In the cynical theatre of Nigerian realpolitik, the Biblical analogy of Jacob and Esau fits perfectly. Professor Sandy Ojang Onor supplies the polished, scholarly voice — the “voice of Jacob” — but the ruthless, calculating hand pulling every string belongs to FCT Minister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the “hand of Esau.”
Onor’s desperation to secure PDP presidential candidacy under the Wike-aligned faction, where he paraded as the near-sole aspirant, is nothing short of political comedy. At a time when genuine national ambition must be rooted in concrete strength, this project reeks of cheap tactical positioning and elite manipulation ahead of 2027.
Electoral Foundations and the 2023 Benchmark
Onor’s résumé as a Professor of History, ex-Local Government Chairman, Commissioner, and self-proclaimed “Orator of the 9th Senate” may excite ivory tower admirers. But presidential contest in Nigeria is a brutal street fight, not a university seminar. The 2023 Cross River governorship election exposed the embarrassing truth: as PDP candidate, Onor scraped a humiliating 179,636 votes (39.75%) against APC’s Bassey Otu’s 258,619 (57.23%). Even worse, he was rejected in his own ward and Etung LGA — his supposed stronghold. This was not a narrow loss; it was a brutal rejection that laid bare Onor’s glaring structural weaknesses in grassroots mobilisation. Any politician who cannot win convincingly in his own backyard has no business eyeing Aso Rock. All the senatorial grammar in the world cannot conceal this fatal deficiency.
Wike’s Character, Strategy, & the Ministerial-Guber Calculus
Nyesom Wike remains the archetypal Nigerian strongman — bold, vindictive, and obsessively transactional. From Rivers Governor to FCT Minister, he has perfected the art of weaponising alliances, punishing disloyalty, and playing godfather across party lines. His shameless endorsement of Tinubu’s second term while clutching PDP structures reveals a man driven by raw power, not principle.
Cross River State political observers are not fooled. Onor’s sudden national elevation is pure Wike choreography: a short-term Trojan horse to hijack Cross River’s ministerial slot in Tinubu’s likely second-term cabinet, using Onor as a disposable bargaining chip. Longer-term, it seeks to artificially prop up PDP in the state for Onor’s 2031 governorship comeback, hoping APC will self-destruct after eight years. Classic Wike — hiding behind intellectual proxies to extend his tentacles of control.
The so-called ambition is therefore a fraud: academic gloss smeared over a strongman’s raw power play. Onor’s awkward attempts to defend Wike’s Tinubu romance only confirm he is a puppet, not a principal.
Timing, Authenticity, and the Burden of Proxy Politics
Launching this farce barely three years after a humiliating gubernatorial thrashing is not just premature — it is insulting to the public’s intelligence. Real presidential politics demands independent structures, organic national support, and proven leadership. This project offers none. It is pure elite recycling: a borrowed platform sustained by one patron’s ego and influence.
Wike’s confrontational style may bulldoze projects and enemies in Rivers, but it exposes the emptiness of strongman proxy politics when forced onto the national stage. Nigerians are increasingly tired of candidates who are mere vessels for godfathers and federal appointment racketeering.
Substance Over Spectacle
Enough of the charade. Ambition is one thing; naked opportunism disguised as service is another. The Nigerian presidency is too serious to be reduced to a pawn in Wike’s never-ending power game. Cross River and the South-South urgently need authentic leaders with real local roots, not recycled proxies wearing borrowed robes.
Until Onor proves he can win his own polling unit without a godfather’s muscle, this presidential foray deserves nothing but contempt — the voice of Jacob, but the domineering, calculating hand of Esau advancing the same old sinister equations.
Nigerian democracy must reject this kind of cynical projection. Only raw political weight, independent strength, and verifiable performance — not clever proxies — should determine who occupies Aso Rock.
Signed:
Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo
Chairman
Cross River State Consultative Forum
Dr. Julius Ochim Okputu
Secretary
Cross River State Consultative Forum
Issued in Calabar
22nd June, 2026
…For Equity. For History. For Progress.
