“I Told My Wife to Take My Children Away, I Don’t Know If I Can Survive This Fight”— Wike 

“I Told My Wife to Take My Children Away, I Don’t Know If I Can Survive This Fight”— Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has opened up on the life-threatening risks he took to ensure the emergence of Rotimi Amaechi as Governor of Rivers State in 2007.

Speaking in an emotional interview on Channels Television, Wike recounted the turbulent days leading up to Amaechi’s eventual victory, revealing that the political battle was so dangerous that he feared he might not survive it.

“In the name of Almighty God, I put my life to it,” Wike said. “It came to a point I called my wife and said, ‘Listen, take my children, I don’t know what will happen now. Take them away. See what I have, take this. If I survive, it is okay. If I don’t survive, that is how God wants it.’”

Wike explained that during the heat of the crisis, he had to secretly move Amaechi out of Nigeria to Ghana in order to protect him. The situation, he noted, was so tense and dangerous that he prepared himself for the worst outcome.

“I was at the centre of it all,” Wike said. “Many people didn’t know what we went through. At that point, it was not about politics, it was about life and death. I had to act like a soldier on a mission. That was the level of commitment I had for Amaechi.”

Wike’s comments come amid ongoing tensions between the two former allies, who have since become fierce political rivals. His revelations shed new light on the personal sacrifices and behind-the-scenes struggles that shaped Rivers State’s political history nearly two decades ago.

While Wike has since risen to national prominence and holds a key ministerial portfolio in President Bola Tinubu’s administration, his rift with Amaechi—who served as Minister of Transportation under former President Muhammadu Buhari—remains one of Nigeria’s most talked-about political fallouts.