Political analyst Frank Tietie has warned that the undue influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, particularly in Rivers State, reflects a dangerous vacuum of countervailing political authority that must urgently be addressed.
Speaking in a video shared by ARISE TV, Tietie argued that Wike’s dominance thrives largely because key political actors who should ordinarily serve as restraints have remained conspicuously silent.
Tietie noted that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s calm, conciliatory, and deferential disposition, while commendable in tone, may have inadvertently ceded excessive political space to Wike.
In a polity as fiercely competitive as Rivers State, he suggested, restraint without strategic firmness risks being interpreted as weakness, allowing an overbearing figure to consolidate control unchecked.
More troubling, according to Tietie, is the withdrawal of other influential political heavyweights from the arena.
He questioned the silence of former governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman-politician Tonye Cole, both of whom once commanded substantial political followings in the state.
While conceding that former governor Peter Odili may no longer be active due to age, Tietie stressed that Amaechi, in particular, retains the political capital and national stature required to offer a credible counterweight to Wike’s dominance.
The analyst warned that Wike now conducts himself as though he were politically unanswerable, not only in Rivers State but also within the broader national landscape.
He accused the minister of acting as the de facto arbiter of political outcomes across party lines, dictating terms in both the PDP and APC, issuing threats and drawing red lines that others appear reluctant to cross.
For Tietie, taming Wike’s outsized influence will not come from silence or moral appeals alone, but from the deliberate re-engagement of strong political institutions and personalities willing to assert themselves.
Democracy, he argued, suffers when power is concentrated in one individual without resistance.
Rivers State, he concluded, urgently requires a rebalancing of forces through firm leadership, vocal opposition, and institutional courage to restore political equilibrium and safeguard democratic norms.
