African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has challenged Nyesom Wike’s claim that he remains in control of the political structure in Rivers State, describing it as a sign of political disconnect from reality.

Eze’s comments came a day after Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former Rivers State governor, declared that he remained in charge of the state’s political structure ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on 2 September, Wike described himself as the “General Commander of the Political Infantry” and said political influence did not depend on occupying the office of governor.

“You do not need to be governor before you can be in charge. I am the General Commander of the Political Infantry; therefore, I am in charge. So also in FCT. I owe the President to give these two,” Wike said.

He was referring to his stated intention to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory during the 2027 election.

Eze, a former National Publicity Secretary of the now-defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), said Wike’s declaration would ultimately be tested by voters rather than political claims.

“It is delusional for Wike to imagine that, after the humiliation suffered by Rivers State under the circumstances surrounding the declaration of the State of Emergency, he can still present himself as the unquestionable political commander of the State. Rivers State was turned into a laughing stock before the nation, and those responsible cannot now rewrite history and pretend that nothing happened.”

Rivers political crisis remains central

The dispute over political control comes against the background of the prolonged conflict between Wike and his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.

President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on 18 March 2025 and suspended Fubara, his deputy and members of the state House of Assembly for six months.

Tinubu said the decision followed a prolonged political crisis that had paralysed governance in the state. He also cited attacks on oil infrastructure and the inability of the executive and legislature to work together.

The emergency ended in September 2025, with Tinubu saying the intervention had been necessary after attempts to resolve the political crisis failed.

The crisis had also centred on competing political loyalties and control of the state’s political machinery, making Wike’s latest declaration particularly significant as parties begin positioning themselves for 2027.

Eze attacks Wike over Atiku and Amaechi

Eze also criticised Wike’s repeated attacks on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Atiku is expected to be a major figure in the emerging opposition coalition around the ADC, while Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite serving in Tinubu’s administration.

“Wike’s constant attacks on Atiku and Amaechi are becoming increasingly childish and politically revealing. A politician who is genuinely confident of his political structure does not spend every available opportunity attacking those he claims are irrelevant,” Eze said.

He argued that the 2027 election would provide a clearer test of Wike’s influence.

“Wike should wait for 2027. That is when the reality will become clear. Nigerians and Rivers people will demonstrate through the ballot box the extent of his relevance. All strategies designed to manipulate, intimidate or undermine democratic choice will be resisted by Nigerians who are determined to reclaim their democracy.”

There is, however, no evidence in the material reviewed to support Eze’s allegation that Wike has never won an election in Rivers State except through rigging or electoral inducement.

In fact, INEC records show that Wike won the 2015 Rivers governorship election with 1,029,102 votes, defeating APC candidate Dakuku Peterside, who received 124,896 votes.

Amaechi remains part of Rivers political history

Eze also defended Amaechi, who governed Rivers from 2007 to 2015 before Wike succeeded him.

“Amaechi will remain Amaechi. Wike’s constant attacks cannot alter history or erase the political relationship and hierarchy that existed between them. The more Wike attempts to diminish Amaechi, the more he advertises his own obsession with him,” Eze said.

Amaechi and Wike were once political allies. Wike served as Amaechi’s chief of staff before the relationship deteriorated amid wider political divisions within the PDP and between the two men. Wike eventually defeated Amaechi-backed candidate Dakuku Peterside in the 2015 governorship election.

Also Read: NSCDC Warns Anambra LPG Operators Over Illegal Decanting, Safety Breaches 

Dispute over NBA conference

Eze also rejected Wike’s criticism of the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference, which took place in Port Harcourt from 21 to 28 August.

The NBA’s official conference programme describes the gathering as its flagship legal event and says it brought together lawyers, policymakers, members of the judiciary and other participants. The 2026 conference was themed “Beyond Limits”.

Wike, who did not attend the conference, described it as a “complete flop” and accused its organisers of turning it into a political event.

“Instead of concentrating on issues affecting the NBA, they started playing politics,” Wike said.

He also defended his decision not to attend, saying:

“Anybody who knows me knows that I don’t attend something that’s a jamboree. I will not attend something that traders are in charge.”

Wike further alleged that opposition politicians used the gathering to promote themselves.

Eze rejected that assessment and said Wike’s absence should not determine how the conference is judged.

“If Wike was not invited, that should make him reflect rather than attack the NBA. Serious national conversations cannot be reduced to the question of whether one individual received an invitation.”

The available evidence establishes that the conference was held and that the NBA had planned a substantial programme. It does not, by itself, establish whether Wike’s assessment of its quality was justified.

What is at stake in 2027?

The disagreement is larger than a personal exchange between two politicians.

Rivers State has become an important battleground in the wider struggle over alliances ahead of the 2027 elections. Wike says he retains a political structure capable of delivering Rivers and the FCT for Tinubu, while opposition figures are seeking to build a coalition capable of challenging the president.

The 2023 Rivers governorship election illustrates why competing claims of political control remain difficult to settle through rhetoric alone. Siminalayi Fubara, then the PDP candidate, won with 302,614 votes against Tonye Cole of the APC, who received 95,274 votes.

But election results alone do not establish who controls a party structure several years later.

That question will depend on party nominations, defections, campaign organisation, voter turnout and, ultimately, the votes cast in 2027.

Eze said Wike should therefore focus on his public responsibilities rather than treat political structures as personal property.

“Political structures belong to the people, not to individuals. Democracy is not a military formation where one man declares himself General Commander and everyone else must obey. In 2027, the people will decide.”

He concluded:

“Wike may continue to make political declarations, attack Atiku, attack Amaechi and boast about his structures. But ultimately, the people will have the final say. 2027 will be the moment when political claims are tested against political reality.”

For now, neither side can conclusively demonstrate through public statements who commands the majority of Rivers voters.

The next major test will come through the political realignment, party primaries and campaign activities leading to the 2027 elections.

Governor Aiyedatiwa says latest payment targets 2020 retirees and outstanding beneficiaries as he promises to clear inherited arrears before leaving office

Ondo State has begun paying ₦3.82 billion in gratuities to 985 retired public servants, including 509 retirees from the 2020 batch and 476 people whose payments remained outstanding from earlier years.

The beneficiaries include former civil servants, secondary school teaching and non-teaching staff, and workers from state-owned parastatals.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa announced the payment at a ceremony in Akure on Wednesday, 2 September. He said the exercise formed part of efforts to deal with gratuity obligations inherited by his administration.

The governor described the payment as “a debt of honour being discharged” to people who had spent their working years serving Ondo State.

“When our Administration came to the saddle, we inherited billions of Naira in outstanding gratuity obligations covering the period from 2015 to date. We did not shy away from this burden. Rather, we confronted it with courage, responsibility and a clear understanding that governance is not only about initiating new projects; it is equally about confronting inherited challenges and resolving them,” he said.

Why the payment matters

Gratuity is a lump-sum benefit owed to eligible workers when they leave public service. Delays can leave retirees waiting for years for money they expected to receive after retirement.

The latest payment therefore provides immediate financial relief to the 985 beneficiaries. It also reduces part of the state’s outstanding obligations to former workers.

From 2015 arrears to the 2020 batch

The latest exercise follows a series of gratuity payments announced by the Aiyedatiwa administration.

In March 2026, the government announced ₦2.4 billion for retirees from 2018 and 2019. Earlier, in October 2025, it announced a payment of about ₦2.4 billion covering 2016 and 2017 retirees.

In June 2026, the state also announced more than ₦2.6 billion for retired local government and primary school workers who left service in 2015. The governor said at the time that his administration intended to pay all outstanding gratuities before the end of its tenure.

The sequence suggests a phased approach to reducing the backlog rather than a single settlement.

In February 2025, the governor had also said his administration would continue settling outstanding gratuities despite financial constraints. The Federal Ministry of Information reported that the government had previously released ₦3 billion in three phases for arrears up to 2012 and allocated another ₦2.5 billion for retirees from 2013.

The latest ₦3.82 billion payment therefore represents another substantial release of public funds towards retirement obligations.

Also Read: Police Pledge More Inclusive Policing, Protection for People With Disabilities 

Who is being paid?

The Ondo State Pension Transition Office said the current exercise covers retirees from:

– 2015 Batch C

– 2016 Batch C

– 2017 Batch C

– 2018 Batch B

– 2019 Batch B

– 2020 Batch A

Permanent Secretary of the office, Dr Peter Akingbade, said beneficiaries were already receiving bank alerts.

He said the government would pay the beneficiaries their full gratuity entitlements rather than make partial payments.

“The payment process is continuous,” Akingbade said, urging retirees who had not completed verification to come forward with the necessary documentation.

This means retirees who have not completed the verification process may still face a delay even as the latest batch receives payment.

What the governor promised

Aiyedatiwa said his administration had defrayed the outstanding gratuities for 2015 to 2019 and described the latest payment to 2020 retirees as another step towards clearing the backlog.

“Today, we are taking another giant step forward with the flag-off of payment to retirees of the year 2020. We give all glory to Almighty God for the grace and enablement to fulfil this important obligation,” he said.

He also gave an assurance to retirees.

“We remember your service; we respect your sacrifice; and we will not forget your entitlement,” he said.

The governor’s wider promise is to clear the inherited gratuity arrears before he leaves office.

That commitment creates a clear test for the administration: it will need to disclose how many eligible retirees remain unpaid, the total value of outstanding obligations and the timetable for settling them.

Retirees welcome payment

Speaking for the beneficiaries, Mrs Nike Ogunbodede thanked the governor and described the payment as a major development for retired workers.

The state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Johnson Osunyemi, also commended the government.

He said Ondo was among the leading states in the country in efforts to clear gratuity backlogs owed to retired workers.

Those comments represent the beneficiaries’ and pensioners’ assessment of the payment. They do not, by themselves, independently establish the state’s position relative to every other state in Nigeria.

The accountability question

The immediate benefit of the payment is clear: 985 retirees should receive money owed to them, with the state saying it is paying their full entitlements.

The broader question is whether the payment programme can keep pace with new retirement obligations while eliminating the old backlog.

The government has not stated in the latest announcement how much it has spent on all gratuity payments since Aiyedatiwa took office, nor has it published a consolidated balance showing the amount still owed.

Such information would allow retirees, workers and taxpayers to measure progress against the administration’s pledge.

For now, the ₦3.82 billion release moves another group of former workers from the waiting list to payment. The next stage will be whether the state can maintain the pace of disbursement and ultimately fulfil its promise to clear the remaining inherited arrears.

The Ondo State government says it has reduced the state’s domestic debt by 82.6%, recruited more than 6,000 workers and completed more than 200km of roads since Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa took office.

The figures were presented on Friday, 28 August, by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, at the administration’s first quarterly media briefing at the NUJ Press Centre in Akure.

The briefing comes 18 months after Aiyedatiwa assumed office and provides the administration with an opportunity to assess its performance under its “OUR EASE” agenda, which promises “ease of living, ease of doing business, and ease of governance”.

Debt reduction comes first

One of the administration’s strongest claims is its handling of the state’s finances.

The government says Ondo reduced its domestic debt by 82.6%, making it the largest percentage reduction among Nigeria’s 36 states.

The figure has previously been linked to Debt Management Office data comparing state debt positions. Reports published in May 2025 put Ondo’s domestic debt at about ₦74bn in 2023 and ₦12bn in 2024.

The government says it used the fiscal space created by its financial management to clear outstanding salary arrears, obligations to former political appointees and pension gratuities.

More than 6,000 workers recruited

The government also says it has recruited more than 6,000 people into education, healthcare, security and agriculture during the past 18 months.

Adeniyan said the recruitment was intended to address manpower shortages and improve public services.

“It is on record that no governor has created more direct employment opportunities for the people of the state than Governor Aiyedatiwa,” he said.

The administration says it has complemented public-sector recruitment with vocational programmes, including the O’Datiwa Skill-Up a Woman Initiative, which it says trained 1,000 women and provided start-up kits.

Hundreds of young people have also reportedly gone through the One Youth, One Skill Programme, while the Ondo Ease Fund provides loans and grants to market women, artisans and small businesses.

The test for these programmes will be whether beneficiaries can sustain businesses and whether the jobs created remain affordable to the state in the long term.

Healthcare gets major investment

Healthcare has emerged as another major focus.

The government says it has recruited more than 2,000 health professionals, improved health workers’ remuneration and expanded the state health insurance scheme to cover groups including pensioners and other vulnerable residents.

In June, the state announced a ₦1bn Hospital Intervention Fund to support the expansion and modernisation of health facilities.

The government says more than 100 health centres have also been renovated.

It further lists new equipment at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, including a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine, a 160-slice CT scanner, digital mammography, 4D ultrasound and digital X-ray equipment.

These investments could reduce the need for residents to travel outside the state for specialist treatment, but their impact will depend on staffing, maintenance, electricity supply and the ability of residents to afford care.

The government also cites the latest Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey as evidence of progress in child health.

Roads and transport

The government says it has completed more than 200km of roads in the past 18 months, with another 90km rehabilitation programme underway.

Under that programme, it says each of the state’s 18 local government areas will receive five kilometres of road rehabilitation.

The administration has also embarked on the dualisation of three major routes: Akungba–Ikare, Akure–Idanre and Okitipupa–Igbokoda.

Earlier in the week, Aiyedatiwa flagged off the construction of a new flyover along the Oyemekun–Oba Adesida axis in Akure.

The projects could improve movement of people and goods, particularly for farmers and businesses.

The government previously commissioned road and water projects during its first anniversary in February.

Education and workers’ welfare

In education, the government says it has recruited 2,110 teachers — 1,010 for public secondary schools and 1,100 for primary schools.

It has also highlighted school transport, scholarships, bursaries and payment of WAEC examination fees for public secondary school pupils.

The administration says it recently increased funding to tertiary institutions by 60% and cleared inherited salary arrears at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo.

For civil servants, the government says salaries now arrive on or before the 25th of every month.

It also says it has cleared inherited salary arrears and made progress on pension and gratuity obligations.

The administration’s handling of workers’ welfare is particularly significant because delayed salaries and pension arrears have been persistent issues across many Nigerian states.

Water, electricity and urban renewal

The government says it has installed about 5,000 solar streetlights under its Light-Up projects.

It is also pursuing electricity initiatives, including the Lucky Light Solar Programme, mass metering and plans for alternative power generation.

The State Executive Council has approved a reported US$1.6m, 350-kilowatt hydropower project and a 7.5MW gas-fired turbine to supply government facilities.

In water supply, the administration points to the Akure Water Supply and Sanitation Project and renewed work around the Owena Dam.

It also says the Omi Irorun Water Scheme has provided more than 50 boreholes to rural communities.

These interventions could directly affect households and businesses, but their success will ultimately be measured by reliability: whether residents actually have regular access to water and electricity rather than simply by the number of projects commissioned.

Agriculture and industrialisation

The government says it has committed more than ₦10bn to agriculture, trained more than 500 young people and profiled 14,000 smallholder cocoa and oil-palm farmers under the FAO GEF-7 programme.

It has also established the Ondo State Cocoa Revolution and Management Board and a committee on compliance with the European Union’s deforestation-free regulation.

The measures are important for a state where cocoa and other agricultural commodities remain central to rural livelihoods.

Beyond agriculture, the administration is promoting the proposed Ondo Deep Sea Port, refinery, free trade zone and fertiliser projects.

The government has also highlighted a renewed investment relationship with the Dangote Group.

In June, the Ondo State government announced that Dangote planned to develop a major industrial and free trade zone at Olokola, with construction expected to begin in the final quarter of 2026.

However, announced investments should not be treated as completed investments. Their eventual economic value will depend on financing, construction, commissioning, production and the number of sustainable jobs they generate.

Security

On security, the administration says it has distributed more than 100 operational vehicles to security agencies and recruited 500 personnel into the Amotekun Corps.

It also says a modern Command and Control Centre has been established.

What the 18-month record means

The administration’s record presents a combination of completed projects, ongoing programmes and future investment plans.

That distinction is important.

Debt reduction, recruitment, completed roads and functioning health facilities can be assessed against records and outcomes. Proposed refineries, industrial zones, power plants and other projects require a different standard of scrutiny because their eventual benefits remain contingent on implementation.

The administration also faces the challenge of sustaining its spending commitments while preserving the fiscal gains it says it has achieved.

Its ability to maintain regular salaries, fund healthcare and education, complete infrastructure projects and attract private investment without rebuilding a large debt burden will be a key measure of the sustainability of the “OUR EASE” agenda.

For residents, the question after 18 months is therefore less about the number of projects announced and more about whether those projects continue to deliver measurable improvements in everyday life.

The next stage will be the delivery and completion of the projects still under construction, while the government will need to publish sufficient financial and performance data for citizens to independently assess its claims.