By The African Democratic Congress in Rivers State has pushed back against comments credited to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, insisting no politician can win the 2027 elections through boasting or empty promises. Rivers ADC Chairman Chukwudi Dimkpa issued the response in a statement from Port Harcourt on Monday, reacting to remarks Wike reportedly made at a civic reception organised in his honour by the Ikwerre Local Government Area in Omagwa on Saturday, where he predicted that ADC vice-presidential candidate Rotimi Amaechi would be defeated by 12 noon on election day.
Dimkpa dismissed the prediction outright. “Elections are not won by boasts, intimidation, or political strongmen announcing results in advance. Rivers people will vote, the votes will be counted, and INEC, not Wike, will declare the winner,” he said.
The timing that drew the sharpest criticism
What angered Dimkpa most wasn’t the political jab itself but when and where it happened. He noted that Saturday’s reception fell on the same day Amaechi was burying his mother in Ubima, his hometown, with mourners travelling in from across Nigeria to pay their respects. According to Dimkpa, Wike and Ikwerre Local Government Chairman Charles Wobodo chose that same route and occasion for their political event, disrupting traffic in the process and using the platform to target a man who was grieving. “It was insensitive, provocative and embarrassing,” Dimkpa said.
He argued the timing revealed something about priorities. “There is always a time for politics and there is a time for humanity,” he said, adding that “if Wike could not suspend his political obsession with Amaechi even for the few hours in which the man was laying his mother to rest, then Rivers people should ask themselves who really is consumed by this rivalry.” Dimkpa said the ADC had deliberately avoided responding at the time because the family’s focus was on giving Dame Ezinne Amaechi “a befitting burial.”
A message to Rivers voters
Dimkpa closed his statement by reminding Wike that political dominance in Rivers State isn’t his to claim unilaterally. “Rivers State belongs to all of us. Nobody owns the people, nobody owns their votes, and certainly, nobody can declare an election result by 12 noon,” he said. He urged Rivers residents not to be intimidated by anyone ahead of 2027, calling on them instead to make their own judgment and elect a leader who would genuinely serve their interests.
