RIVERS GUBER: Amaechi Eats The Humble Pie

Major headlines from Wednesday evening have been about the victory of the incumbent governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike who won his re-election bid in the governorship election held on March 9.

The Rivers election is not the first neither will it be the last but the question that seem to be on the minds of many is why the election period and the eventual declaration elicited so much tension and interests. The answer, for many, is not far-fetched considering the present political dramatis personae in the oil-rich state- Governor Nyesom Wike and Rotimi Ameachi, Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation.

The duo, who were former allies, are now engaged in a political fight for supremacy in the state.

The 2019 governorship election in the state further fueled the animosity between them as they reportedly took digs at each other at different fora.

After a court order which barred his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC from fielding candidates for the elections in the state, Mr. Ameachi and his party days to the election, then threw their weight and support behind the candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Biokpomabo Awara. The action many believed, was a desperate strategy to unseat Mr. Wike.

With the final declaration of winner at the poll yesterday, Mr. Ameachi seem to have lost the battle to Wike.

Wike defeated his major challenger at the poll, Mr Awara with a total of 886,264 votes to 173,859 votes as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.                   

The margin of victory between Wike and Awara is 712,405.

The Whistler looks at some very interesting events in the build up to the polls between Wike and Amaechi.

PRE-ELECTION BOAST

It was alleged that before the election in the state, Ameachi had severally boasted that Wike would be defeated and shown the way out of government house. He had on March 7 enjoined the people to vote for the candidate of the AAC as there were numerous benefits they would derive from government.

“The moment you win the governorship election this Saturday and the governor is inaugurated in May, by June, there will be local government elections. So, you should all go out and vote and make sure that you are not rigged out,” he said.

Ameachi had also on March 8 accused Wike of masterminding killings in the state. He spoke after meeting with British diplomats at his Port Harcourt residence, “All Wike has done so far is killings and he doesn’t care about the lives of the people.”, he said.

His remarks came as a response to earlier allegations of conspiracy and violence made against him by Mr Wike’s government.

There were also reports of how the state’s commissioner for information, Emma Okah, accused the military and Mr Amaechi of masterminding violence and intimidating PDP leaders in the state.

WHAT THE RESULTS SAYS 

Yesterday’s result declaration by INEC has however rubbished Mr. Ameachi’s boast of winning the state for the AAC’s candidate, Awara.

The governor did not only win the guber election with an unimaginable margin of over 700,000 but also won in Ameachi’s local government of Ikwere. Wike polled 14,938 while the AAC got 5,660 in the local government area.

With the results declared, it has shown that Wike did not deploy or use the military as alleged by Ameachi. But more importantly, it has shown that Amaechi may have had an illusion about his own popularity.

On 25 March the deputy governorship candidate of the AAC, Akpo Bomba Yeeh, also defected to the camp of Wike.

IMPLICATION FOR AMEACHI

Now that the elections are over, the major question many seem to be asking is what the implication of the defeat on the transport minister? Since Wike has won a landslide victory, the state has once again sustained its status as one of the strongest and biggest states of the PDP. This may mean that Ameachi’s political influence and relevance in the state is now on a steep decline.

WHAT OPTIONS ARE THERE FOR AMEACHI

The only reasonable option left to Mr. Amaechi if he wants to remain relevant in the state is to rebuild his political base and make up with his associates who have deserted him. The intra-party crisis within the APC, which led to fractionalization, weakened the chances of the opposition to unseat Wike.

Amaechi should rebuild the APC in the state to make it more formidable for future elections.