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Tag: Amaechi

  • Police withdraw Amaechi’s aide’s security

    Police withdraw Amaechi’s aide’s security

    It was like a movie scene as 15 policemen, in a command-like fashion, invaded the official residence of Chief Tony Okocha, the Chief of Staff to Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, to effect the withdrawal of his security men.

    They claimed to be acting on the orders of Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    Mbu and the state government have been at loggerheads as a result of which even the national assembly has authorised Inspector General of police Mohammed Abubakar to redeploy him. But he has declined.

    The two policemen attached to Okocha’s residence opposite the Rivers State Government House were withdrawn. The invading policemen created a scene in the process, claiming they were under instruction to also withdrawn policemen on escort and guard duties with Okocha and the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), George Feyii.

    It was learnt that when the 15 policemen got to Okocha’s official residence, they kept banging the gate, holding everybody in the expansive premises hostage, in a war-like situation.

    The private security men and the two policemen being withdrawn initially thought they were to be killed and refused the invading policemen access to the building.

    In the confusion, the security personnel on guard duty at Okocha’s official residence moved to a safe point in the compound, which made it impossible for the main gate to be immediately opened.

    Okocha said last night: “The Special Protection Unit (SPU) of the Nigeria Police in Rivers State assigned some policemen to my official residence and for escort, but Mbu has withdrawn them and those with the SSG. We are left with only one orderly each.

    “No reason was given for the withdrawal of the policemen. Before the withdrawal, I had three policemen on escort duty and two policemen at my official residence. The two policemen alternated day and night.

    “My life is in danger. If anything goes wrong, Mbu should be held responsible. He does not pick my calls.

    “There was pandemonium when the invading policemen got to my official residence and they held everybody to ransom. One of the private security men later opened the gate.”

    The police signal of 9:55 am of October 24, 2013 (yesterday), from the SPU, which was obtained by The Nation, had as reference number: CB/4001/B/Dept/SPU/Base 6 Rivers/Vol 1/149.

    Copies of the signal were sent to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 6, Calabar; Compol, SPU; SSQ, Abuja and the Compol B Ops.

    The signal, titled: Orders and Directives, read in part: “You are directed to withdrawal all Special Protection Unit personnel posted on escort /guard duties attached to the Secretary to the Rivers State Government and the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, leaving only an orderly each, with immediate effect. Ensure strict compliance please.”

    No name was indicated on the signal, which bore “SPU Base 6, Port Harcourt.”

    Rivers Police Spokesman Ahmad Muhammad was not available for comment.

  • Amaechi urges investors to avail themselves of opportunities

    Amaechi urges investors to avail themselves of opportunities

    Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has urged investors to ensure optimum utilisation of investment opportunities to promote maximum economic growth.

    He spoke yesterday with reporters at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Trade and Investment Forum 2013 held at the Onne oil and Gas Free Zone in Port Harcourt.

    He said investment in the oil and gas free zone over the years had been successful due to a conducive business climate created by his administration.

    “I enjoin investors to take advantage of the peaceful investment conducive business climate put in place by my administration”, Amaechi said.

    He hailed operators of the Onne oil and Gas free zone for their wider consultation and satisfactory investment performance towards improving and developing Nigeria’s oil and Gas industry.

    “I think the operators of the Oil and Gas Free Zone are doing well in terms of capturing and integrating investors in the development of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry”, Amaechi said.

    He thanked investors in the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone for sustaining their cordial business relationship to achieve desired results.

    The lead paper presenter and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, said the genuineness and sincerity of purpose by the Federal Government’s commitment and political will to enthrone the private sector as the main driver of growth for the national economy is strategic with the nation’s industrial policy.

    “To all intent, the oil and gas industry remains the prime mover of Nigeria’s economy, while the Oil and Gas Free Zone concept continues to be strategic in the facilitation of private sector investments in the sector, in line with the nation’s industrial policy,” he said.

    Aganga said the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone would be a catalyst for the diversification of the economy into services and downstream sector of the nation’s Oil and Gas industry, such as methanol, fertiliser and petrochemical.

    “Given the role of the private sector in driving the national economy towards sustainable development and in line with the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, prospective investors are invited to explore the available incentive packages being offered”, he said.

    The Chairman, Board of Directors of Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority, Chief Chris Asoluka, also urged investors to take advantage of the existing conducive business climate to transform the economy.

  • Amaechi shifts summit in honour of First Lady’s mum

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has postponed the planned accountability summit, to enable him participate in the funeral of the late stepmother of Dame Patience Jonathan and former House of Assembly speaker, Tonye Harry.

    The summit, organised by the Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF), was earlier scheduled for this month.

    It was to enable Governor Amaechi render account of his stewardship to the indigenes for the past six years.

    RIVLEAF’s President, Chief Alex Wele, told reporters in Port Harcourt yesterday that the governor rescheduled the forum in honour of the two prominent Rivers indigenes.

    He said: “This is to honour the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, who will be burying her stepmother in the first week of November, as well as the former speaker of the House of Assembly, Tonye Harry.”

  • Dolphins thank Amaechi, Igwe

    Dolphins thank Amaechi, Igwe

    After escaping from the jaws of relegation on the last day of the season, Dolphins through its General Manager, Dumbo Awanen has said they must show appreciation to the Rivers State government.

    Awanen said he can only thank God, the Rivers State government and the sports ministry.

    “They supported us all through the season, the government, commissioner, players, coaches and fans all stood by us and I want to thank all of them for their prayers and support. For the government and ministtry, they ensured monies were paid on time and for the players, they gave their all, especially on the last day to ensure that we won and stayed in the top flight,” Awanen said.

    The General Manager also said the fans of the club come in for mention because despite the poor run of the club, they kept faith and didn’t give up on them.

    Dolphins experienced the same thing last season as they also needed a 2-0 win on closing day against Rising Stars to stay afloat.

    In last Sunday’s game, Emeka Atuloma’s effort was enough to keep the 1997, 2004 and 2011 League winners afloat.

  • Amaechi earmarks N3b for creative village

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has said that his administration would build a creative village worth N3 billion as part of the facilities for Port Harcourt as the host of the UNESCO World Book Capital next year.

    He said the village, which would encourage artists, would be inaugurated before next year.

    Amaechi added that the village would encompass a writers’ resort, library, hotel, exhibition hall and theatre.

    The governor, who spoke yesterday at the opening of this year’s Port Harcourt Book Festival, held at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, said an ultra-modern theatre named after former Miss World, Agbani Darego, would be ready for inauguration in December.

    He said the Nigerian Air Force would cede the land on which the village would be built.

    Amaechi slammed those causing political disaffection in the state, saying: “In Rivers, there are no godfathers.”

    He urged political retirees, who had been at the corridors of power in the state, to find themselves other jobs.

    Governor Amaechi decried the impunity with which political office holders looted the treasury.

     

     

     

     

  • What is Amaechi still doing in PDP?

    What is Amaechi still doing in PDP?

    Hon. Bimbo Daramola is the Vice Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) has described Rivers State  Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s membership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as a man in a wrong bus.  Precious  Igbonwelundu reports.

    What is your assessment of the Jonathan Administration?

    The economy is going bad. As a member of the opposition, I am not just in opposition party because it is inherent in the opposition to criticise. I remember that President Goodluck Jonathan believes in his two year score card that perhaps, he has done well and he asked Nigerians to judge him, that his period in office has been eventful and impactful. But, if you ask me, I see a man struggling to win the trust and confidence of the people again. He met issues on ground and he assured Nigerians that he would address and deal with the issues and now, he is returning back to Nigerians like saying ‘’go and judge the marking scheme to mark the exam that you set for me’’. The teacher cannot tell the students to come and mark the exams he set. That, to me is a role reversal. He made those promises that he would deliver, but an average Nigerian knows that his life has not been positively affected with what the government is professing or brandishing as its achievement. There is also the politics of the majority party. Take, for instance, party saying that, because a governor did not take a phone call from the national chairman of the party, so, he got suspended. Another governor ran into problem for holding different views with its leadership. So they had to employ the instrumentality of the state to frustrate him. They have alluded so much to growth in terms of figures; they will show you beautiful graphs, the nation’s GDP is growing above our population but you don’t find a corollary to buttress their claim when you look at the people and the majority is still living in abject poverty. Look, if your car does not have fuel and you say it is still a beautiful car, that beautiful car cannot take you to your destination.

    They will give themselves high mark, but the masses are still wallowing in poverty. I am surprised that an Okonjo Iweala, our Finance and Co-ordinating Minister who would have been the head of the world bank is saying that there is no relationship between the figures being bandied about and job creation. In the two years of Jonathan’s government, we should by now take a stock on how many companies or industries have come back to the system. The industries, sadly enough, are re-locating even to African countries that we should be far ahead of. We are cruising at a very high speed and I hope somebody calls them to caution. What we are having or getting is disappointing, given the our resources that abound.

    Can the opposition make the difference?

    2015 provides for us the opportunity to critically take stock and say enough is enough. It is a time to say we have played party loyalty for too long, we have played active politics for too long and it’s about time to now ask ourselves as individuals and as Nigerians whether we are better off than we were in 2011. Is the country better off as it was in 2011? Do we have better roads now than what we had in 2011? Do we have more infrastructures now? Is life better now than what we had in 2011? These are the questions that must bother us. When you vote a government and put that government in power, we expect real impact, real changes. It is amazing that, as individual we do stock taking but as a nation, we refuse to take stock. So, 2015 provides an opportunity for a turn around to be able to ask ourselves, if are better now. No matter how long you have gone on a wrong direction, you will never get to your destination until you make a turn around. The destination, we are talking about is improved society, improved security, improved social infrastructure, improved life etc, these are the indices that you must look at to begin to assess whether a government is working or not.

    Are you saying that the PDP is the problem?

    Well, I am not going to sound puritanical and say everybody in PDP is bad. There are pockets of them that are good. For instance Governor Rotimi Amaechi is good.

    But he is almost an opposition member

    If you say so. It’s a truism in life. Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are. You cannot be found in the company of armed robbers and you will be leading praise and worship in the church on Sunday. When you lie with dogs, you wake up with flies. If you get into a car going to another place, what do you do? You simply tell the driver you have entered the wrong bus and you come down. People who have chosen to identify with the politics of the opposition must have seen something diametrically different. Don’t forget that there is the politics of service and of the people and the politics of the stomach. Some politicians can masquerade politics of stomach and you may think that they are for the people. Even in the Bible, the holy book, Jesus said at the last day when the Son of Man shall come, he will condemn some people and those people will come to him and ask Him if He is making a mistake because they will tell him they cast out demons and healed in His name. But he will ask them to go away because they were workers of iniquity.

  • Amaechi must stop insulting Jonathan, wife – Rivers PDP

    Amaechi must stop insulting Jonathan, wife – Rivers PDP

    •Obuah, cohorts’ outbursts are arrant nonsense – Gov’s aide

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State yesterday warned Governor Rotimi Amaechi to stop insulting President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience.

    The party accused Amaechi of resorting to cheap blackmail and mischief in his fight with the first couple.

    Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Felix Obuah, labelled the governor’s action as irresponsible and vowed that further insults on the president and his wife will no longer be tolerated.

    Obuah was reacting to the statement by the governor in Abuja last Friday to the effect that Dame Patience influenced the posting of the Rivers Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, in February, from the Oyo State Command.

    The NGF chairman also insisted that Mbu must be redeployed for taking sides in the Rivers political crisis and behaving like a politician, while declaring that the national dialogue initiated by President Jonathan was a waste of time.

    Obuah said the party has had enough of Amaechi’s penchant for insulting and dragging the names of President Jonathan and the First Lady, Dame (Dr.) Patience Jonathan, in the mud.

    “This untoward attitude of Amaechi, which has become his tradition, with no other aim than to lower the reputation and personality of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and son of the Niger Delta in the estimation of the right-thinking members of the society, has continued to be fired and given undue impetus by Governor Amaechi and a few of his friends on this satanic mission, against all wise counsel and good conscience.

    “We wonder what Amaechi further intends to achieve by repeatedly maligning the president and his family and linking them to any predicament that befalls him.”

    The party chieftain said the PDP is “not happy with this public opprobrium from Amaechi. We will no longer condone this irresponsible, irrational and malicious disrespect for our dear president and his wife, by a paranoid Amaechi.”

    “It is regrettable that rather than admit that he is confused and has lost focus, Governor Amaechi deludes himself into believing that the only thing he can do to gain back the confidence and trust of the disappointed Rivers people is to accuse President Jonathan of being responsible for his non-performance.”

    But responding to the PDP’s statement, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, dismissed Obuah’s outbursts as arrant nonsense.

    He said on phone that it was a statement of fact that the First Lady influenced the posting of Mbu Joseph Mbu to RiversSstate from Oyo State in February this year as Commissioner of Police, to do some dirty jobs, which his predecessor, Mohammed Indabawa, now in Oyo Command, refused to do.

    He insisted that at no point did the governor insult President Jonathan and his wife.

    Okocha said: “Governor Amaechi was elected to serve the people of Rivers State. He has the mandate of Rivers people till 2015 by God’s grace. Confusion and loss of focus exist in the imagination of Obuah and his confused supporters.

    “Rivers people know that Governor Amaechi has been performing well and delivering the dividends of democracy. The developmental strides of Governor Amaechi in Rivers State are unprecedented. No Rivers Governor has done one tenth of what Governor Amaechi has done.

    “Nothing good can come from the enemies of progress. Obuah and his cohorts have constituted themselves into enemies of the focused Amaechi’s administration. They do not represent Rivers people.”

  • Amaechi tasks oil workers on passage of PIB

    •Dangote applauds reforms in sector

    CONCERNED about the nation’s dwindling fortunes in the oil and gas sub-sector, Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi has challenged oil workers to fight for the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as it holds the key to the sector.

    The governor threw the challenge in Port Harcourt over the weekend when he declared open the 3rd Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), where he urged the incoming executives of the union to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the processes leading to the passage of the PIB was concluded.

    Amaechi said: “If you have to go on strike, go on strike; if you have to go on riot, go on riot; if you have to demonstrate, please demonstrate because the time has come for this country to change strategy. And the only way to change that strategy is to ensure that we pass the PIB which will attract full investment and will enable those who have the resources to begin to add value to the things we produce.”

    The governor who was represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Engr Tele Ikuru, said it was really disturbing to note that apart from several African countries that have discovered oil, the United States of America has also discovered a technology for the extraction of shale oil.

    With this technology, by 2022 precisely, America would stop importing 75 per cent of the total crude they import from here and this, he noted, portends danger.

    China, the governor also stressed, has followed the footsteps of America and if they apply this technology, “believe you me, in the next 10 or 15 years something is going to happen and once that happens, the price of oil is very likely to drop” adding that “even when you get your oil, you will have to beg somebody to buy it.”

    He also commended the President of NUPENG, Comrade Igwe Achese, for his achievements in office since the past four years, saying that “he has shown good example of leadership.”

    Speaking earlier, Achese said that the union chose the theme: ‘Reforms in the Oil and Gas Industry: Catalyst for National Growth and Development, (What Prospect for the Attainment of Decent Work Agenda?)’ to enable them look carefully at the employment situations in the country as well as the working conditions of oil and gas workers in particular.

    The NUPENG boss also expressed concerns over the continued deterioration of working conditions in the country.

    In his own remarks, the chairman of occasion and the Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, described the PIB as “a bold step that was initiated to correct perceived flaws in the petroleum industry as it is intended to address structural, policy and managerial issues in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”

    Dangote who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Engr. Joseph Makoju, said: “The dream to refine and produce petroleum products for exports will not come to fruition, unless the federal government musters the political will to drive it to its logical conclusion,” adding that “ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry will help provide an enabling environment for investments in the sector to thrive.”

    He further used the opportunity to give an insight into how his recent $9billion investment in a mega project in the downstream sector would work.

    According to him, the mega project which would be sited at Olokola Free Trade Zone would have the capacity to refine 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day while the petrochemical arm of it would produce 600,000 metric tonnes per year of Polypropylene as well as 625,000 metric tonnes per year of Slurry/raw material for carbon.

    Also speaking, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, represented by the Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, NNPC, Alhaji Ahmadu Sambo, stated that the federal government aims at transforming the sector from an oil-based industry to integrated oil and gas industry by maximising oil and gas sector value to the economy.

    In his own address, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, bemoaned the rise in crude oil theft in the country, stressing that government “must take the lead by acting rather than lamenting” to the curb the menace and rescue the industry from its adverse consequences.

  • Confab a waste of time, says Amaechi

    Confab a waste of time, says Amaechi

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State yesterday dismissed the planned national conference as a waste of time.

    He wondered what happened to past conferences held in the country.

    The governor spoke to reporters in Abuja during a visit to the National Human Rights Commission to brief officials on his petition in which he asked for the redeployment of the state Police Commissioner, Mr.Joseph Mbu.

    Amaechi said he would have been hopeful of a positive outcome, if the planned conference were to be a sovereign one whose outcome will not be subject to any manipulation or alteration by any authority.

    His view is shared by former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ango Abdullahi, who, in a separate interview, said the planned dialogue is a sham, coming from President Goodluck Jonathan who, he said, had dithered and prevaricated on national conference in the past.

    The Northern Elders’ Forum (NCF) spokesman said that given his antecedent, the President cannot be taken seriously on the issue.

    He said while the NCF is yet to take a position on the conference “anybody that understands the constitution would tell you that there cannot be a sovereign conference with the President on his seat or the National Assembly in place.”

    He added: “They all have to vacate so that the chairman of the sovereign conference takes over the leadership of the country and whatever the resolution is forms the basis of the new constitution.”

    Explaining why he does not believe the planned conference would be different from past talks on the political direction of the country,he said: “This is the ridiculous thing about this country. If we go back to past constitutional conferences, beginning with the Lugard Constitution of 1914; Clifford Constitution (1922); Arthur Richards Constitution (1945); John Macpherson Constitution (1951), Oliver Littleton Constitution (1954), Independence Constitution (1960); Republican Constitution (1963) and 1979 Constitution, and, of course, there was another draft Constitution in 1989 prepared during the regime of former President Ibrahim Babangida which was never tried until General Sanni Abacha’s administration brought about the 1994/95 constitutional conference which laid the foundations for the 1999 Constitution.

    “Fortunately or unfortunately, I accept all, except one of them because all the issues raised which are important to our existence as a country were there. To me, there must be some other factor that is driving those who think we should repeat the same activities we had gone through over the years.”

    Raising suspicion over what he called President Jonathan’s 360 degree U-turn on national conference,he said: “ Maybe he is under certain political pressure. Really, if President Jonathan is to be taken seriously and if he wants to be different from those who had this kind of conferences before, he should give Nigerians a sovereign national conference. Anything short of a sovereign national is diversionary. A sovereign national conference will create a new level playing field for Nigerians to decide their future.

    “In doing so, everyone, including the President, governors, lawmakers at national, state and council levels must vacate their offices and allow for a truly sovereign national conference to take over the running of the country.

    “It is left for Nigerians whether or not to take him seriously. But for me, it is a waste of the people’s time, waste of resources to engage in a discussion that is no way different from the ones we have had before, unless the discussion is going to take the form of a sovereign national conference.”

  • Forum alleges plot to force Amaechi out

    Forum alleges plot to force Amaechi out

    THERE are fresh allegations of a plot to remove Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    The plan is to force him to resign, the Rivers Peoples Forum, a socio-political group claimed yesterday.

    The Nation got no independent confirmation of the “plan” last night.

    The RPF, in a statement signed by its President, Charles Bekwele, gave details of the plot, which it sees as part of the dispute including the Governor, his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency.

    The statement reads: “This fresh plot to illegally remove Governor Amaechi from office is another desperate move by the Abuja cabal that is so desperate to remove the governor from office by ‘all means possible’. This Abuja cabal has hatched a four-part sinister plot that is planned to end with the governor being blackmailed and threatened to resign from office.”

    “Incontrovertible information at our disposal indicates that the Abuja cabal working with some expired politicians in the State has plan to execute this plot within three weeks. The hatchet man of the expired politicians is a former Rivers State legislator who was recently involved in the failed plot to remove the State Speaker Otelemaba Amachree, which led to the fracas in the state Assembly. The said former legislator lobbied the state legislators with promises of huge sums of money to impeach the Speaker.”

    The RPF went on: “The plot would involve seizing Governor Amaechi in connivance with security agents, then forcing and blackmailing him to resign. Something like what happened to former Governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige. This threat and blackmail may involve the use of members of his nuclear family, if the need arises. The whole operation they plan would be done within three hours and within that time frame the governor would be held incommunicado from the rest of the world until he resigns and record for the electronic media his resignation speech.”

    “The statement said Amaechi would, going by the plot, be replaced by another man from his ethnic group, Ikwerre, unti the 2015 election.

    The people, RPF stressed, will reject the plot because “Amaechi was given a mandate by Rivers people to be their governor until May 29, 2015”. “Any attempt to truncate this collective mandate of Rivers people will be firmly resisted by Rivers people. We will not allow any individual or cabal to truncate our collective mandate given to Governor Amaechi. They must henceforth desist from such insidious plots that will certainly throw our polity into disarray and threaten our democracy. This reckless impunity must stop,” it said.

    The fracas broke out in House of Assembly on July 9 and 10.

    Five members of the 32-member House attempted to hold a meeting believed to be programmed to suspend the leadership to pave the way for the removal of Amaechi.

    The five members said they impeached Speaker Otelemaba Dan Amacree and installed Evans Bipi as Speaker .

    Bipi and other four members are loyal to Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike who is opposed to Amaechi.