The Rivers State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has noted that the votes of Rivers people will determine the winner of the 2027 general election not boasting.
The party made this known in response to remarks credited to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, during a civic reception held in his honour by the City Boy Movement in Omagwa on Saturday.
Wike had claimed that ADC vice-presidential candidate Rotimi Amaechi would be defeated by noon on election day.
In a statement issued on Monday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Chairman of the ADC, Dr. Chukwudi Dimkpa, maintained that elections are decided by voters rather than political declarations.
“Elections are not won through boasts, intimidation, or political strongmen declaring results in advance. Rivers people will vote, the ballots will be counted, and INEC not Wike will declare the winner,” he said.
Dimkpa also criticized the civic reception in Omagwa, describing it as inappropriate because it was staged along the route to Amaechi’s mother’s funeral in Ubima. He alleged that Wike and the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Charles Wobodo, used the event to launch political attacks against Amaechi.
“On a day when Rotimi Amaechi was burying his mother and sympathizers from across Nigeria were travelling to Ubima to commiserate with the family, Wike and the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area chose that very route and occasion to host a political reception,” Dimkpa said, calling the move insensitive, provocative, and embarrassing.
The ADC chairman stated that there is a time for politics and a time for humanity, explaining that the party chose not to respond on Saturday out of respect for Amaechi’s grieving family.
“We refused to dignify the provocation that day because our focus was on giving Mama, Dame Ezinne Amaechi, a befitting burial. However, Wike must understand that Rivers State belongs to everyone. Nobody owns the people, nobody owns their votes, and certainly, nobody can declare an election result by noon,” he stated.
Dimkpa urged Rivers residents not to be intimidated by any politician, calling on them to participate actively in the 2027 elections and vote for candidates capable of improving their standard of living.
At the reception, Wike had assured his supporters that candidates backed by the Rainbow Coalition would sweep the 2027 polls.