The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2015

  • 2015: ‘People ‘ll decide their representatives’

    2015: ‘People ‘ll decide their representatives’

    Edo State Deputy Governor Dr. Pius Odubu has said only the people would decide their representatives in next year’s general elections.

    He said just like the All Progressives Congress (APC) had always done, the people would be given the opportunity to decide who would represent them in elective positions.

    Odubu spoke when he hosted the Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, in Benin City at the weekend.

    The lawmaker said his visit was to inform the deputy governor of his aspiration for the Edo South ticket.

    Odubu said Osagie was one of the many aspirants for the position.

    He said the party would provide a level-playing field for the aspirants.

    The deputy governor added: “My message is clear. Many have come and many more will come for this same purpose, but the party will provide a level-playing field for all of them.

  • 2015: PDP, APGA pact collapses

    2015: PDP, APGA pact collapses

    The romance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) may be over if the decision of some federal lawmakers in Anambra State to ditch APGA for the ruling party is anything to go by, reports Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo

    The exit of Mr. Peter Obi as the Anambra State governor appears to be generating unexpected developments within his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    Almost five months after he stepped down as the Anambra helmsman, following the expiration of his two terms in office, Obi has slowed down on his political activities within his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and only making few appearances at mostly religious events.

    While he held sway as governor, elected on the platform of an opposition party, Obi enjoyed a close relationship with the presidency much to the discomfort of three other South-East governors who belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    That the former was one man in whom President Goodluck Jonathan was well pleased was  not in doubt. Not only was he appointed by the president as his Honourary Economic Adviser, Obi was also appointed into the very powerful Economic Management Team (EMT), which is the economic advisory body to the President. And for the entire period of his second term as governor, Obi also served as the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum.

    A few weeks before Obi handed over to his protégé, Willie Obiano, in March, speculations were rife that Jonathan had resolved to appoint him as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to replace Anyim Pius Anyim as compensation for his loyalty.

    Not sure of the president’s stance on the issue, sources disclosed that the report resulted into a crisis of confidence between Obi and Anyim, even as some powerful figures in the PDP were alleged to have fiercely opposed the idea.

    Then, came another report that Obi would be appointed as the new Minister of Aviation to replace Ms. Stella Oduah who reportedly resigned on February 12 in connection with her alleged role in the controversial purchase of two BMW cars for N255 million for her personal use.

    As days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, Anyim not only managed to hold on to his seat, the president had also appointed a new Aviation Minister in the person of the former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka.

    Weeks before Chidoka’s appointment was made public, many key stakeholders were optimistic that Obi’s appointment into the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was a foregone conclusion.

    In an interview with an online medium, an APGA chieftain and a member of the House of Representatives, Victor Ogene, defended the alleged plan by the President to pick the former governor as minister.

    “The President appoints his ministers in conformity with the federal character principle and by that, each state is supposed to get at least one ministerial slot. The constitution did not talk about political parties. Secondly, the former governor (Obi) has acquainted himself very well and don’t forget that there has been precedents of people coming in from other political parties to be ministers.”

    Speaking further on why Obi deserved to get the ministerial slot, Ogene argued, “Peter Obi has shown that beyond his own political meaning, he is one person who goes for anything Nigeria. He has distinguished himself in terms of work ethics, in terms of personal examples, in terms of infrastructural development and in terms of proper deployment of the resources of the people of Anambra State and I think he can replicate that in many folds at the federal level.

    “With somebody like Mr. Peter Obi, who is “particular” for due process, you can be sure that that (the Aviation) sector would do him just better.”

    So, what went wrong? The Nation gathered that while the President was initially disposed to having Obi to join his cabinet, hawks in his party and kitchen cabinet convinced him otherwise, arguing that doing so is tantamount to  strengthening opposition parties against the PDP ahead the 2015 general elections.

    “Top PDP members vehemently kicked against any ministerial appointment for Obi. They told the President that if Obi wants to serve as minister, he should defect to the ruling party,” a source quipped.

    Another PDP chieftain in Anambra State who spoke to The Nation on the condition of anonymity gave another version why Obi seems to have lost out in the power play. “The President has realised that Obi is not as popular as it was widely believed,” he said.

    Defection saga and APGA’s future

    The defection of Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, a ranking member of the House of Representatives from Anambra State from APGA to the PDP a few days ago was as unexpected as it was shocking to many people in the state.

    Ekwunife had hinged her decision to dump APGA on its factionalisation, alleged lack of internal democracy, coupled with lack of tolerance to contrary opinion by the party leadership.

    Plans are alleged to have been concluded by three other federal lawmakers from the state to leave APGA for the PDP. Mentioned in the defection plot include the Deputy Spokesman of the lower House, Victor Afam Ogene; Deputy Chairman, Committee on Capital Market, Chris Azubogu and Cyril Egwuatu of Onitsha North/Onitsha South Federal Constituency.

    On Thursday last week, the concerned lawmakers held a meeting with the National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu and other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) where modalities for their defection were said to have been fine-tuned.

    One major condition allegedly tabled by the lawmakers was the granting of a special waiver to enable them contest for a fresh term next year, a request that was speedily granted, according to a source privy to the outcome of the meeting.

    The fractured relationship between PDP and APGA, a source revealed, is a deliberate policy by PDP National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, to strengthen and reposition the party irrespective of previous relationship that existed between the ruling party and other parties. “This policy will be strictly enforced no matter whose ox is gored,” said a source.

    The APGA leadership is, however, not giving up in taking measures to keep its house in order.

    A scheduled meeting convened by the Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, with the APGA lawmakers took place on the same day Muazu also met with the three politicians. The main agenda of the meeting was to plead with the lawmakers not to exacerbate the brewing crisis in the party and remain loyal to Obi, who is the party’s Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT).

    But if the feelers from the camp of the lawmakers are anything to go by, their defection to the PDP, according to sources, would be formally effected in the next few weeks, even as another federal lawmaker from one of the federal constituencies in Awka, the state capital, is also allegedly muting the idea of jumping ship from APGA to the PDP.

    Is this beginning of the end for APGA or would the party survive the ongoing attempts by federal forces to decimate its ranks? Time will tell.

  • INEC ready for 2015 -Igini

    INEC ready for 2015 -Igini

    Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Cross River State, Mr Mike Igini, spoke with reporters on a range of issues in Calabar. NICHOLAS KALU was there. Excerpts

    If you were to suggest improvements that will strengthen our electoral system prior to the imminent elections, which will you prioritize?

    My suggestions will not be different from the suggestions of my chairman, Professor Jega, to the National Assembly for improving the electoral system. Those suggestions are in the public domain. However, in prioritizing, from experience, I will put three key things as priorities, namely; the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission with an investigating arm, manned by experienced police and security officers independent of the  mainstream security agencies,  police force and criminologist adept in electoral forensic, a judicial arm made up of credible and experienced judicial officers adept in the legislative framework for elections; second is the need to improve the process of party nominations to make the party guidelines transparent and susceptible to unequivocal administrative understanding by INEC and judicial interpretation by the courts if necessary; and thirdly, the need for all eligible Nigerians to collect their Permanent Voters Card in the on-going distribution of PVC exercise nationwide until the nation is able to institute a credible National Identity Card mainframe database, which will be used as the key reference for voter eligibility.

    Is INEC prepared for the 2015 General Election then?

    It is work in progressive since after the 2011 election. We are prepared for the expected and preparing for the uncertain. We have rational plans for the expected as statutory duties while there are emergency plans where necessary for the uncertain. But based on our current institutional memory, we are better prepared than in 2011 as evident in a number of elections conducted after the 2011 elections.

    Would you say the National Conference is worth the trouble?

    Yes indeed it was well worth it. Their key mandate was to define a Nigerian ideology. That is asking the question, who are we and where do we want to go? And they responded by consensus that, “we are a federal democracy that should domesticate its democratic practices by ensuring rotation of power in democratic offices at all levels to ensure inclusion and integration”. That we will be better off as a country if we allow local government to be more functional and effective as matters of spheres of federating states that should determine their establishment, desired numbers  and funding of same and other suggested ways of ensuring their independence and effectiveness. They affirmed that we will be more secured if we devolve policing to federating units and allow this level of policing to collaborate and share cognate but differentiated responsibilities of jurisdiction with the federal policing services. They consensually agreed that derivation is important to generate incentives for developing wider pools of revenue for the national sustainability and hence accepted in principle an increase of derivation to not less than 18%, but they had dissensus on whether an additional 5% should be reserved as a national or regional reconstruction and rehabilitation allocation, a matter that they left to the executive to resolve based on informed decisions, from technocracts rather than emotive combustions from group interests. Given that after nine years, by these and many other innovative suggestions, they have largely affirmed the position of the 2005 conference, I will say that it was well worth it. Now we know who we are, and what we want to become, the next step is to find out if all stakeholders have the courage to live by these convictions by putting this consensus to a referendum of the Nigerian people. Good enough, INEC under part 1 section 2(c) of the Act has the sole statutory duty to carry out a referendum pursuant to any act of the National Assembly as it relates to the outcome of the national conference.

    What about their suggestion for 18 new states after creating 1 state for the South East Zone, would you also call this a worthwhile endeavour?

    I believe their suggestion/resolution is rooted in the yearning for development to as many areas of the country as possible, while I am in agreement with the motivation for the resolution, I only agree with the  suggestion for a state from the South-East on the basis of historical and administrative equity, it does not necessarily rob any current state of anything, if it is viewed from a revenue generation perception rather than a revenue sharing perception because it will not be created from a new geographical space but rather from currently existing states.

    The security situation is proving intractable, why do you think the issue of the kidnapped Chibok girls is so difficult to resolve?

    It is difficult, mainly because the belligerent groups have very polar differences. What Boko Haram wants are not things you negotiate in a democracy. In a democracy you can have rights to worship whatever way you chose as long as you respect the right of others to do the same. You see the federal government will be at fault if the government was persecuting Boko Haram and preventing them from worshipping peacefully, but in this case, it is Boko Haram which is actually “persecuting” people, demanding territorial control with absolute powers to dictate modes of worship, social interaction and so forth in Nigeria, this makes it difficult for the federal government to be seen to accommodate such a goal.

    The Nigerian government has shown its willingness to protect its citizens by committing men and materials in combat against Boko Haram. It has even accepted international assistance, even where its international reputation may be sullied by doing so, just to show that the girls and other victims of Boko Haram insurgency are to be protected by any means necessary. The government also gave support to a former president, a distinguished international personality, to talk with the insurgents, instead of talking, they killed the purported member of their groups’ relative who was willing to talk, then a committee was set up to explore ways of talking. In response you have had more killings, bombing of innocent people who are trying to eke a living, destruction of public and private property, and more recently, recruitment of innocent girls to kill themselves and others for a vaguely defined mission.

    To find negotiable remedies, what a group wants should be clear and achievable, what Boko Haram wants, from my position as an interested Nigerian, appears to me to be nothing other than chaos. Recently, we heard they aligned themselves with the Iraqi ISIS, in other words, they want a global caliphate, which means that ultimately in return for the Chibok girls, even if they exchange prisoners with them, the war is only just beginning until Nigeria as a nation is under absolute regime of sharia. How do you negotiate with that? The government is having to try to understand what they really want, who they really are and how to deal with them, the world also wants to know, but as it is, we can only understand them from their actions which bears many semblances with the actions of zealots in Mali, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Chechnya and so forth; if this is what we are dealing with, then the outcome, whether we negotiate or not is bleak, because in all these places they have not shown that they are amenable to reasonable compromise or are willing to share society in which religion is an optional choice with others, Chechnyan rebels killed almost 175 children when Russia tried to free school children from them in Beslan, in Russia, and were willing to die in a theatre than to surrender their hostages in Moscow. Islamic zealots in Iran held 52 American diplomats in Iran for 444 days and America lost 8 servicemen in a botched attempt to free them; given such a choice, they are telling the world that you either destroy me or fall under our subjection,  which is a very Hobbesian choice. What reasonable choices can you make with someone who straps a bomb on a ten year old, or shoots at you from a house in which his children and wife are staying, knowing you are better armed as we saw in the case from Kaduna, we are not dealing with normality here and this needs time to process, our soldiers are trained to respect the Geneva Convention, on warfare, these guys don’t have such cares. We need to wrap our heads around that and develop unconventional and epistemic responses.

  • 2015: Ebonyi political landscape gathers steam

    2015: Ebonyi political landscape gathers steam

    Sam Egburonu reports that the recent impeachment of the former  Speaker of House of Assembly and the battle for the successor of Governor Martin Elechi have added pep to the politics of Ebonyi State 

    In the past three weeks, since July 21, when 18 members of the state House of Assembly impeached the former Speaker, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazurunku, and replaced him with Hon. (Mrs.) Helen Nwaobashi, the political developments in Ebonyi State have been both interesting and intriguing.

    In fact, the political scene, which has remained calm and peaceful for a very long time, suddenly recorded high-wired violence that involved lawmakers.

    For example, within two days after the impeachment, two lawmakers were attacked, leading to tense political atmosphere that has left supporters of both the former Speaker and that of the new Speaker suspicious of one another.

    It began on Tuesday of the week, when a lawmaker, Hon. Nnenna Nweme, described by insiders as one of the strong supporters of the new Speaker, was attacked by some elements described as thugs.

    The next day, Wednesday, the Majority Leader of Ebony State House of Assembly, Hon. Samuel Nwali, was that afternoon abducted by unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.

    Nwali, who is believed to be a strong supporter of the new Speaker, Hon. Helen Nwobasi, was kidnapped at his residence at Watchman Street in Abakaliki.

    Reports said that the kidnap of the House member, who represents Ikwo South State Constituency, may not be unconnected with the crisis rocking the House of Assembly over the impeachment of the former Speaker, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku.

    He was rescued by security operatives on Thursday morning “within the boundaries between Ikwo Local Government Area and Cross River State.”

    Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, as well as members of the State House of Assembly who are loyal to the Speaker-elect, was at the premises of the Ebonyi Directorate of State Services, DSS, to see the victim.

    In her maiden formal interaction with journalists Nwaobashi admitted that she never anticipated that the political landscape would swing around so much that she would emerge the Speaker at this point. “I never dreamed of becoming Speaker because we were only four women in the House. Even in the previous House of Assembly of which I was a member, there were only two of us with the other person, Hon. Dorothy Obasi, serving as Deputy Speaker. So my election as speaker came to me as a surprise but it provides hope to women in politics that the future is bright. Also my election as Speaker in an Assembly dominated by men, shows that the campaigns by the wife of President, Dame Patience Jonathan and Chief Josephine Elechi; for women participation in politics is bearing fruits. I think the men are beginning to see that women are not coming to compete but to complement their efforts in nation building. That is how I see my election as Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly,” she said.

    By insiders say the political development in the state is beyond the men in the House simply deciding to give the leadership to the current Speaker.

    “This current development is not by chance. No. It has to do with calculations for the 2015 elections. To achieve the expectation of some powerful political elements in the state, some officers and political forces considered as stumbling blocs have to be pushed aside. There would be a lot of changes in the political texture of this state before 2015. We all want obvious change,” said a top government official who pleaded not to be named.

    Nwaobashi herself, offering explanation on the process that threw her up has these to say: “The beauty of democracy is that it gives room for change. We were all elected in the first place to represent various constituencies in the State. That is to mean that all members are equal. The election of one person among us to serve as speaker or leader is just an administrative necessity for moderation and direction of debates and discussions in the plenary. The point I want to make is that the position of Speaker is by the grace and judgment of all members. Therefore if for any reason the members feel that the speaker or their leader is not behaving according to their expectations or begins to act as Lord, they exercise the right to change him or her. This is what happened. People should not forget this fact that it is the responsibility of members of the House of Assembly to choose who represents them as Speaker. You must have read the resolution of the House for the impeachment of the former Speaker. May be I should take your mind back to some of the reasons that prompted the removal of Hon Chukwuma Nwazunku from office as Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. Majority of the members resolved that the former Speaker was conducting himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of the constitution by not ensuring that sittings were as frequent as to satisfy the demands of the Constitution. You can see with me that this is a grievous issue. The members saw this error and felt that the speaker was leading us into temptation such that at the end of the day we may be invited to sign for sittings we never had. The impeachment of Nwazunku therefore was the best way for the members to avoid a situation where we may be compelled by him to fill the sitting Attendance Register so as to escape the censure of the constitution and the wrath of those who elected us. So you can see that if after seven months of the year we were able to sit for just seventeen times, there was no way we could fulfill the 181 days stipulated in section 104 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So the members studied the situation and felt that the former Speaker was being distracted by his estate business and decided to change him. His impeachment followed the laid down procedures. The other reasons including incompetence, corrupt enrichment and violation of the code of conduct as spelt out in the constitution are also very weighty allegations. I think that is the much I can say for the process that brought about my election as Speaker.”

    Besides the impeachment saga, another issue that has added some pep to the politics of Ebonyi State is the issue of who would succeed Governor Martin Elechi. While the quest for a young governor after Elechi has dominated the demands of the youths, there is also the battle between the North and the South.

    It would be recalled that former governor Sam Egwu (North) handed over power to the incumbent, Governor Martin Elechi (Central). So, the calculation is that in 2015, power would move to the South, according to the principles of charter of equity. But some insiders say the camp even the governor’s family is divided over the candidate to hand over PDP ticket.

    Mazi Ukoma Udo, a community leader in Ebony South however told The Nation on Thursday that “Governor Elechi assured us that it was the turn of the old Afikpo bloc to produce his successor.  Since the proclamation, the Izzi clan has tightened her belts to ensure a twist, so that the southern agenda does not materialise. But we will not allow such a game plan.”

    Given these intrigues, Ebonyi political landscape has suddenly gathered steam ahead 2015.

  • 2015 AYC qualifier: Iheanacho, Success to miss Lesotho tie

    2015 AYC qualifier: Iheanacho, Success to miss Lesotho tie

    Manchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho and Spain-based striker Isaac Success will miss Nigeria’s 2015 AYC qualifier against Lesotho.

    Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba further disclosed that Chidera Eze from FC Porto, Musa Yahaya of Tottenham Hotspurs as well as Dele Alampasu, who is training with Genk in Belgium, will equally not be available for the August 16 match in Kaduna.

    “Kelechi (Iheanacho) was to have been released by Manchester City at least a week before the match, but the club’s recruitment officer has called us back to say they have plans for him and so he will no longer be available,” Manu told AfricanFootball.com.

    “Isaac Success will also not be released by Granada as he has begun playing for the first team.

    “Tottenham Hotspur have said they will only release Musa Yahaya for the return leg match.

    “But we can cope because we have an abundance of talent.

    “For example, take the case of Wasiu Jimoh, who just scored four goals in a test game (against Amakson on Thursday). He has been on the fringes of the first team and took his chance with four well-taken goals.

    “And so we have the players to get the result we need in the game against Lesotho.”

  • South-South governors, PDP leaders endorse Jonathan for 2015

    South-South governors, PDP leaders endorse Jonathan for 2015

    South-South governors and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders yesterday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for next year’s election.

    The endorsement was the high point of a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu, as part of his zonal tour of the South-South.

    The leaders in a communiqué read at the end of the meeting by the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Chibudom Nwuche, hinged their endorsement on the giant strides recorded by the Jonathan administration.

    The communiqué reads: “We acknowledge the giant strides of Mr. President in the areas of education, agriculture, health, tourism, re-invention of the railway system, roads and other infrastructural development across the country. There is also focus on economic empowerment of Nigerians.

    “In view of his (President’s) doggedness in pursuing his transformation agenda for the country, the South-South is in support of his administration. We, therefore, endorse President Jonathan for the forthcoming  presidential election so as to continue his transformation agenda, which transcends all spheres of our lives.”

    It was signed by Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State.

    The leaders of the region condemned the spate of violence and insecurity in the country, which they observed was being tackled by President Jonathan.

    They pledged their “unalloyed and unwavering support for the fight against terrorism,” vowing “to be strong advocates of the unity of the country.”

    Urging Nigerians to identify with the PDP, they praised the leadership of the party led by Mu’azu.

    Others in attendance were the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dakwambo, the South-South lawmakers in the National Assembly, chairmen of the party in the six South-South states, among others.

  • Disquiet over Okorocha’s Imo 2015 comment

    Disquiet over Okorocha’s Imo 2015 comment

    •Aide defends governor 

    The political atmosphere in Owerri, the Imo State capital, was heated up at the weekend following Governor Rochas Okorocha’s comments on the state’s ideal governorship candidate in 2015.

    Okorocha, speaking at the yearly Oru-Owerri Festival, said people with questionable character, including “419 persons” and women who beat their husbands would not be voted for.

    The governor said the would-be governor must be godly, honest and decent.

    His statement angered many aspirants who stormed out of the venue.

    A senator allegedly wept before moving out of the venue with aides and other supporters.

    Other aspirants, who earlier adorned the venue with their campaign posters, left furiously as a large part of the crowd continued to urge Okorocha on, despite spirited efforts by some hired thugs to shout him down.

    But a statement by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, warned politicians, especially governorship aspirants, to jettison intolerant attitudes that could heat up the polity.

    The statement reads: “It is unfortunate that following the exciting ovation the governor had received from the crowd and from all the corners of the venue of the event, some of the governorship aspirants in question had resorted to inciting few of their supporters around, out of envy, to begin to misbehave, while the governor was still making his emotional speech.

    “Governorship aspirants should, for goodness sake, appreciate the fact that there is a sitting governor in the state, and courtesy, even protocol demands that he should be accorded the full respect due for the Office of the Executive Governor of a state and indeed, the occupant of the office.

    “Anybody aspiring to be governor of the state, who cannot be civil or gentle enough to respect the person currently on the seat, cannot be seen as qualified and serious enough to be governor.”

    The statement noted that “the spontaneous ovation that greeted the arrival of the governor at the event and the thunderous ovation that also greeted his speech at the occasion were all the creations of the innocent large crowd. That has been the case. That was also the reason the same people didn’t want the governor to talk at the burial church service of the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.”

    Onwuemeodo said it should be the sitting governor who should be concerned about what the governorship aspirants were “saying or doing, or about the level of their popularity.”

    He expressed regret that in the case of Imo State, “the aspirants get cowed and even terrified whenever they meet Governor Okorocha at public functions.”

    He urged all the governorship aspirants to “cultivate the spirit or culture of tolerance and bear with Governor Okorocha whenever Imo people celebrate him. When you appreciate good tidings, obviously it will get to you.”

    Earlier, the paramount ruler of Owerri, Dr. Emmanuel Njemanze, said Owerri people appreciated the infrastructural facilities the administration has put in place.

    “Your Excellency, we thank you for the bridges across River Nworie, which have brought to limelight the true concept of the twin-city master plan of Owerri town, with New Owerri across the bridges. Traffic congestion even at its peak periods has been minimised. There is a comparatively free flow of traffic in and out of the state capital”.

  • Rivers 2015: Wike ‘ll meet his waterloo, says APC

    Rivers 2015: Wike ‘ll meet his waterloo, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, has said the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, would meet his political waterloo next year.It described his governorship ambition as a pipe dream.

    Rivers APC, through its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, noted yesterday in Port Harcourt that members of the ruling party in the state (APC) would be happy to have Wike, the former Chief of Staff, Government House, as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), thereby making it easy to emerge victorious.

    APC said: “We have noted Wike’s boast that he will beat other candidates, even in their wards, in the governorship election. This is nothing, but the blowing of hot air by a political Lilliputian, who seems to have forgotten how he achieved the little relevance that is now intoxicating him.

    “Wike owes his position as a junior minister to the Rivers State APC leader, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The same Amaechi, who made Wike, will politically un-make him during the 2015 governorship election. Wike is living in the past, as eminent persons that made him somebody politically are now in the APC.

    “We know Wike’s tricks and we know how to cage him, when necessary. So, without us, he is a nobody politically in Rivers State. Wike is the easiest candidate for us to beat and that was why we fasted for him to emerge as the PDP’s candidate in the poll. We are continuing in prayer along this line. The thrashing that Wike and the PDP will receive from the APC during the election will be so heavy that he may be forced to consider premature retirement from politics.”

    The ruling party in Rivers reminded the two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government that he and Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), are from the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, in the multi-ethnic state.

    APC said: “Wike has a lot of factors counting against him. One of these disadvantages is that he is from the Ikwerre axis. The fact remains that no son or daughter of Ikwerre will succeed Governor Amaechi, an Ikwerre, who would have governed Rivers State for eight years by May 2015. So, that rules Wike out.

    “The Minister of State for Education has also boasted that the primary and secondary schools Amaechi has built do not exist in other parts of Rivers State, besides Port Harcourt. If Wike is elected, God forbid, he is capable of bulldozing the 23 model secondary schools and the over 300 model primary schools scattered in other local governments, sparing, may be, only those in Port Harcourt.

    “Rivers people will not take such a risk with somebody whose only achievement as acting Minister of Education was to ensure that our universities were closed for over six months, while the polytechnics and colleges of education were closed for about one year. Wike should stop wasting his time, because he obviously does not have what it takes to govern Rivers State.”

    The ruling party admonished the peace-loving people of the state to support Amaechi and his administration.

  • Ijaw youths set for 2015 elections

    The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has started electing zonal officers in the Niger Delta, beginning with the election of officers into the central and western zones.

    The body said it chose to carry out the elections to prepare itself towards a vibrant organisation ahead of the 2015 elections.

  • 2015 CAN Under-17 Cracker: Umeh sure of Eaglets

    2015 CAN Under-17 Cracker: Umeh sure of Eaglets

    Acting President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Chief Mike Umeh said on Friday that he is confident the U-17 National Team, Golden Eaglets, will overpower their counterparts from Democratic Republic of Congo in Abeokuta on Sunday to reach the final round of qualifying series for 2015 African U-17 Championship.

    “I have no doubt about the ability of the Golden Eaglets to not only win, but win convincingly. I have followed the exploits of the team since Emmanuel Amuneke took over and I know for certain that he has been working hard to ensure he raises another world–conquering squad,” Umeh said in Abuja on Friday.

    Nigeria won a record fourth FIFA U-17 World Cup title in the United Arab Emirates last year, with Manu Garba as Head Coach and Amuneke as his first assistant, but the world champions have been promoted to the U-20 team and the former African Footballer of the Year has had to start from the scratch.

    “Amuneke has shown excellent determination as a Coach, as he used to show in his playing days. His new boys did not fare badly at the WAFU B Tournament in Togo and their victory over the Congolese in Kinshasa shows the improvement the squad has made generally,” Umeh added.

    The Eaglets take on the Les Leopards at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta on Sunday in the second leg of a second round qualifying fixture, with Nigeria one goal up from the opening leg in Kinshasa last Saturday.

    Umeh said further: “I have the assurance of the coaching crew that they will not under–rate the Congolese, which is always a good way to approach a match.”

    The winner of the fixture between Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo will take on the winner between Ethiopia and Gabon in the final round of the series in September. Both teams played a scoreless draw in Addis Ababa in the first leg.

    Next year’s African U-17 Championship will take place in Niger Republic between 2nd – 16th May, with the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals set for Chile between 17th October – 8th November.