Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has recounted how late Chief Daniel Orbih served as the divine instrument that paved the way for his emergence as Rivers State governor in 2015.
Wike made the disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday, during a night of tributes in honour of Orbih, the National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South South.
Orbih, from Etsako in Edo State, died on August 31 at 64.
Wike revealed the high-stakes political intrigues, extreme pressure, and financial inducements that Orbih, widely known as simply Dan, resisted to remain steadfast in supporting his gubernatorial ambition.
He traced the roots of their close bond to the critical political period between 2013 and 2014, describing it as a turbulent era where political adversaries made desperate attempts to derail his ambition.
“Today I am a Minister of the FCT; yesterday I was a governor. Who did God use for me to become governor? It was Dan,” Wike said.
Recalling the intense pressure mounted by opponents, including the sitting governor of Rivers at the time, Wike disclosed that massive inducements were offered to Orbih to withdraw his support, but he firmly refused.
“There was nothing in this world that was not done to induce him. My governor then sent people to Dan, offered him everything in this world, but Dan stood firm and said, ‘No, I will not accept, I will not agree.’
The minister said that as the South South National Vice-Chairman of the PDP, Orbih backed his campaign by donating two bulletproof Mercedes-Benz buses to strengthen his security and mobilised massive structural support across the region.
Wike expressed profound admiration for Orbih’s rare selflessness, pointing out that throughout his eight-year tenure as Governor of Rivers, Orbih never sought personal gain, patronage, or government contracts.
“Dan is not a typical Nigerian politician. Throughout my eight years as governor, he never came for one day—either by phone or coming to my house to say, ‘I need this contract.’ Never,” he said.
He added that the loyalty and commitment demonstrated by Orbih were traits deeply rooted in his family heritage.
“The only way I can identify a politician that is reliable is when that politician has stood in times of crisis. Loyalty, commitment to friendship, and being a brother’s keeper run in Dan’s family,” he said.
Wike stressed that without Orbih’s strength as National Vice-Chairman in the South South protecting the region’s interests, many current national and state lawmakers would not have attained their positions today.
Highlighting Orbih’s strategic foresight, Wike noted that the late political titan laid the foundation for cross-party collaboration in Edo and supported many politicians in the state but had not benefited from it.
The FCT minister insisted that Orbih deserves a state burial, considering his contribution to the political developments in Edo and urged stakeholders in the state to do something about it.
He promised to maintain a strong relationship with the deceased family and discuss how to keep Orbih’s legacies.
Also, Sen. Magnus Abe, Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, also disclosed that he is a politician today because of Orbih explaining that it was the deceased that introduced him to politics.
“I was the Director General of his first campaign in the United Nigeria Congress Party, when he ran for governor and I went everywhere in Edo with him.
“Dan was indeed a bridge builder par excellence. We are gathered here today not because Dan is dead. We are gathered because of the life that he lived and that life impacted all of us in so many different ways,” he said.
On his part, Sen. Adams Oshiohomle, representing Edo North in the Senate and former Governor of Edo, said that Orbih made him a better governor.
“So my happiness today is that Dan and I, whatever our political differences we might have had, the truth is, Dan made me a better governor.
“So, when I’m making a decision, the first thing I’ll ask is, ‘If this goes out today, what is Dan Orbih going to say?’ Each time I abstain from doing something because of what the opposition led by Dan will interpret to the people, before I do it will be better prepared.
“That is why I say Dan helped me to be a better governor,” he said.
To the family, Oshiohomle said, “please take consolation from the fact that your father built bridges of unity, of progress, and he never did that at the expense of family and he was committed to the growth and development of hisnxommunity.
He thanked Wike for reuniting him and Orbih after a prolonged political difference saying, “it was right at Wike’s residence in Port Harcourt that Dan and I started hugging”.
In his tribute, PDP presidential candidate, Sen. Sandy Onor, described Orbih as “a profound public intellectual, a quintessential lover of Edo people, a defender of Edo heritage, a Nigerian patriot and a social colossus.
“Dan was a great man by every measure, a true family man, a great husband, and a worthy father,” he said.
