Category: Politics

The main actors in the deepening crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State chapter, ahead of the 2015 elections, are in two camps. Bisi Olaniyi in Port Harcourt writes that the Abuja forces are led by President Goodluck Jonathan, while the home-based politicians have as leader, Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

The main actors in the deepening crisis in Rivers State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party include:

President Goodluck Jonathan:

The former lecturer-turned-politician is an indigene of Otuoke in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State.

In November 1983, Jonathan left the mainstream civil service for the Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt, as a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences.

With the creation of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), in October 1992, Jonathan was called to serve as an Assistant Director, Ecology, in March 1993 in the Directorate of Environmental Protection Sub-Department of the commission. He performed creditably in that capacity, until he voluntarily left the service of the commission in 1998, having been picked as the running mate to Bayelsa’s former Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, on the platform of the PDP.

On September 15, 2005, Alamieysegha was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police for alleged money laundering and was made to stand trials. He jumped bail and returned to Nigeria on November 21, 2005

A notice of impeachment was then served on Alamieyeseigha by lawmakers led by then Balysea Speaker, Peremobowei Ebebi, a lawyer. After the investigations by a seven-member committee, headed by a Port Harcourt based lawyer, Mr. David Serena Dokubo, Alamieysegha was removed and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was inaugurated as the substantive governor of Balysea state.

He later became Vice President under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Acting President and today President.

Former Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili:

Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili, a medical doctor-turned-politician, is a former Governor of Rivers State (1999 to 2007), when Amaechi, his former Personal Assistant, was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly.

Odili, who hails from Ndoni in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state, was born on August 15, 1948 and he was the thirteenth Governor of Rivers state.

He came to political limelight in 1988/89, when he was elected member and leader of the Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly.

In 1992, he was elected as the deputy governor of Rivers state to Chief Rufus Ada-George, who hails from Okrika. After the third republic ended, Odili was again elected to the National Constitutional Conference and became the Conference Committee Chairman on State Creation and thereafter became the National Secretary of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN). He was elected governor of Rivers state in April 1999 and was re-elected in April 2003.

Odili was an aprant in the presidential race of 2007, but intrigues and power-plays led to the emergence of the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua as the PDP’s presidential candidate.

Dame Patience Jonathan:

The wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, was born on October 25, 1957 and hails from Okrika, Okrika LGA of Rivers state.

It is alleged that the First Lady prefers the representative of the Rivers East Senatorial District, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, to succeed Amaechi in 2015, in order to teach the youthful governor a political lesson for embarrassing him at Okrika in August 2010, during his two-day official visit to Rivers state.

The visit ended on a sour note at Okrika, when Amaechi repeated his decision to demolish Port Harcourt’s over forty waterfront settlements, mostly occupied by Okrika people.

Dame Patience decided to fight for her Okrika people by grabbing the microphone from the governor, while still speaking and told him: “Listen. You must listen to me. I want you to get me clearly.

“I am from here (Okrika). I know the problems of my people, especially land. So, I know what I am talking about. What I am telling you is that you always say you must demolish. That word ‘must’ you are using is not good. It is by pleading. You appeal to the owners of the compounds, because they will not go to exile.”

Listening to their daughter defending them, Okrika people were very happy, but Amaechi was highly embarrassed. To avoid further humiliation or altercation with the President’s wife, the governor quietly left the venue of the elaborate Okrika ceremony and moved to his official vehicle, parked nearby, where he stayed till the end of the programme. Dame Patience also cancelled other programmes lined up for the visit and quickly returned to Abuja.

It is alleged that because of this case, the First Lady has made up her mind to back the political battle against Amaechi.

Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s place of birth is Umuordu-Ubima in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State and he was born on May 27, 1965.

He served as Special Assistant to Odili (1992) and was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly for eight years (1999 to 2007), during which he doubled as the Chairman of Nigerian Speakers’ Conference and performed excellently, before becoming governor on October 26, 2007 through the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of the previous day.

Sir Celestine Omehia,

Omehia, Amaechi’s cousin, who is from the same Ubima, was inaugurated as governor on May 29, 2007, having benefitted from the infamous ‘K-leg saga’ of leaders of the PDP, but sacked by the Supreme Court on October 25, 2007.

Omehia contested for Rivers governorship on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011.

Chief Nyesom Wike:

Wike, a lawyer, is from Rumuepirikom community in Obio/Akpor LGA of the state and was the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and also doubled as the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, before being inaugurated as minister of state for education on July 14, 2011.

The ex-chief of staff was elected twice as the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers state. While in office as the council’s boss, he also served as the President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Local Governments Forum (CLGF).

Senator George Thompson Sekibo:

The senator was born on April 1, 1957 and he is from Ogu Town, the headquarters of Ogu/Bolo LGA of Rivers state.

In December 1987, he was elected as Chairman of the LG council, which is considered as one of the largest heterogeneous LGAs in Rivers state and Nigeria. Indeed, the LG had since been split into five. For his sagacity, Sekibo was duly-honoured with the award of Best Performing Local Government Chairman by the Rivers State Government in 1988.

Following the creation of Okrika LGA in April 1989, Sekibo became the first chairman of the new LGA. In 1999, he was appointed as the Special Adviser on Projects to the Governor of Rivers State, in which capacity he superintended over the execution of special projects in various parts of Rivers state till 2003.

In April 2003, he was elected into the House of Representatives to represent Okrika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency. He also served dutifully as Chairman of the House Committee on Special Duties and Leader of the Rivers State Caucus in the House of Representatives.

In 2007, Sekibo was again elected for a higher responsibility, to represent the Rivers East Senatorial District, where again he proved himself as a quintessential legislator. He was Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals and member of the Senate Committees on Niger Delta, Gas, Federal Character, Commerce and Environment.

His humility in service also endeared him to his colleagues in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, who unanimously elected him the Caucus Leader of the Rivers State National Assembly members. He was re-elected to the Senate for another four-year term (2011-2015).

It is alleged that the incumbent governor is not comfortable with the ambition of Sekibo, since they are from the same senatorial district and the senator is very close to Wike, who is leading the opposition within the PDP.

It is rumored that the misunderstanding was because the calculation by Amaechi is that if he is unable to realise his vice-presidential ambition, through his association with the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who intends to be President in 2015, he will use the Senate as the render of last resort.

Amaechi’s ambition and his activities as NGF chairman have pitched him against his Niger Delta kinsman (President Jonathan), who hails from Otuoke in Ogbia LGA and wants to seek re-election in 2015, claiming that he earlier completed the tenure of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Senator Sekibo is relying on his closeness to the wife of President Jonathan, Dame Patience, who hails from Okrika in Rivers state, to get the PDP’s ticket, which will amount to survival of the fittest, considering Wike’s ambition of also becoming governor in 2015.

Dakuku Adolphus Peterside:

Peterside, 42, the representative of Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro LGA of Rivers state and he is a doctoral student of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

Amaechi, before the PDP’s crisis, had soft spot for Peterside, who is also the Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

Peterside, who is Rivers state’s immediate past Commissioner for Works, was then being favoured to take over from Amaechi by most stakeholders in the PDP, considering Rivers upland/riverine dichotomy in the choice of a governor and his closeness to the helmsman. Amaechi is from the upland part of the state.

Peterside is being very careful.

Otelemaba Dan Amachree:

The Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, Amachree, a Kalabari man, became the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly in 2011 and succeeded Tonye Harry, also from Kalabari part of the state.

The speaker is walking a tight rope. If he does not completely show loyalty to Amaechi, he may be removed. Wike’s group too may restrategise and impeach him, in order to get at the NGF chairman.

The Assembly’s April 22 decision to suspend the chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, Timothy Nsirim, his deputy, Solomon Eke, and all the 17 councillors who are some of the loyalists of the minister of state for education in government, is still being condemned by PDP leaders and other stakeholders, who accused the speaker and the pro-Amaechi lawmakers as rubber-stamp.

The move by some of the members of Rivers House of Assembly to suspend five lawmakers loyal to Wike, will put the speaker on the spot and he may not survive the aftermath, considering the Chief Felix Obuah-led PDP executive’s April 29 suspension of the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, including the speaker.

Amachree and 25 other lawmakers, out of the 32-member Assembly, recently passed a vote of confidence in Amaechi, which was condemned by a cross-section of Rivers people. Immediately the vote of confidence was passed in the governor, all the local government chairmen and councillors across the state equally joined the bandwagon.

Chief Godspower Ake:

Ake, the sacked Rivers PDP Chairman, a former National Vice Chairman, Southsouth, of the PDP, hails from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state. He was removed along with members of his executive on April 15, through the judgment of an Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello, but he expressed optimism of emerging victorious at the appellate court.

The sacked chairman said: “It is disheartening for people to build a house and turn round to destroy it. I met Go Round (Obuah) sometime in the past and he told me that Wike invited him to destroy Amaechi’s structure.

“Wike is not alone in the fight against Amaechi. There are others ‘at the top’, conspiring to destroy Amaechi’s structure. The party is actually not the target, but the Rivers State Government.”

Chief Felix Obuah:

Obuah, the newly-inaugurated Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, aka Go Round, who is a former Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state, was inaugurated in Abuja on April 16 and welcomed to Port Harcourt by a mammoth crowd on April 19, said: “I do not have any weapon to destroy any structure, built on solid rock.

“The issue of reconciliation does not arise at all, since members of my executive and I are not having problem with anybody. There is no quarrel whatsoever. The Abuja High Court has restored our stolen mandate. To God be the glory.

“Chief Wike is one of the leaders of the PDP, the largest political party in Africa. Anybody who falls on the ground, will say the battle is not over. When they won, they celebrated. Whenever they lose, they will accuse the judges of corruption.

“I went to court to reclaim my stolen mandate. I do not want to take issues with Chief Godspower Ake. He is crying because he lost. Chief Ake is my father, by virtue of his age. I do not know whether President Jonathan and Rivers governor are quarrelling. Amaechi should watch his utterances and respect constituted authorities.

“Nobody should cry wolf. I am a peace-loving person. I am not aware on any move to impeach Amaechi. My executive will check the excesses of elected and appointed PDP leaders and members in Rivers state. They have not done well.

Prince Timothy Nsirim:

Nsirim, Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, an astute politician, who performed excellently as council chairman, was sacrificed along with his vice and all the seventeen councillors by being suspended by some members of the Rivers House of Assembly, for being loyal to the minister of state for education.

Nsirim succeeded Wike as Obio/Akpor chairman and sees the minister as his godfather. While showing absolute loyalty to the minister of state for education, the suspended LG helmsman never participated in the Rivers council chairmen’s news conference to condemn the sack of Ake at the official residence of the Chief of Staff, Tony Okocha, opposite the Government House, Port Harcourt, believed to have been sponsored by Amaechi.

Senator Lee Meaba:

Meaba, an Ogoni, until 2011, represented the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly. He fell out with Amaechi, who preferred his confidant (Magnus Ngei Abe) to him during the last election and currently representing the district.

The anger of being deprived representation might have made Meaba to join the opposition in the PDP. He returned from Abuja to Port Harcourt with Obuah on April 19 and all of them were well received by the large crowd at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

Austin Opara:

Opara, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, is an Odili’s supprter but now with the opposition within the PDP and was also with Obuah at the Port Harcourt airport on April 19, but he is always in Abuja.

The former deputy speaker and other anti-Amaechi politicians are ready to cause confusion in Rivers state, thereby paving the way for the declaration of a state of emergency by the Federal Government.

Sergeant Awuse, aka Bulldozer:

Awuse, a former governorship candidate, was always with Amaechi during the 2011 campaigns round the 23 LGAs of the state. Suddenly, he and the NGF chairman fell out and he is now supporting the new PDP chairman and he was with Obuah at the Port Harcourt International Airport on April 19.

Bulldozer is based in Port Harcourt and he is the owner of Visa Karina Hotel in the new Government Reservation Area (GRA) in the Garden City. He is a dogged fighter and will be among politicians who will give Amaechi sleepless nights.

Prince Tonye Princewill:

Princewill, the 2007 governorship candidate of Action Congress (AC), before it was changed to the ACN, who later defected to the PDP, is also interested in taking over from his friend, Amaechi in 2015.

Princewill is the son of the paramount ruler of Kalabari Kingdom, King Theophilus Princewill, who is also the immediate past Chairman of the Rivers Council of Traditional Rulers.

He filed petition at the Election Petitions Tribunal in Port Harcourt, after being rigged out by the PDP in 2007, leading to the emergence of Omehia, then of PDP, as the governor.

The Kalabari Prince continued with his case at the tribunal, until the emergence of Amaechi as governor, with Princewill later revealing that some unnamed PDP leaders offered him money, running into billions of naira, to continue with the case against Amaechi, which he rejected.

Tele Ikuru:

Ikuru, an engineer, an Amaechi’s deputy, who hails from Ikuru Town in Andoni LGA of Rivers state, has been quiet on his 2015 ambition, but he may not be ruled out of the governorship or senatorial race. He spoke with anger, while addressing the teeming supporters of Amaechi in front of the Government House, Port Harcourt on April 20.

If Ikuru does not get the governorship or senatorial ticket of the PDP, as a loyal deputy, Amaechi may nominate him for ministerial or ambassadorial appointment.

When President Goodluck Jonathan assumed the full powers of an elected President on May 29, 2011, he wasted no time in assuring all his compatriots that things would change for the better. He might not have used the word change, but he adopted transformation. Many invested hope in the man who had told them during the campaign that he could connect with the underprivileged because he actually started life wondering what it meant to have the basic necessities of life.

He pledged to change the face of our schools within the shortest possible time, vowed to tame the corruption monster and promote the cause of justice. The President said he would restructure the economy to generate employment and boost its productive base. He also said the polity would begin to wear a new look under his administration.

The signals we have show that the President either merely adopted a slogan or is totally clueless about what should be done. Neither is a compliment. More than two years after, nothing has really changed for the better. The economy is still comatose with the Finance Minister confessing that it could collapse any moment and the average politician is still greedy and aggressive, ready to kill to attain higher offices.

The problem is not that the El Dorado promised is not here yet. We realise that we were in the woods when Jonathan came on the scene. We concede that Nigeria was in a long tunnel and it would take a while to grope out. However, what cannot be justified is that there is no road map. The President is at sea and has shown no ability to mobilise the citizenry or give that push that could move the country to the path of prosperity.

For two years now, the country has been tottering at the bank of collapse. The divisions and strives have exacerbated and, while before Jonathan there was hope of a new beginning, everyone is getting

What General leads his men on a campaign and takes pride that the most important attribute of a President is that he must have insight and foresight. He must be a true leader; one who shows the way. Since Jonathan took the reins of office, the country has been stumbling from one crisis to another. The money he spent on the 2010/2011 campaign showed him as a desperate man. It marked him as one who would do anything to mount the saddle. A desperate man can never make a good leader; he is one who cares only about himself and his interests. He would be over-protective of his friends and associate and paranoid about the intentions of opponents. He thus drives a wedge between the “we” and the “they”.

The crisis being sponsored by the President in Rivers is an indication that he lacks knowledge on Nigerian political history. He probably chose to bring down the roof in the oil-rich state to demonstrate that he is the locus of power. Power does not inhere in one man. The President may be the embodiment of state power, but he must be sound enough to realise that there are competing sources of power, authority and influence. Any emperor or potentate of king who failed to realise this simple and basic fact has, through history, lost all.

Why would the President be sponsoring insurrection in a part of the territory over which he presides? Why would he instruct one of his ministers to go to war with a governor? Why would he be such a disruptive influence as he has been in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum? Why would he choose to limit the range of his vision to his nose ridge as he is doing in Rivers, yet believing that all would be well in the drive towards 2015?

The country is on tenterhooks. No thanks to a President who has refused to rise to the challenge of the moment; a President who thinks his weakness could be covered by the resort to use of naked power. This President obviously does not know that when the drum begins to make very loud noise, it is an indication that it will soon burst.

In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the people of Bamanga Tukur’s zone rejected him, but, because he found favour with Jonathan, his opponents were bludgeoned to surrender at the convention. In Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva had to go.

What would the President do with the Osun and Ekiti States elections next year? A man consumed by the lust for power would not realise when he is setting his own house on fire. Encouraging dissent and sponsoring schism in other parties will do no one any good.

The President has demonstrated an uncanny ability to do anything, especially sinister things. This edifice predated Jonathan and must survive him. He must be checkmated or save from the self destruct button he is about to press. Calling on honest, non-partisan Political Scientists for some hours of lessons on the danger of assuming absolute power and the Nigerian political history may dilute the President’s concentrated knowledge of the zoo and the kingdom of animals. Running a human polity as a lion would the animal kingdom can only lead to one end.

Ponder this, Mr. President

Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that the modus operandi of the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State is in line with an old script perfected by chieftains of Peoples Democratic Party since the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when the strategy was successfully deployed both at the National Assembly and in some states where  the governors lost presidential favour

One of the most intriguing political drama the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seems to have perfected in Nigeria, and is fond of re-enacting now and then, is the act of removing top government officials or sitting governors in a manner that flings open the door of controversy.

Whenever the party’s lawmakers are called upon to re-enact this tragicomic act in any chosen chamber or state, they would, after the usual preambles, joyfully enter the stage as one dimensional characters. Then, they would follow the same old plot, since it seems the script writers never have enough time or patience to alter the plot in any significant detail.

So, as the curtain opens, as the light brightens the stage, and the actors step in one after the other, keen members of the audience would understand the sequence and can easily predict the end of the drama.

Preamble would naturally include deceitful handshakes, allegations and counter allegations, denials and then the show of power. What follows would then include free-for-all fights at the hallowed chamber, use of police, other security operatives or military men. Then, it would be garnished with the tragedy of a missing or broken mace and blood.

The epilogue will constitute a long drawn argument over the legality of the action or over the percentage of the honourable members that sat to execute the act and such like. As has been recorded in the history of the ruling party, the lower the percentage, the better as the intrigues would be more gripping. In that circumstance, the loser would be angry enough to proceed to court for a more elaborate argument.

Since the impeachment of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as the Senate President, it seems this controversial template, evolved by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s PDP henchmen, has been adopted by the party, and has since been reenacted in state assemblies.

So, the battle strategy has essentially remained the same: push out the unfavoured official, using any possible style, Ghana-must-go, full of cash plus raw, primitive force. After that, the debate on the sanctity of democracy can commence and the loser would of course fight from the outside.

Today, that drama is being reenacted in Rivers State, as PDP leadership battles to unseat Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Late last week, the usual preamble was established. As was the case when Obasanjo paid a surprise visit to the late Okadigbo and had the historic dinner with him in his house, hours before Okadigbo’s impeachment, the Rivers crisis was preceded by a surprise turn of events in the relationship between the president and the embattled governor. At the Port-Harcourt Airport, Jonathan openly embraced Amaechi, giving the impression that he had finally forgiven the governor after all.

As was expected by critics, it took only few days before the failed impeachment of Amaechi began.

Before the Rivers drama

Since this special strategy was established and perfected, many top PDP office holders, including state governors, who dared to confront the powers that be in Abuja, have been shown the way out in very brisk and crude circumstances. Even the very few targets who withstood the assault suffered severe political injury as many of them are yet to recover fully.

Some of the governors that had suffered this fate include:

Joshua Dariye

The night preceding the dramatic impeachment of former Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye, there were unusual influx of policemen and soldiers into Jos.

A legislative panel set up to try the governor for alleged corruption had that morning, November 13, 2006, as early as 6.00 am, submitted its report to a 5-man Plateau House of Assembly group, which reportedly enjoyed the support of the Federal Government.

Soon after receiving the report, the 5-man House of Assembly met under tight security and impeached Governor Joshua Dariye. Minutes later, Dariye’s deputy, Michael Botmang, was sworn in by Chief Justice Lazarus Dakyen, who himself, had been removed earlier from office.

Although Abuja denied having any hand in the impeachment saga, informed observers could not reconcile that denial with the fact that as soon as Botmang was sworn in as the new governor, he proceeded to thank the President and the Deputy Senate President then, Mantu, for their contribution to his new exalted position.

This action, confirmed to a very long extent that it was the then President, Chief Obasanjo, and Mantu that made his appointment possible.

It took the court to reinstate Dariye.

Rasheed Ladoja:

Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, who became governor of Oyo State on 29 May 2003, is another governor in Nigeria whose impeachment was linked to his relationship with the leadership of his party, the PDP.

Ladoja’s experience as governor was rather traumatic. Things became awry for him when he fell out with the godfather of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu.

By August 2004, it has beome public knowledge that Ladoja and Adedibu were locked in a fierce struggle over allocation of government appointees and sharing of government funds.

In the ensuing power game, Ladoja lost out as the national leadership of the party, and the Obasanjo- led presidency decided to back the strongman of Ibadan politics. At the heat of the battle, in late 2005, the then PDP national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, advised Ladoja to take instructions from Adedibu. Ladoja could not bring himself to accept such advise and so before he knew what hit him, he was impeached in January 2006 in very controversial circumstances.

At the sitting of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up later to probe a crisis that rocked the Oyo State chapter of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the commission was told how a former factional leader of the union, the late Alhaji Lateef Salako (Eleweomo), presided over the sitting of the state House of Assembly where Ladoja was impeached.

The embattled governor was however reinstated in December 2006.

This could not however be described as total victory as his political career has been haunted since then by the powerful forces that refused to forgive him. His term ended in 2007 and he could not get the party’s ticket for re-election. What is more, in 2008, he faced corruption charges in the ands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Peter Obi

Although he was not in PDP, Governor Peter Obi’s impeachment on November 3, 2006, was carried out by PDP lawmakers in the state house of assembly, using the usual strategy.

The first official announcement of the impeachment in Anambra State came through a press conference, where the speaker then, Mike Balonwu, claimed that 21 lawmakers signed the ‘resolution’ of the impeachment action. At first, it was not certain how many members of the House were physically present at the said sitting, where the impeachment was carried out.

A day before the alleged impeachment, members of the house of assembly had met with representatives of the then president Obasanjo in Asaba , Delta State. They were escorted to Awka by heavy security provided by the police mobile unit.

Reports had it that the house of assembly members arrived Awka at at around 5:00 am and began sitting soon after. While in Delta State, they received the report of a panel of investigation set up to investigate the governor and after deliberating for about an hour, decided to impeach the governor, Peter Obi.

Obi, who protested that the house of assembly members did not form the 2/3rd majority required by the constitution, later went to court to challenge his removal. It was not until February 9, 2007 that the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu restored him to the seat.

Other governors that have tasted the bitter pill, though in different doses include, Dr. Chris Ngige who was kidnapped by armed policemen, Orji Uzor Kalu, who was haunded out of PDP, DSP Alamiesigha, who was impeached and jailed amongs others.

Bisi Olaniyi in Port Harcourt takes a look at the career of Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, and his role in the Rivers political crisis and reports

The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu, Joseph Mbu, an alumnus of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who is from Cross River State, was Oyo State’s police commissioner for six months, before he was posted to Rivers State in March this year.

He joined the police in 1984 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). He previously served as commissioner of police, Mobile Police Unit and is due to retire in less than six months.

As Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu got his first baptism of fire on May 14, 2013, when thousands of women from the 23 local government areas of Rivers state took over the major roads and streets of Port-Harcourt, the state capital, demanding his immediate removal, for allegedly taking sides in the deepening crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The women, clad in black, symbolising mourning, with grandmothers not left out and led by Princess Ure Ejim, first converged on the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, for prayers, before moving to the gate of the Government House and were received by Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who was represented by his deputy, Tele Ikuru, an engineer.

Some of their placards read: “Mbu is a politician”, “Mbu, apologise and go”, “CP Mbu, anti-democracy”, “CP Mbu, do not kill Rivers State”, “CP Mbu must go”, “Go, Mbu go”, “Police are partial”, “Rivers women want peace”, “Mbu, don’t take us to former reign of anarchy” and “CP Mbu, back to sender.”

The following day, some women in white tops, under the umbrella of the Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI), which has the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, as grand patron, protested in support of Mbu and maintained that he should not be removed.

The speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, on May 7, while frowning at the May 6 invasion of the hallowed chamber of the Rivers House of Assembly by armed thugs, with the connivance of the Nigeria police, under the command of Mbu, said that the leadership of the Rivers Assembly had severally alerted the state and the world of the commencement of planned gradual collapse of security and democratic structures of the state, while calling for the transfer of the Rivers commissioner of police.

He said: “On May 6, 2013 our democracy suffered a serious setback. Despite our earlier warning, the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, which is directly adjacent the police headquarters, Moscow Road, witnessed a violent and disruptive takeover by over 300 thugs, under the watchful eyes of Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, who shut the gates of the police headquarters and made it impossible for a formal report to be lodged, while police operatives, working at the assembly complex were ordered to stay away as the siege lasted.”

He added that “In recent past, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu had ordered 250 policemen, accompanied by two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to storm Isale Oyo area of Oyo state and sealed off the palace of the Ashipa of Oyo, without any court order, embarrassing and infuriating the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar.

“Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu was hurriedly transferred to Rivers state – a man with a track record of invading and desecrating constituted authorities.

“We fear for the survival of our democratic structures, freedom to carry out our legitimate legislative duties and the safety of lives and property in Rivers State.

“We condemn in totality, the pettiness of centripetal forces in governance, as foisted on Rivers people by our power-besotted politicians, based in Abuja. There can be no denials anymore of the part of the centre in the unfolding drama.”

Reacting to allegations of partisanship, and use of the presidency against Amaechi, Mbu has said he would never compromise crime, while stressing that he made waves in Oyo state as police commissioner and was specially honoured by the Oyo State House of Assembly, adding that he remains a professional police officer.

It would be recalled that on May 22, the ex-leader of the Niger Delta Vigilance Movement, ‘General’ Ateke Tom; ‘General’ Solomon Ndigbara, aka Osama Bin Ladin; and other ex-militant ‘Generals’ led over ten thousand Rivers people to protest in Port Harcourt, asking Rivers governor to go.

The protesters, under the aegis of the Rivers People Assembly (RPA), from the 23 LGAs of the state, wore white T-shirts, while carraying banners with various anti-Amaechi inscriptions and moved from the Isaac Boro Park to the Government House, Port Harcourt, amid singing, drumming and dancing.

The protesting Rivers people, who declared that they were not sponsored, said they were not happy about the deepening crisis in the PDP, Rivers chapter and also expressed displeasure over the confrontation of President Goodluck Jonathan by Amaechi.

Shortly after the ex-militants’ protest, the police commissioner, Mbu banned protests and demonstration in the state, but Amaechi declared that he would soon lead Rivers people to protest against the Federal Government and Mbu.

Ateke Tom, later in an interview, said: “Rivers commissioner of police is doing well. They want to use Mbu to arrest and kill people, but he said no,” while the Chairman of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC), Anyakwee Nsirimovu, declared that the Rivers police boss had failed, by acting unprofessionally.

Also, the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, also declared that Mbu was taking sides in the political crisis and should be removed immediately.

These comments had reportedly led to Mbu, threatening to arrest the top officials. But a Rivers State High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt and presided over by Justice Adolphus Enebele, on May 22, issued an interim order restraining the state’s commissioner of police from arresting the speaker and the chief of staff. Enebele gave the interim order, following an exparte motion brought by the chief of Staff and the speaker.

The Rivers commissioner of police, however, declared that no court order could prevent him from arresting the two top officials of the Rivers state government, whenever he was ready to pick them.

Mbu said: “The speaker has raised very serious issues about security threats and about the attempt to assassinate the governor (Rivers), His Excellency and the chief security officer of this state. That is a very serious issue and the speaker of the House of Assembly will be invited and will be interrogated to give more facts and throw light into this information.

On whether he will give Amaechi permit, when he decides to lead Rivers people to protest injustice soon, the police boss said simply: “Until then.”

The Rivers police commissioner also declared that he was not in the state to satisfy any individual, but had great respect for Amaechi.

Mbu said: “I got the hint by 5:30 in the morning of May 22, that it appeared there would be a peaceful protest. We did not know exactly from which direction. I call all my officers. In the morning, I was the one who deployed men of the Counter Terrorist Unit, with red berets, around Government House.

“We had a visiting AIG (Jonathan Johnson, from Zone 6, Calabar), who was on a maiden tour of this command and I was with him.

“They (protesting ex-militants) were blocked at the Isaac Boro Park and they were addressed to go back, but they reconvened at the Government House. I deployed four Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) in Government House.

“I was with the governor and my visiting AIG in Government House. When we finished, we came out. All my officers were around Government House and we were able to send them (ex-militants) out.

“I sent text message to His Excellency (Governor Amaechi) and I said: ‘Your Excellency sir, we have dispersed them.’ He replied my text message and said: ‘Thank you very much.’

“While I was in Government House, I called my IG, to let him know what was on the ground and the IG directed that I should ban public procession and peaceful protest, until further notice and whoever wants that, should apply to me.

“So, when the governor replied me with: ‘thank you very much,’ I sent him another text message: ‘Your Excellency, thank you sir. I want to add that I have explained things to the IG and he has directed that I should ban peaceful protest or procession and anybody who wants to do that should apply.’ He never replied me.

“I am here (in Rivers State) to do my job. I am not here to satisfy any individual. Once I satisfy my conscience, the people will see for themselves, who is saying the truth. I respect my governor (Amaechi). He is my boss. I do not want to take issues with him.

“His Excellency is the Chief Executive and Number One Security Officer of this state and he is highly respected. For this reason, I reserve my comments on these and other accusations against me by him directly or his aides, for now.

“I want to re-emphasize that the ban on public procession or protest is still in force and whoever wants to go on public procession or protest must seek my approval.”

This response notwithstanding, the representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Magnus Ngei Abe, has alleged that Mbu was not behaving as a professional police officer, but taking sides in the deepening crisis, especially for supporting militants to protest, after he banned protests in the state.

As the Rivers political crisis unfolds, and as opponents and supporters bandy allegations and counter allegations, the question on the lips of concerned observers remains, is Mbu a professional or a politician? Only time will tell.

The Lagos State Contributory Pension Scheme (LSCPS) fund base is now N39.5billion.

Director-General of the State Pension Commission, Rotimi Hussain,disclosed this yesterday at the 4th pre-retirement seminar for workers due for retirement from the state’s public service between July and December 2013, held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja.

Hussain also said about 3,304 retirees from the state’s public service, are currently enjoying retirement benefits, adding that N18.031billion has been credited to the Retirement Saving Accounts (RSA) of the retirees between the period.

He said the seminar will, among other things, explain the procedures for processing their end of service benefits, and how to ensure that their Retirement Savings Accounts are up to date with payment of their contributions.

“This feat is a clear indication that the contributory pension scheme is working perfectly well in Lagos State. The scheme is the best to have happened to Nigerian workers, especially as it came to douse tension and erase the fear usually being entertained by workers about what the future holds for them in retirement, with regards to their pension benefits.

“The CPS has come to put a hold to the challenges workers faced in accessing their retirement benefit under the Pay-Go Scheme and make the retirement relatively easy in respect of the 7.5 per cent of the basic rent and transport allowances from the salary of every worker, and the 7.5 per cent contribution by the state government.”

On the rationale for organising the seminar, Hussain said government decided to create the forum to help the retirees prepare for their physical, emotional and financial well-being in retirement.

He added that the seminar would place them in a better position and right frame of mind to enable them build a vibrant and rewarding life in retirement.