The Rivers State chapter of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has dismissed Nyesom Wike’s claim that its vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, would be defeated by noon on election day.
The party said elections were not won through political boasts, intimidation or promises made to voters.
Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, had made the remark on Saturday during a civic reception organised in his honour by the City Boy Movement at Omagwa, Rivers State.
Responding in a statement issued Monday in Port Harcourt, ADC state chairman, Dr Chukwudi Dimkpa, said the former Rivers governor could not determine the outcome of the 2027 election ahead of voters.
“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,” Dimkpa said.
The ADC chairman also criticised the reception held along the route to Ubima, where Amaechi was burying his mother, Dame Ezinne Amaechi.
According to Dimkpa, Wike and the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Charles Wobodo, used the occasion to organise a political gathering while mourners were travelling to pay their respects.
He alleged that the event caused traffic obstruction and was subsequently used to attack and taunt Amaechi during a period of mourning.
Dimkpa described the development as “insensitive, provocative and embarrassing,” arguing that politics should not override basic considerations of humanity.
“There is always a time for politics and there is a time for humanity,” he said, adding that Rivers people should question the intensity of the rivalry between Wike and Amaechi.
The ADC chairman said his party deliberately avoided responding to Wike’s comments on Saturday because its attention was focused on giving Amaechi’s late mother a befitting burial.
“We refused to dignify the provocation with a response that day because our attention was on giving Mama, Dame Ezinne Amaechi, a befitting burial,” he said.
Dimkpa stressed that no individual or political group owned Rivers State or its electorate.
He maintained that voters would ultimately determine the outcome of the 2027 elections and that only the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had the authority to declare the results.
The ADC chairman subsequently urged Rivers residents not to be intimidated by political actors ahead of the election.
He called on them to carefully assess the candidates and elect leaders capable of improving their lives.
Meanwhile, Wike had told supporters at the Omagwa reception that candidates backed by the Rainbow Coalition would emerge victorious in the 2027 elections.
The competing claims have added another layer to the growing political contest in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
