fence mending effort after the Abuja primaries in Abuja. His visit was followed by the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi before others followed suit.

While politicians search for allies in comrades, who can galvanise the masses to their sides, Wike is not only good at galvanising the crowd, he is known to walk his talk in performance, and that, to an extent, explains why political bigwigs are going head over heels to practically sign him on.

Wike’s ability to conduct a presidential aspiration campaign during the primaries, giving Atiku a close fight, and only losing owing the last minute withdrawal of Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, had made the party bigwigs and opposition parties understand that the former Minister of Education is capable of combining talk with verifiable action. The withdrawal had somehow disarranged the equilibrium, giving Atiku a last minute victory.

Again, as the race for the running gathered momentum, Wike’s influence among members of the committee set to decide the party’s presidential running mate, made 14 out of the 17-member committee to vote in favour of Wike against Okowa. How Atiku settled for Okowa against overwhelming majority has remained a subject of discourse.

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, while speaking speaking with Arise TV on a live interview, revealed that some governors are unhappy with Atiku, asking the flagbearer to reach out to Wike as he is seen as a pillar in the party.

Ortom noted Wike’s invincibility, saying that “Currently, Nobody in the party has contributed more for the party to move forward than Wike. If Atiku was not going to honour the decision of the committee, he should have called Wike earlier and informed him. He didn’t do that. You can’t do things anyhow and expect us to be happy.”

In a ditch effort to return to the good books of Wike, Atiku stressed via his official twitter handle that efforts were being made to resolve the grievances of party members.

“The Peoples Democratic Party will remain united. Focus on our actions. We are taking action to address the feelings of all party members. The unity in our community is my priority. Our resolve to unify Nigeria starts in our party and moves to the community, then on to society.

“Every governor, legislator, and other elected officials produced by our party, and party members and loyalists, are much loved and respected by me. When they speak, I listen. I do not only listen. Appropriate actions have been taken, are being taken, and will continue to be advanced,” he tweeted.

At the moment, Wike has kept to himself though feelers coming to The Boss, have hinted that the governor is not happy with the turn of events, and may be considering a defection. It is therefore, common place for every politician, who is really serious about winning the 2023 election to befriend the fierce and outspoken administrator.

Other political stalwarts that have observed pilgrimage at the home of the much sought after political juggernaut include Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda and other PDP stakeholders in the state, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, and former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoki.

While Wike’s present towering fame continues to create discourse and overwhelming grace in the political circle, it is believed that the governor will positively utilise the outcome for the good of all Nigerians.

Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON, is governor of Nigeria’s ‘treasure base’, Rivers State where he has held sway since May 29, 2015.

An Ikwerre man from Rumuepirikom in Obio-Akpor, Rivers State, Wike was born on December 13, 1963. He is an astute politician, irrepressible lawyer and undaunted hard worker, who is the sixth and current Governor of Rivers State. He is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and had his university education at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology after passing through De-General E-Processing Center and Government Secondary School, Eneka at various times.

Wike was appointed Minister of State for Education on July 14, 2011 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He was later upgraded to the status of the Acting Minister of Education, after Mrs Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufa’i was sacked. He resigned, and was replaced by Viola Onwuliri before finishing his term to campaign for Governor of Rivers State. In 2014, he won the Rivers State People’s Democratic Party primary and chose former Secretary to the State Government Ipalibo Banigo as his running mate for deputy governor.

Wike defeated Dakuku Peterside of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Tonye Princewill of the Labour Party in the April 11 gubernatorial elections to emerge as governor. His election was nullified by the Tribunal and the Appeal Court, but as a child of destiny, the Supreme Court upturned all rulings and returned his mandate.

Again, on April 3, 2019, INEC declared Nyesom Wike winner of Rivers State governorship polls to begin another four years tenure.

A lover of education, Wike made elaborate plans for educational reform. He declared public primary and secondary education free. This he did shortly after he took the oath of office to start his second term, and refused to bulge even as complaints trailed his decision.

In 2019, Wike through the State Ministry of Education announced free registration for participating locals of the state in the annual JAMB examination.

He was considered a superman when he kicked-off the construction of three (3) major flyovers simultaneously in Port Harcourt. The location of the flyovers are at Garrison, Rumoukoro and Artillery. These are all completed today, commissioned and in use.

Wike is married to his beloved wife, Eberechi, a high court justice, and they are blessed with three adorable children.

Headline

Supreme Court Reserves Judgment in Appeal over Nullified PDP Convention

Published

9 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Eric

The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment in the appeal filed by the Taminu Turaki-led group of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which nullified the conduct of the party’s national convention, held last year in Ibadan, Oyo State.

A five-member panel of the apex court announced on Wednesday that its judgment would be delivered on a date to be communicated to all parties in the appeal.

Justice Garba Mohammed, who led the five-member panel, made the announcement shortly after lawyers representing parties in the appeal adopted their processes as briefs of their arguments for and against the appeal.

The appeal was filed by the Turaki-led group’s national executives of the party who emerged from the convention.

They had approached the apex court to challenge the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had nullified the convention for being held in disobedience of a valid order of the court.

While adopting their brief of argument filed on April 2, the appellants, through their team of lawyers led by Paul Erokoro (SAN), urged the Supreme Court not only to allow their appeal but also to dismiss a cross-appeal lodged against them by a leadership group in the party aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Meanwhile, Lamido, who was represented by J. C. Njikonye (SAN), as well as the Wike-backed group represented by Joseph Daudu (SAN), filed preliminary objections seeking dismissal of the appeal.

The respondents insisted that, contrary to the contention by the Turaki-led group, the appeal did not fall within the sphere of the PDP’s internal affairs.

It was the respondents’ position that both the high court and the appellate court had rightly exercised jurisdiction over the matter.

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a judgment last year, restrained the then-Ambassador Iliya Damagum-led National Executive Committee of the PDP from proceeding with the convention slated for November 15 and 16, 2026, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Justice Lifu had ordered that the convention should not hold until an aspirant to the office of national chairman, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, is allowed to purchase interest and nomination forms to enable him to participate in the convention for the election of national officers.

The party, however, went ahead to conduct the convention in disregard of the orders of the court.

The PDP had predicated its action to conduct the convention on the grounds that the court lacked the jurisdiction to stop the convention, as the issue brought before it was an internal matter of the PDP, which no court has jurisdiction to delve into.

However, the appellate court in its judgment last month disagreed that the issue at the trial court was an internal affair of a political party, which courts cannot entertain.

The three-member panel of the appellate court subsequently nullified the outcome of the convention for being held in disobedience to the orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Dissatisfied, the PDP approached the apex court, praying it to accept the appeal against the lower court judgment, set the judgment aside, and hold that the issue was an internal matter of the PDP, which both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain.

However, the respondents in the appeal urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lack of merit and hold otherwise.

Headline

LP: Nenadi Usman Floors Julius Abure at Appeal Court

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2026

Eric

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the appeal filed by Julius Abure challenging the legitimacy of the Nenadi Usman-led leadership of the Labour Party (LP).

A three-member panel of the appellate court, in a Tuesday judgment, unanimously affirmed the January 21 judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which upheld the legitimacy of the 29-member caretaker committee of the LP, led by Senator Usman.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi, which Justices Abba Mohammed and Eberechi Nyesom-Wike agreed with, the appellate court held that the earlier Supreme Court judgment conclusively settled the leadership dispute within the LP by nullifying the convention that purportedly returned Abure as National Chairman.

Justice Lifu had, in the January 21 judgment, relied on an April 4, 2025, decision of the Supreme Court, which held that Abure’s tenure as the party’s National Chairman had expired. The judgment directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Senator Usman and other members of her committee as the legitimate leaders of the party, to the exclusion of all others.

The court further held that the lower court had the power under Section 251 of the Constitution to compel a statutory Federal government agency to perform its functions when it ordered INEC to recognize Senator Nenadi Usman as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

It was equally agreed with the trial court that constituting the LP’s caretaker committee, headed by Usman, was a doctrine of necessity required to provide leadership in the party when a vacuum appeared to exist.

The court faulted Abure’s claim that the trial court denied him a fair hearing and accused him of abusing the court process.

The court also accused Abure of forum shopping by appearing before the Nasarawa State High Court in a case already decided by the Supreme Court, and of persisting in the claim the party’s leadership despite the apex court’s clear and unambiguous pronouncement.

It held that the appeal, marked: CA/ABJ/CV/255/2026, was devoid of merit and constituted an abuse of court process.

“On the whole, I agree with the decision and conclusion of the trial court as the same, being in accordance with the Constitution,” Justice Oyewumi held, adding that the lower court reached a reasonable conclusion that the Court of Appeal cannot fault.

While dismissing the appeal, the court awarded him costs of N10 million for wasting the court’s time on an issue that had already been conclusively determined.

Earlier, the court held that Nenadi Usman, as a juristic person, had the right to file the case before the trial court, and that the trial court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the case.

The court also rejected Abure’s allegation that the lower court denied him a fair hearing, noting that the claim lacked any basis.

Headline

Tinubu Sacks Edun, Appoints Oyedele As Finance Minister

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2026

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has approved a minor cabinet reshuffle in the membership of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

According to a memo signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, two cabinet members, Mr. Wale Edun and Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa are to leave the cabinet while their replacements have been named.

A statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yomi Odunuga, on Tuesday evening, said Edun, until the latest development, was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

“He has been directed to hand over to Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, who is now to take over as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. Oyedele was formerly a Minister of State in the ministry.

“Also Mr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma (PhD.) has been named as the ministerial nominee and minister-designate for the Housing and Urban Development Ministry,” Odunuga stated.

The memo also directed Dangiwa to hand over to the Minister of State in the ministry pending Darma’s confirmation.

The memo stated that “all handing over and taking over processes should be completed on or before close of business on Thursday 23rd April, 2026.”

Explaining the President’s decision, Odunuga quoted Akume as saying: “These changes are aimed at strengthening cohesion, synergy in governance as well as achieving more impactful delivery on the economy to Nigerians, through the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

He said the President, in approving the cabinet reshuffle, has fully exercised his powers as conferred on him by Sections 147 and 148 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended).

The President thanked the outgoing ministers for their services to the nation while wishing them the best in all their future endeavours.

The President, Akume noted, equally assured all cabinet members that “the process of reinvigoration shall be continuous.”