By AnchorNews Reporter

PORT HARCOURT - Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has challenged former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to name any election he has won in the state since their political relationship broke down in 2011.

Wike threw the challenge at Amaechi while speaking in Ahoada, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, during an interactive meeting with the Uzugbani Ekpeye National Executive Council, as well as leaders and stakeholders from Ahoada East and Ahoada West.

The FCT minister was reacting to comments by Amaechi during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where the former Minister of Transportation criticised the Federal Government’s record on project delivery and challenged the administration to identify major projects it had completed.

Turning the challenge back on his former political associate, Wike said Amaechi should account for his own electoral record in Rivers State.

“Since I left him in 2011, after 2011, mention one election that he has ever won in Rivers State,” Wike said.

Wike also questioned the fate of funds reportedly committed to some major projects initiated during Amaechi’s tenure as governor, including the Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Specialist Hospital and the Rivers State monorail.

He specifically demanded an explanation over the $39 million reportedly paid for the specialist hospital project, which he said was never completed.

According to him, a judicial commission established by his administration had investigated the payment of $39.2 million to a contractor for the hospital project and the failure of the project to materialise.

The minister similarly questioned what became of the monorail project, which was one of the major infrastructure initiatives of the Amaechi administration.

Wike also criticised a malaria control programme involving Cuba, alleging that $10 million was spent on the exercise.

“Ask him about the fumigation of Rivers State with people from Cuba in which $10 million was spent. Ask him whether mosquitoes have stopped biting us in Rivers State,” he said.

The former Rivers governor was also criticised over his lengthy record in public office. Wike noted that Amaechi spent eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, another eight years as governor and eight years as a minister.

“What can anybody point to that he attracted to Ekpeye Land in all those 24 years? Nothing! Not one single thing!” Wike said.

He urged residents of Ahoada East and Ahoada West to demand evidence of projects and political empowerment allegedly attracted to the area during Amaechi’s years in public office.

Wike said political leadership should be assessed not merely by the offices occupied by an individual but by the projects delivered, people empowered and sustainable structures established.

The minister also criticised what he described as the exploitation of personal and family tragedies for political purposes, urging political disagreements not to degenerate into attacks involving private grief.

He recalled his former relationship with Amaechi and the disagreements that eventually emerged between them, including controversies surrounding appointments and business interests involving federal maritime agencies.

Wike further contrasted what he described as Amaechi’s approach with the Tinubu administration’s creation of regional development structures and appointments involving people from the South-South.