FCT minister Nyesom Wike said God used the late Daniel Orbih to pave the way for his emergence as Rivers governor in 2015. Mr Wike spoke on Wednesday at a night of tributes held in Abuja in honour of Mr Orbih, a former national vice-chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, South-South.

Mr Orbih, a native of Etsako in Edo, died on August 31 this year.

He was 64.

“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,” Mr Wike said. “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.’”

He said the late PDP leader backed him as governor, donated two bulletproof Mercedes-Benz buses to strengthen his security, and mobilised massive grassroots support across the region.

“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. 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,” Mr Wike explained.

He added, “I will continue to keep my relationship with Dan’s family. I think I will also discuss with the family how to keep the legacies of Dan.”

Magnus Abe, chairman of the board of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said Mr Orbih 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.

Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North in the Senate and former Edo governor, said, “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 how the opposition, led by Dan, will interpret it to the people, I will be better prepared before I do it. That is why I say Dan helped me to be a better governor,” he said.

Mr Oshiohomle condoled with the bereaved families, saying that the late leader built bridges of unity and progress.

PDP presidential candidate, Sandy Onor, described Mr Orbih as “a profound public intellectual, a quintessential lover of Edo people, a defender of Edo heritage, a Nigerian patriot and a social colossus”.

He added, “Dan was a great man by every measure, a true family man, a great husband, and a worthy father.”