NGScorecard

Implicit in contesting Rivers State's 1999 governorship: serve the mandate and sustain civilian rule in a volatile oil state.

Odili was elected in 1999, re-elected in April 2003, and served two full terms to May 2007, handing over to Rotimi Amaechi without a break in civilian government.

To use the resources of one of Nigeria's wealthiest states — a major oil producer and derivation beneficiary — to visibly improve infrastructure and services.

Later accounts describe relatively few durable improvements over the two terms despite Rivers being, on paper, among the best-resourced states, with the period instead dominated by allegations about the handling of state finances.

To manage Rivers State's oil and derivation revenues transparently and within the law.

In January 2007 the EFCC produced a report on the Odili administration citing what it called severe indications of fraud, conspiracy, conversion of public funds, foreign-exchange malpractice, money laundering, stealing and abuse of oath of office. No prosecution followed, in part because of court orders Odili obtained (see judgments).

To protect residents and oil infrastructure amid rising cult and militia activity in the Niger Delta.

Rivers' security deteriorated over the term. Amnesty International warned in September 2004 of an increasingly alarming situation driven by fighting between rival armed groups, and an armed attack on the governor's convoy in December 2004 killed two people. Armed groups nurtured in Rivers politics of this period fed directly into the post-2005 escalation of Niger Delta militancy.