Ihunwo made his position known on Thursday, January 8, 2026, through a statement shared on his official X account, where he strongly disputed Wike’s assertion.
His reaction followed comments credited to Wike and reported by *Vanguard*, in which the former governor accused his successor of cancelling the employment of 10,000 Rivers youths and abandoning several projects initiated before the end of his tenure in 2023.
Speaking during a recent public engagement, Wike claimed that the alleged decision by Governor Fubara negatively affected thousands of families across the state. “I employed Rivers State youths, 10,000.
The person we handed over power to, instead of allowing the 10,000 youths, he cancelled that job. A bad child is a bad child,” Wike stated.
However, Ihunwo dismissed the claim as misleading and untrue, insisting that no such mass employment ever took place under the former governor’s administration.
According to him, the narrative being promoted does not align with the facts surrounding the purported recruitment exercise.
Reacting to the allegation, Ihunwo challenged Wike to publicly present evidence or name individuals who benefited from the supposed employment scheme.
He argued that without proof, the claim remains a political statement rather than a verifiable achievement.
In his post, Ihunwo explained that the process of employing the said 10,000 youths was neither initiated nor concluded before Wike left office.
He emphasized that no appointment letters were issued and no formal employment structure was put in place to validate the claim.
According to Chijioke Ihunwo, who said he was directly involved in the process at the time, the recruitment never moved beyond public announcements. “The claim that 10,000 youths were employed in Rivers State is false.
The process was never started or concluded. It was a mere political statement. As NYCN Chairman, I was mandated to anchor the process. Employment letters were not issued to anyone,” he wrote.
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