The Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government of Rivers State, Samuel Nwanosike has said that without Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Rotimi Amaechi could not have achieved his ambition of becoming a governor of the state.
Speaking in an interview with News Central, Nwanosike said Wike put his best foot forward in fighting for Amaechi to become the governor of Rivers State in 2007.
“I can tell you, if not for Ezenwo Nyesom Wike who mortgaged his own house Rotimi Amaechi couldn’t have been the governor of Rivers State. History is there.
“We have a record which can be played for Nigerians to see; Rotimi Amaechi’s statements in 2007 when he returned from his journey outside the country,” Nwanosike said.
According to the Ikwerre Chairman, at the time when Amaechi left the country because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was on his trail, Wike took it upon himself to ensure that he secured the governorship seat for him.
“If you remember, when the crisis broke out, Rotimi Amaechi was been chased by EFCC and he left town and never stepped his foot in Nigeria. He was outside the country, in fact, he even wished to join the late president’s government, Yar’Adua. He accepted to become the Ambassador of China,” he added
Nwanosike said that despite persuasion from former Governor Peter Odili to a group of Rivers politicians led by Wike to shelve the pursuit of Amaechi becoming a governor, the team went ahead with the process.
“We insisted that he was the right candidate for governor and that we were not going to step down on that pursuit. The then governor, Odili persuaded us that since our brother, Celestine Omehia was already a governor that, we should drop the case, we said no.
“We followed that case, led by Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and made sure the Supreme Court gave that judgement and Rotimi Amaechi came into office,” he noted
Nwanosike added that during the court processes, Amaechi never had an idea of how cases were filed on his behalf or how lawyers were facilitated to appear in court for the matter.
“It was Ezenwo Nyesom Wike who did everything. Rotimi Amaechi went to the public, in his church and said people should thank God for a man like Ezenwo Nyesom Wike,” he said.