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Tag: Amaechi

  • Rivers crisis: Obuah accuses Amaechi of rebuffing peace moves

    Rivers crisis: Obuah accuses Amaechi of rebuffing peace moves

    Factional  Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State,Chief  Felix Obuah,   yesterday   accused Governor  Rotimi Amaechi  of rebuffing his (Obuah’s) overtures  to restore peace to the party.

    Chief Obuah had,last Saturday in Port Harcourt ,said he as the father of PDP in the state would  summon the governor and other stakeholders to his residence with a view to reconciling all the aggrieved parties in the crisis rocking the party.

    “I want to invite the governor (Amaechi), the minister (Wike) and all aggrieved members of the Ikwerre community to be with me in my palace next weekend. Let us sit down and fashion a way forward. I will not sit down and see my children quarrelling and I will not feel concerned,” he had said.

    The governor’s reaction to Obuah’s  Saturday statement was swift.

    The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Rotimi Amaechi said  it was ridiculous for Obuah to stand on a podium in Wike’s place and announce that he was summoning the governor to a reconciliation meeting.

    Iyofor said: “Part of the problem with characters like Obuah and his backers and sponsors is that they have suddenly decided to forget that Governor Amaechi was overwhelming chosen by Rivers people, elected and mandated by the people to lead them until May 29, 2015.

    “It is important that they show respect for the office and the man who occupies that office. It does not matter whether they like the face of the governor or not. Once he has been mandated by the people to lead them, they must show some respect for him and the office he occupies, which he holds in trust for the people.

    “Obuah and his cohorts have been most disrespectful and have been derisively deriding the governor and the office of the governor of Rivers state. Enough is enough. They have to be called to order.”

     In a statement yesterday,the PDP factional Chairman termed Amaechi’s response to his invitation as “outright rejection of the party’s peace overtures.”

    He said the peace move was  ”in keeping with the belief that as a father, the party can reconcile its differences.”

    “For us, only Rivers people can settle their internal problems and wondered why the governor hastily rebuffed the effort as if he is not interested in making peace with his party and people,” Obuah said in the statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Jerry Needam.

     He added: “By this development, the entire Rivers people should be able to read in between the lines to know who are behind the crisis. It’s only those who have ulterior motives that will object to peace initiatives being brokered by the leadership of the party in the state.”

    He told Gov Amaechi and his  aides to “stop using the crisis as an excuse for not discharging their duties and also stop  using the state resources in pursuing personal political agenda which is currently the case.

     “We’ll, however, not coerce any person or group into any peace agreement. It behoves on all persons involved to choose their course and take the consequences of their actions.

    “We must reemphasise that our party is not a respecter of any person(s). It will be fair and just to all members in the state, but it will be firm and courageous as well.”

  • Rivers’ crisis: Amaechi, PDP chairman draw battle line

    Rivers’ crisis: Amaechi, PDP chairman draw battle line

    The Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Felix Obuah, on Friday declared that the supremacy of the party remains and can never be compromised, while Governor Rotimi Amaechi questioned his stability and mental wellness.

    Obuah, while speaking in Port Harcourt, maintained that only Rivers people could settle their internal problems, wondering why the governor hastily rebuffed his peace effort, as if he (Amaechi) was not interested in making peace with the party and people of the state.

    The PDP chairman said the governor and his supporters must face the consequences of their actions.

    Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), however, described the Rivers PDP chairman’s peace attempt as most disrespectful, ridiculous and laughable.

    The governor made the remarks through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, who asked Obuah to show some respect for the office of the state governor.

    The chairman spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Jerry Needam.

     

     

  • Old students to honour Amaechi, Nemi-Lawrence

    Old students to honour Amaechi, Nemi-Lawrence

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his Education Commissioner, Dame Alice Nemi-Lawrence, have been nominated for honours by the Old Students Association of the Federal Government College, Okigwe in Abia State.

    The association said the award was in recognition of their tremendous achievements in the education sector.

    The Rivers State chapter of the association made the revelation during a courtesy visit to Nemi-Lawrence in Port Harcourt.

    Its chairman, Pastor John Soberekon, said Amaechi would be conferred with “National Unity and Excellence in Education” award. Mrs. Nemi-Lawrence will be honoured with the “Pragmatic Steps in Actualising the Governor’s Vision in Education.”

    He said the formal conferment would be made later in the year at the National Convention to be held in Port Harcourt.

    Soberekon said the national convention of the association would attract many old students of the college from within and outside the country, including the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu.

    He said the association has been following with keen interest the good works that Rivers state government is doing under Amaechi, which is giving quality education to the people.

    Listing out the government’s achievements in education, he said that they include the infrastructural development of schools in the state which are being rebuilt with good lawns, green and serene environment and state-of-the-art equipment.

    Soberekon praised the government for the “massive recruitment of over 13,000 teachers at a time” and the award of scholarships to Rivers state indigenes and other Nigerians resident in the state to study either in Nigeria or abroad.

    The association also expressed delight that Port Harcourt has been made a Literary World Capital and for the reading culture and the literary quizzes that have been taking place in the Garden City saying it is “a direct development from all these efforts.”

    While lauding the Nemi-Lawrence for “driving and pivoting this vision”, they also solicited the assistance of the government in the hosting of their national convention.

    Responding, the commissioner recalled the rot that pervaded the education sector in the state before Amaechi came on board saying that the “condition of schools were such that you could not even send your dog to those kind of schools.”

    Mrs. Nemi-Lawrence said that based on expert advice from the World Bank, the government declared a state of emergency in the education sector and brought down the schools to build new ones “that can last for another 50 years for the people of Rivers state.”

    She said the governor’s vision in the education sector was to adopt a gradual process whereby “you do the infrastructure; after infrastructure, we are doing the teacher training; from teacher training, we set up some institutions because by the time he leaves office, he must also put an institution in place, otherwise, everything you have done will crumble.”

    The commissioner said government was at the stage of recruiting teachers, adding that even though the governor’s vision of building 750 schools is yet to be completed but “anybody who has done 300 schools completed and 250 functioning in September, that person should be given accolade”.

     

     

  • State power abused

    State power abused

    Why did the police allow the anti-Amaechi protests only to clamp down on the pro-Amaechi one?

    Peaceful rallies are an integral part of democracy. But when the police, under the nebulous concept of preventing a breakdown of law and order disallows such protests, it lays itself and the government bare to allegation of abuse of state power. That was the scenario on July 30 when the police put Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and its environs under siege by deploying surveillance helicopters, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and patrol vehicles all in the bid to stop the planned Defending Democracy Rally organised by a coalition of activists.

    The Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) chairman, Anyakwee Nsirimovu, and other members of the coalition who planned the rally said they had earlier written to the police commissioner, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, to provide minimal security for the rally. However, rather than provide security, the police besieged the Isaac Boro Park which the activists had indicated as venue of the rally as early as 6 a.m. with battle-ready, riot and regular policemen, backed by APCs, and sealed off the park.

    It was around 9 a.m. that the police realised that they had been sold a dummy and that the rally was actually going to take place at the Liberation Stadium. They rushed to the place with two APCs and many patrol vans, sealed off the stadium main gate and dispersed the invited activists and members of the coalition from the nine states of the Niger Delta, who had gathered at the stadium. Also, policemen were deployed in Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, apparently to prevent pro-democracy and human rights activists invited from other parts of the country from getting to the rally venue.

    The police did not stop at sealing off the venue of the rally; they also made some passers-by to frog-jump, having been mistaken for members of the coalition. We consider this an anathema to democratic ethos. In the first place, they ought not prevent people from embarking on peaceful rallies. The best they are expected to do is to ensure that hoodlums do not hijack the rally.

    For the umpteenth time, we want to say that the state police commissioner has not hidden his bias against one of the parties in the Rivers State crisis. The evidence in this instance is that the same Mr Mbu who only a few weeks back allowed Niger Delta militants to protest on the streets of Port Harcourt over the same issues that the activists wanted to stage their rally now deployed his men to intimidate the members of the civil society coalition and other law-abiding citizens, ostensibly to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    We however commend the organisers for mobilising and addressing the press at a multi-purpose hall close to the stadium even after the police had dispersed them from the place. We are happy that they were able to outsmart the police by changing the venue. The attempt was a triumph of the Nigerian spirit.

    We are all familiar with the crisis rocking the state; the latest being the impunity by five legislators who wanted to ‘impeach’ the speaker of the state house of assembly with 32 members, when it was clear they lacked the requisite figure to do that.

    Many well-meaning Nigerians have condemned the serial acts of illegality going on in the state and asked the presidency that is ever denying involvement in the matter to call its goons there to order. What is, therefore, bad in activists wanting to add their voice to the strident calls for a return of sanity to the state?

    The country’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression, assembly and association and nothing should take that away from Nigerians. Again, we want the state police command to understand the implications of its partiality in the Rivers crisis. A police force that is in dire need of funds should not waste scarce state resources on a show of force designed to stop legitimate protest.

  • My dad, by Fashola

    My dad, by Fashola

    •Dignitaries bid governors dad farewell

    •We lost our best friend, says governor

    •Amosun, Fayemi, Amaechi, others attend funeral

    It was an exciting final farewell that spoke so much about the stature of the man who had passed on.

    Many dignitaries converged on Lagos to see off the late Alhaji Ademola Ibrahim Fashola, father of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    The late Alhaji Fashola died on Monday. He was 80.

    His final journey began at his 31, Ladipo Labinjo Street, Surulere, Lagos home where personalities gathered for the lying-in-state.

    The body arrived from the mortuary in a black Mercedes Benz Sport Utility Vehicle about 11:55am. The lying-in-state was held at the Surulere Senior Secondary School, opposite the late Fashola’s home.

    At the ceremony were Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Chief Rasak Okoya, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Surulere Council boss, Tajudeen Ajide, Kayode Opeifa, Joe Igbokwe, Onigbongbo LCDA boss, Babatunde Oke, representatives of Arewa and Ndigbo, Service Chiefs and members of the State Executive Council, among others.

    Members of the Eko Club described the late Fashola as a jolly good fellow and prayed that Almighty Allah grant him aljannat firdaus.

    The entourage then moved to the Central Mosque in Obalende where prayers were offered.

    A Mercedez Benz M350 4matic car belonging to MIC Funerals with the inscription, “Alhaji Demola Fashola”, conveyed the body to the mosque.

    Governor Fashola was accompanied by his siblings and relations.

    At the Vaults and Garden, Ikoyi, the body was interred in a newly-built marble-carved tomb, near where the late Iyaloja General and mother of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr. Abibat Mogaji, was buried.

    Members of the Fashola family wore white lace and orange stripped caps.

    Imams from the Lagos Central Mosque, led by the Chief Imam of Lagos, Alhaji Akinola Garuba, prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed.

    Speaking to reporters after the interment, Governor Fashola thanked Lagosians for the love shown his family.

    He said: “I thank everybody, who has rallied round the family from yesterday morning before I returned from Saudi Arabia. The heart-pouring of love from all Nigerians; from Mr. President, who called persistently until he got through to me. He sent his representative today, the Honourable Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, and my brother governors, the imams, the ordinary men and women and everybody. Thank you very much.

    “This was a painful way for us and for you to show how much you love us, but we really appreciate you. Our gratitude is deep and immense and we can never fully express it.”

    Recalling the virtues of his late father, the governor said he was an all encompassing gentleman who lived a simple life and loved his children.

    He said: “I think that for all of us his children, he was first and foremost our friend, he was our best friend. So, this is what we will really miss. Our father was a very loving friend, who allowed us to be the best that we could; he allowed us to be what we want to be, guiding and nudging, but never discriminated and that’s why he had children that were Christians, Muslims, children who are Europeans, children who are married across all Nigeria.

    “I think these have fully captured his life. I doubt if there was any person who did not have enemies, it must be my father because he just got on with life. He didn’t discriminate in any position he found himself; good, comfortable, painful, he just got on. I learnt so many things from him and most of these things is who I am today and who I try to be and I hope that I can be as rounded in integrity, humble in his attitude to life and fully committed in all situations as he was.”

    To the governor, his father death was significant as “he died in the month of Ramadan”.

    “He died on the night of majesty. We had just finished Lailatu Quadri prayers in Mecca and, for me, God is great because if God gave him the opportunity to choose how he would go, and when, he couldn’t have chosen the day he went. It was such a great time. We thank God.”

    With the governor were his counterparts from Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Rivers, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi.

    Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Hon Bolaji Abdullahi, represented President Goodluck Jonathan. Former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and Chief Ayo Akande were there.

    Also in attendance were Mr. Akin Kekere-Ekun, Otunba Alabi Mc-Coy, Alhaji Lateef Salako, Alhaji Moshood Ojikutu, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Senators Gbenga Ashafa and Femi Ojodu, Chairman of Eleganza Group, Chief Rasak Okoya and renowned lawyer, Alhaji Femi Okunnu. Ogun State Deputy Governor Mr. Segun Adesegun, members of the State Executive Council, members of the House of Assembly, members of the House of Representatives, Nollywood stars, clerics and members of the Diplomatic Corps, among others, were also there.

  • I’ll make life more uncomfortable for Amaechi, Wike vows

    I’ll make life more uncomfortable for Amaechi, Wike vows

    •Says Gov must beg him
    •Declares: ‘If President Jonathan removes me as minister, I’ll continue to fight’

     

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State must brace up for more trouble from the opposition in the days and months ahead, if the threat, yesterday, by one of the forces against him, is anything to go by.

    Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, boasted at a reception for him in Port Harcourt that he is ready to make life even more uncomfortable for the governor who is locked in the political battle of his life with the Presidency and his party (PDP), at the state and federal levels; the State Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu and the Police Command; the Minister and his five supporters in the State House of Assembly; ex-militants; as well as other political forces from within and outside the state.

    The reception also doubled as a grand finale of the inauguration of units of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) in Obio/Akpor LGA of the state.

    Wike is the grand patron of GDI.

    “We will make sure they will not sleep again, as they are sleeping now. They will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open because they know there is danger,” the minister said, 24 hours after Amaechi told a delegation of Niger Delta Bishops who are trying to resolve the political crisis in the state that Wike remains a minister today by “the grace of God” and his (Amaechi’s) effort.

    The governor’s words: “Nyesom Wike was appointed Chief of Staff by me. Nyesom Wike as a Minister of State, I nominated him. I was under pressure by the President to drop him, I refused. The President persuaded me to drop him and bring a woman but I refused.

    ” I heard he is going all over town saying I didn’t appoint him, I didn’t appoint him, the President appointed him but I nominated him to be a minister as the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum. I did, but you know character doesn’t come easily, character is a very difficult thing and I am a man of character.”

    But in what looked like a response to the broadside fired at him on Friday by Amaechi, the minister said yesterday that the governor and the 27 members of the State Assembly on his side have not had enough trouble occasioned by their April 22 suspension of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Council.

    Wike, who is aspiring to replace Amaechi as governor in 2015, hails from the local government area. He was a two-term chairman of the council.

    The minister, speaking at yesterday’s rally, said: “They said we are nobody. Then they have seen. When you are dealing with nobody, be careful. The nobody will show you that he is somebody. We will make sure they will not sleep again. As they are sleeping, they will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open, because they know there is danger.

    “Those who are saying they must remove me, I have even overstayed. For you to be minister for two years, you must thank your God. If today we are no longer minister, do not worry yourself. It will not change us. We will continue to fight for what we believe in.

    “We were not minister when we fought for them in 2007. When we were here, they were not having problems. Now, we have gone, they are having problems.

    “We have always told them: you cannot do it. What you do not know, you do not know. It does not matter, whatever money you have, money cannot buy everything. Now, they are having sleepless nights. When we were here, were they having sleepless nights?

    “When we were here, were they not travelling up and down? Are they travelling again? Tell them, they should come and beg us. Tell them to come back and beg us. We will tell them the secret. What God has not given to you, you do not need to do anything about it.

    “I can assure you, all they are asking for: they want a commissioner of police that will be arresting you. Anytime they call the CP, he will arrest you. But let me tell you, we are not interested in whoever comes here (CP), all we are interested in is to have somebody who will not be partial.

    “Let them bring whoever they want to bring (as CP).We want somebody who will want democracy to be practised in Rivers State. They said one man, one vote. Now, they do not want one man, one vote again.

    “Obio/Akpor LGA is not a place you can toy with. Those who feel they can suspend Obio/Akpor council officials, we will make them uncomfortable. They felt once they had dissolved the council, they would sleep.

    “The party has suspended them, because they have touched the lion and when you touch the lion, you know the consequences. Since they said the councillors will not take their salaries, they also will know that they will not belong to the PDP.

    “The party chairman (Chief Felix Obuah) warned them and they said he would not be able to do anything. At the end of the day, they are going to court to challenge us. We will meet them in court. We are not afraid of the court. We are accustomed to it. All the ones they have gone, we have been winning them and we will continue to win them.

    “They are doing everything they can. They are using their power and their money. Money cannot solve all problems. Sometimes, you have to come back home and realise that the people matter a lot. It is the power of the people that has put us in positions and you must come back to thank the people.

    “Forget about what they are doing to you (his supporters). Do not worry. We are all together. Do not lose hope. God is on the throne.”

    Wike said the suspended Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, Mr. Timothy Nsirim, who also attended the rally; his deputy, Solomon Eke, and the 17 councillors have been denied their salaries since April, but said that is part of the sacrifice to make democracy survive.

    The minister asked the people of the state to continue to support President Jonathan and the party.

    He urged members of the GDI, in particular, to go to all the wards, communities and families in the state not to abandon President Jonathan and his wife.

    Wike added: “Your duty as GDI members is to go and mobilise the entire state for our son (Jonathan), eventually when he decides to run and we believe the people of the Southsouth zone cannot sacrifice, for whatever it is, our own son, for anything less than President.”

    Factional Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Felix Obuah, pledged at the function to reconcile Amaechi, Wike and other aggrieved members of the party in the state.

    Obuah said: “I want to invite the governor (Amaechi), the minister (Wike) and all aggrieved members of Ikwerre community, to be with me in my palace next weekend. Let us sit down and fashion a way forward. I will not sit down and see my children quarrelling, and I will not feel concerned.”

    A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara, described Obio/Akpor LGA as the home of the GDI and the PDP, stressing that “anybody standing on your way is standing before a moving train and will be crushed.”

    The President-General of the GDI, Bright Amewhule, in his remarks, stated that President Jonathan would be supported to return in 2015 and that they were solidly behind Wike.

    The ceremony is the latest by the anti-Amaechi camp in the state.

    Similar ceremonies by pro-Amaechi groups are routinely disallowed by the police, prompting observers from within and outside the state to accuse the police leadership in the state of taking sides.

    A rally scheduled for last Tuesday by civil rights groups to protest what they called anti-democratic tendencies in the state was not allowed to hold by the police.

    Some militants even threatened that the lives of some of those expected at the rally were not safe should they come.

     

  • Jonathan, Amaechi invited

    The Akasoba of Kalabari and Chair, Akasoba Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ACPCR), Queen Akasoba Duke-Abiola, has invited President Goodluck Jonathan, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and some politicians for a peace meeting.

    A statement by the ACPCR Secretary, Dr. Jen Clarence, said other invitees include ex-Head of State Dr. Yakubu Gowon, first Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and former United Nations Secretary-General Boutrous Boutrous Ghali.

    She said: “In view of the seemingly intractable socio-political problems presently besieging our beloved Rivers State and taking into consideration the need for reason and moderation in these trying times, we need to have a meeting.

    “The meeting, which will take place at the ACPCR Centre, Kula, Ekulama, in River State on Saturday, will focus on the restoration of peace and progress in Rivers State, the need for creation of more states, and the need to continue to maintain the indissolubility of Nigeria.

    “I have been involved in peace efforts and conflict resolution around the world, it is therefore necessary that we deploy some vital strategic appurtenances and modus operandi designed to bring lasting peace to Rivers State, the Niger Delta and Nigeria.”

     

  • Rivers crisis: Jonathan, Amaechi in secret talks

    Rivers crisis: Jonathan, Amaechi in secret talks

    After several months of mutual suspicion, distrust and sometimes snubbing and resentment, President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, sat together on Friday night to talk peace.

    The setting was the Presidential Villa, Abuja, which less than 24 hours later, hosted another peace meeting, this time between President Jonathan and five northern governors.

    Only a week ago the governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa State), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Rabiu Kwankwaso ( Kano ) – were locked in a hide and seek game with the President in Abeokuta where they had gone to seek the intervention of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the crisis rocking the PDP.

    Jonathan was in the town to commiserate with his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on the death of his mother, and seized the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on Obasanjo.

    The governors, who had arrived Abeokuta at about the same time as Jonathan, decided to avoid him and diverted somewhere else to allow the President depart Obasanjo’s before going there.

    A few days later, the governors took their case to former military rulers, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    Friday’s meeting between the President and Governor Amaechi was brief after the Rivers Governor said he would prefer a lengthy discussion only if his colleagues from the north were in attendance having facilitated his meeting with the president, in the first instance.

    The President obliged him and an appointment was fixed for yesterday.

    The five northern governors who were on their way to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah (Lesser Hajj) consequently postponed their journey to enable them be at yesterday’s meeting with the President.

    The Jonathan/Amaechi meeting, according to a reliable source, reviewed the crisis in Rivers State and explored how to resolve it.

    The source said the talks took place in a ‘large-hearted manner’.

    Said the source: “Following the advice of the five northern governors, Amaechi accepted to meet with the President on the security and political situation in Rivers State

    “I think there is peace in sight because the President hosted Amaechi on Friday night in an atmosphere devoid of security intimidation when the Rivers Governor attended a dinner a few weeks ago at the Villa.

    “The mood between the President and Amaechi was reconciliatory. But Amaechi asked the President to allow the five Northern governors, who are brokering the peace talks, to be part of a meaningful discussion or reconciliation plan to resolve the crisis in Rivers State.

    “The President obliged the governor’s request to pave the way for another round of peace session on Saturday.”

    Investigation revealed that before Amaechi went for the audience with the President, he had met with the five northern governors on Friday night in Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge for debriefing on their intervention.

    There were speculations that Amaechi also confided in the five governors on his terms for peace.

    A governor said: “It is true that Amaechi had a preliminary session with the five governors at the Sokoto Lodge before going to the Villa. As a matter of fact, some of the governors postponed their trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj).”

    But a governor said: “Some statesmen and the five northern governors have set the agenda for peace. They wanted the differences between the President and Amaechi handled beyond trading blames.

    “They believe that an outright solution to the crisis would be better than addressing sentiments that had dominated the political space in the last two months. Once they are able to secure the commitment of President to peace, other stakeholders would be brought into the deal.”

    Yesterday’s meeting with the five northern governors was also attended by Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State and his Borno State counterpart, Kashim Shettima.

    Nine governors from across the country, on a solidarity visit to Amaechi on July 18, had advised him to seek audience with the President for the purpose of briefing him on the political crisis in the state especially the role of the Police Command.

    On the trip were Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), and deputy governors of Imo, Nasarawa and Zamfara.

    They were preceded two days earlier by Governors Kwankwaso, Wamakko, Nyako and Lamido.

    They were pelted with stones by thugs on their arrival at the Port Harcourt Airport.

  • 2015: Why I’m not sticking out my neck for Jonathan yet, by Amaechi

    2015: Why I’m not sticking out my neck for Jonathan yet, by Amaechi

    •Says: ‘It’s early to say I’ll contest’

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said yesterday that it will be futile for him to start supporting President Goodluck Jonathan now for re-election in 2015. This he said was because the President has not told him yet of his plan to contest.

    He said it is also too early for him (Amaechi) or any one for that matter to start talking now about contesting the 2015 Presidential elections.

    The governor is currently locked in a bitter battle with President Jonathan over what Presidency officials see as his (Amaechi’s) threat to the ambition of the President to return to office in 2015.

    Amaechi, who is from the Southsouth as President Jonathan, is allegedly being tipped as running mate to Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

    The suspicion is seen as the major cause of the crisis in Rivers State where the State Assembly is sharply divided between 27-pro-Amaechi members and five pro-Presidency/Wike members.

    Amaechi himself admitted on the Hausa Service of the BBC yesterday that the crisis in his state is all about 2015.

    The interview came 24 hours after he met with the President in Abuja and on a day the five northern governors backing him (Amaechi) also met with the President over the crisis rocking the PDP.

    But Amaechi said those accusing him of constituting a threat to Jonathan’s re-election are missing the point because as he put it: “Has Goodluck Jonathan told you that he wants to run? If he wants to contest, he will call me and inform me. And then we will look at it.”

    Asked by his interviewer whether there was any reason why he might not want to support the president having come from the same geo-political zone, Amaechi retorted: “I don’t understand what you mean by I come from the same zone as the president and if there is any reason why I cannot support him. I’ve told you that the President is yet to say whether he wants to run or not.”

    The interviewer persisted and told the governor whether he did not think his refusal to answer the question was responsible for his problem with the Presidency.

    Amaechi snapped back, saying: “What makes the question simple? You want me to become a prophet and determine that the president will contest? Assuming I say today that I will support the President and tomorrow the President says he is not contesting. Let the President inform me that he wants to contest. Don’t accuse the president of doing something that he is not responsible for. If he decides to contest, he will call those that he wants to support him. That would be the time that we will discuss the issue.”

    On whether he wants to be a presidential running mate in 2015, he retorted, “Why won’t you wait till 2015? My focus for now is how to govern Rivers State and ensure that the people benefit from my administration.”

    On whether he may defect from PDP especially now that he has been suspended, he said, “I am not; I am in court with the PDP because I don’t think they followed the process in taking that decision against me. I want the court to determine whether what they did was right.”

    On the allegation that he is fraternising with the opposition

    “How did they know that? Have they seen me in any opposition meeting? Because I hold different views from the leaders of the party, then they will say I am in the opposition?”

    On alleged moves by him and some northern governors to float a party

    “I don’t know. I have no idea about any group. All I know is that there are some of us who don’t like the way things are being done. There is the need to address these issues.”

    On the specifics of their disagreement with the leadership of the PDP

    “It is all muddled up. You won’t talk about governance without talking about the party. The party needs to look at the direction the government is going…If we want victory at the polls, we have to correct these things. The party is not consulting enough; it seems as if the party wants to undermine the governors. What you see in the NGF is a deliberate attempt to cause confusion and division among the governors.”

    On whether he was suggesting that the PDP is weak

    “No, I didn’t say that. Just that there are some disagreements in the party and they are affecting the internal cohesion of the party. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the party to address the problems.”

    On how the leadership should handle the planned national convention

    “That will not solve the problem. First and foremost they shouldn’t continue with a mini convention without arresting the situation. They have to arrest the current situation of things in the party because if that is not done, the problems will continue within the different camps.”

     

  • Amaechi to speak in London today

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi will deliver a speech, “Reform and Resource Governance in Nigeria”, today at Chatham House London.

    Amaechi will also discuss his administration’s strategies and efforts to improve governance and transparency.

    Chatham House is a world-leading membership based policy institute which sources independent analyses on interesting international affairs and provides forum for open and impartial debate on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all.