Former Rivers State lawmaker, Robinson Ewoh, has said that Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is not as powerful as many perceive him to be.

Ewoh, speaking in an interview, mentioned that Wike did not reach his current position through the will of the people but rather through the support of establishments.

He pointed out that Wike consistently lost in elections because the people did not vote for him, but he managed to succeed with the help of establishments.

Ewoh highlighted how former Governor of Rivers, Peter Odili, and former Governor Rotimi Amaechi played significant roles in Wike’s rise from a local government chairman to the governor of Rivers State.

“Wike is merely a distraction. For the record, Wike is not a powerful man. Wike is a man who has thrived on establishments. What do I mean by that?

In 1999, Wike contested an election for Chairman of Obiakpo. Even at the PDP primary level, Wike lost the election. He couldn’t secure the ticket. It was the court that gave it to him. Even at the main poll, Wike could not win. It was the Court of Appeal that brought Wike to serve as Obiakpo chairman.

His re-election, the videos are everywhere, his confessions are everywhere that it was Odili and his wife who rescued him. Without them, he wouldn’t have been there. Ordinarily, he didn’t merit to come back. Obiakpo people didn’t want him and there was no way Obiakpo people would have voted for him, having rejected him. But the establishment, which was then Peter Odili, brought him in.

In 2007, when Amaechi became governor, he appointed Wike as Chief of Staff. You see that the appointment of the Chief of Staff is not by the people; it is by the establishment. The establishment wanted him, so they appointed him.

Amaechi thereafter nominated him as minister. And he was appointed deputy minister of education by Goodluck Jonathan. Again, you see that it was the establishment, not the people.

Wike became governor in 2015, but Rivers people didn’t want him and didn’t vote for him. For the records, Goodluck Jonathan and his wife had to deploy Chief Desalakan as Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Rivers State. And they had to deploy CP Mbu to carry on the dirty jobs. It was between CP Mbu and Geselaka that Wike became governor. Not because the Rivers people wanted him or voted for him, but because the establishment wanted him.

In 2019, the police and INEC rescued him. Abara that came into the race, about three weeks before the election, nearly defeated him, but INEC and the police rescued him. So, Wike is not about popularity; Wike is not a strongman, Wike does not have the people behind him,” Ewoh stated.