Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has predicted that the presidential ambition of a former Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is dead on arrival.
Wike, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, said Nigerians won’t give Amaechi a chance in the 2027 election.
Amaechi, a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) opposition coalition determined to wrest power from President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 poll, came second after in the 2022 APC presidential primary won by ex-Lagos governor Tinubu.
In 2025, Amaechi dumped the APC and moved to the ADC, seeking the party’s 2027 presidential ticket.
However, Wike, who incidentally shared a common history with Amaechi as former Rivers State governor, said his predecessor won’t get the ADC ticket for the 2027 poll.
The FCT minister said: “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 faulted Amaechi’s ability to fight corruption and enthrone good governance, saying he had no respect for the judiciary and the rule of law when he was Rivers State governor.
Amaechi was the governor of the oil-rich Niger Delta State from May 2007 to May 2015, and appointed Wike as his Chief of Staff. He later handed over to Wike, when he was elected governor. The latter served for eight years.
However, the relationship between both men has since turned frosty.
Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the only opposition member in Tinubu’s cabinet, has been accused anti-party and stoking the embers of discord in the PDP.
