Before the emergence of Mr Rotimi Chibuike
Amaechi as governor in 2007, the relationship
between him and Governor Ezenwo Nyesom –
Wike was at best cursory. While Amaechi held
sway as the Speaker of the State House of
Assembly, Wike was the Chairman of Obio- Akpor
local Government Council and the National Presi
dent of Association of Local Governments of
Nigeria, (ALGON). Both were however under the
umbrella of their political grandmaster, Dr peter
Odili, and held each other mutually with respect.
The long bitter struggle to actualize the gov
ernorship ambition of Amaechi was the oyster
that brought them close.
While Amaechi was in Exile, Wike , an acclaimed
political tactician co-ordinated the onslaught
from within, and when they coasted to victory,
via the famous October 25, 2007 supreme court
verdict, Amaechi made him his Chief of Staff.
And the friendship deepened. Soon after, Amae
chi nominated him for a ministerial position at
the center, and the crack in their relationship
began to manifest. Wike became the ant hill with
which the government of President Goodluck
Jonathan deployed to quieten the “noisy and high
ly quarrelsome Amaechi”. It was no longer at
ease between the bosom friends. Ahead of the
2015 general elections, both men were at each
other’s throats. They accused each other of a
legion sundry misdemeanour. Amaechi accused
Wike of being a willing tool in the plot by the
presidency to unsettle and humiliate him. He
went to great lengths to halt Wike’s governorship
ambition. The River’s governorship election has
been adjudged as one of the fiercest and
bloodiest in recent memory. Indeed, about 94
deaths were recorded during the campaigns,
while several skirmishes were recorded almost
on a daily basis. Abuses and name calling were
the order of the day, as tension raised several
octaves higher than anywhere. When Amaechi
failed to clinch the vice presidential slot of his
party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Wike
mocked him profusely, calling him a “permanent
mugu”. On the other hand the Amaechi camp
had a reverie deriding Wike’s handling of the
industrial dispute in the universities, stopping
short of calling him an ‘illiterate”. Their
relationship became highly acerbic to the extent
that their cleric, the Archbishop of the Niger
Delta North, Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey had
to intervene to call a truce. The truce was hardly
adhered to by both men, who are staunch
Catholics.
After the governorship elections,Wike and
Amaechi resorted to the theater of the absurd.
Amaechi cried foul over the outcome of the elec
tions. He refused to set up a transition
Committee, and banned all government officials
from having anything to do with the transition
Committee set up by Wike. He described the
election as a daylight robbery, vowing to stop at
nothing to reclaim the state for his godson
Dakuku Peterside. Amaechi stoked more fire by
alleging rituals on the part of Wike, an allegation
the governor vehemently denied .Wike, also
accused Amaechi of wanton stealing and vandal
ization of government property. Television sets
were said to have been removed, kitchen
cabinets vandalized.
Two Bmw cars sent for repairs by Amaechi were
surreptitiously hijacked by agents of the
government and returned to Port Harcourt.
Several vehicles were recovered from erstwhile
top government officials. The governor set up a
judicial commission of inquiry to probe
Amaechi’s regime. Amaechi spurned the
Commission, which eventually returned a verdict
of guilt, ordering him to refund N107B to the
state coffers. Amaechi’s vow to see to the
nullification of Wike’s victory has finally come to
pass. There were clearly discernible signs that it
will come to pass. Firstly, the tribunal was
moved from Port Harcourt , ostensibly to insulate
it from odious influences. Again, midway into the
tribunal sitting, the chairman was
unceremoniously changed. But the battle for the
two wily foes is far from being over. It has only
moved higher. If Amaechi eventually wins at the
Appeal and supreme courts in the next 120 days,
a permanent victory smile will be etched on his
face – a sure sign of vanquishing his irritable
foe. Wike will in the circumstances lick his
wound and wait for another time. But should
victory swing the other way, it may be back to
the basics: the beginning of yet, another battle
royale.