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Tag: Chibuike Amaechi

  • Rivers crisis: Jonathan turned down Rivers’ elders, says Amaechi

    Rivers crisis: Jonathan turned down Rivers’ elders, says Amaechi

    •‘President shunned Port Harcourt centenary, I shunned Nigeria’s’

    President Goodluck Jonathan turned down the request of Rivers State elders to attend the centenary celebration of Port Harcourt City last November, Governor Chibuike Amaechi alleged yesterday.

    He added that the request of the elders to leave him alone also went unheeded.

    According to the governor, because of the president’s action, he also decided not to be part of the events marking Nigeria’s centenary.

    Amaechi spoke at the 70th birthday celebration of a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Nimi Dimkpa Briggs. The event was held on the campus of the university.

    The governor said the President disrespected Rivers elders that visited him at the Presidential Villa to invite him for the Port Harcourt celebration, by failing to turn up in spite of the President having grown up in Port Harcourt.

    According to Amaechi, declining the invitation for Nigeria’s centenary was meant to save the faces of the elders whom he said the president should have honoured by attending the Port Harcourt programme.

    “There are some elders who have gone on a delegation to Mr. President to leave this young man (referring to himself/Amaechi), alone but they each time came back disappointed.

    “People are asking why I did not attend the last centenary celebration?, I said, five prominent Rivers men, left here to go and invite the president, when they approached me that they were going to invite the President, I told them, don’t bother your head, the President won’t come, they said no, not after he had seen them.

    “They are Justice (Adolphus) Karibi Whyte, Prof. Tekena Tamuno, Prof. T. K. Alagoa, Prof. Nimi Briggs and Chief Agbaru; they were very well received by our President and when they came back and told me how they went; I was expectant, everybody at the Federal Government told me the President was going to come, but he didn’t come.

    “So I told myself I was not going to attend the Nigerian centenary because Port Harcourt turned 100, the President refused to come even though he grew up here.

    “I did not attend because of you, I wanted to respect your age, I was bothered that Mr. President should have respected you and honoured that invitation.” Amaechi said.

    Speaking of the celebrator, Amaechi noted that he was not a politician but had vested interest in the development of the state.

    He pledged to name one of the new specialist hospitals being built after Briggs for his good will and contributions to the state.

    Briggs was also Chairman, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and current Chairman of the state Economic Advisory Council.

    “We will try to immortalise Prof. there is this 100-bed hospital being constructed at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), we are going to name it after him. This is in honour of his 70th birthday and his contributions to the growth and development of the state.

    “We have paid 100 per cent of the cost, it is not a matter of whether it will work or not.

    “We want to name it Prof. Nimi Briggs Hospital,” he said.

     

  • Amaechi: I’ll deliver on projects

    Amaechi: I’ll deliver on projects

    •To spend ‘public fund judiciously’’

    River State Governor Chibuike Amaechi yesterday described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the vehicle for change in Rivers State and in Nigeria.

    He also promised to deliver on infrastructure, spend public funds judiciously and ensure the safety of lives and property in Rivers state.

    Amaechi spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, while inspecting Elioparanwo and Ogbogoro Roads in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

    He pleaded with Rivers people to identify with the APC.

    He said: “The people of APC are progressives.  APC is progressive.  All of us are progressives. So, you cannot like me and not like APC.  Yes, they may like me for who I am, but they should also like APC for the fact that we bring change.

    “I represent change and I think that the people should also like APC for being a vehicle for change.”

    Amaechi also urged the contractor to ensure that the 3.25 kilometre Elioparanwo road was completed before the rainy season.

    He said: “I am paid to do this job. I am employed by the Rivers people. So, I am bound to deliver.  The responsibility of a governor is to deliver on infrastructure, the lives and well-being of the citizens and ensure that they have security.

    “You cannot have government money in your kitty and not be able to utilise it.  You must deploy it to the development of the people.  It is about priority. What you choose to do.”

    The Rivers governor, however, expressed displeasure that Rivers State was losing revenue, because some of its oil wells were being transferred to neighbouring states.

    He also decried the dwindling Federal Government allocations to the state, noting that the state expected the Federal Government to release its full allocations.

    Amaechi noted that the financial picture across states in the country was gloomy, as a result of the dwindling allocations and corruption in the oil sector.

    He said: “The problem is the Federal Government. They have cut off the resources of Rivers State Government and Rivers people.  They have taken away the oil wells in Soku and given them to Bayelsa State.  They have taken the ones (oil wells) between Oyigbo and Etche and given them to Abia State. So, our resources continue to dwindle.

    “We used to do 19, 20 billion(naira). Now, we are doing 13. Last month was 15.  We do not know how much we would do this month.  We pray that it improves. That is one. Then two is the fact that the level of stealing in the oil sector is affecting the revenue in all the states. So, we do not have enough.”

    While on the inspection, the Rivers governor, according to his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, received tumultuous praise from Elioparanwo people.

     

  • ACF, Amaechi fault suspension

    ACF, Amaechi fault suspension

    Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday faulted the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

    It accused President Goodluck Jonathan of ignoring due process in taking the action.

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi also said Dr. jonathan acted with impunity by his action.

    Amaechi, who spoke yesterday at Christ Church, Port Harcourt, during a service organised for the induction of the Resident Minister and reception of the Assistant Resident Ministers, said: “You can imagine how President Jonathan announced the sudden removal (suspension) of the CBN Governor. He does not have such powers. He knows that nothing will happen. That was why he took that action.

    “While we are talking about the problem and the ways to end religious wars in the country, others are busy stealing our money. Maybe they are using it to divert our attention. The issue of the missing $49.8 billion from the federation account is still there. If you convert that money to naira, you will get N80 trillion and that money can solve the problem of this country for the next few years.

    “The federal government said they used the money for this and that, but the constitution says nobody can tamper with that money. The money must first be paid into the federation account. So that Rivers State or Imo State can have its share, but the Federal Government has gone upfront to collect this money, without actually following the due process as stipulated by law.”

    “So, the preachers should begin to preach what we call the Liberation Theology. You (church leaders) are supposed to have more responsibilities to hold government accountable.”

    The NGF chairman also admonished members of the Christ Church, Port Harcourt to accord more trust, confidence and encouragement to the newly-inducted resident minister, Rev. Kaleb Kay Uche, and the assistant resident ministers, Rev. Canon

  • ACF, Amaechi fault suspension

    ACF, Amaechi fault suspension

    Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday faulted the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

    It accused President Goodluck Jonathan of ignoring due process in taking the action.

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi also said Dr. jonathan acted with impunity by his action.

    Amaechi, who spoke yesterday at Christ Church, Port Harcourt, during a service organised for the induction of the Resident Minister and reception of the Assistant Resident Ministers, said: “You can imagine how President Jonathan announced the sudden removal (suspension) of the CBN Governor. He does not have such powers. He knows that nothing will happen. That was why he took that action.

    “While we are talking about the problem and the ways to end religious wars in the country, others are busy stealing our money. Maybe they are using it to divert our attention. The issue of the missing $49.8 billion from the federation account is still there. If you convert that money to naira, you will get N80 trillion and that money can solve the problem of this country for the next few years.

    “The federal government said they used the money for this and that, but the constitution says nobody can tamper with that money. The money must first be paid into the federation account. So that Rivers State or Imo State can have its share, but the Federal Government has gone upfront to collect this money, without actually following the due process as stipulated by law.”

    “So, the preachers should begin to preach what we call the Liberation Theology. You (church leaders) are supposed to have more responsibilities to hold government accountable.”

    The NGF chairman also admonished members of the Christ Church, Port Harcourt to accord more trust, confidence and encouragement to the newly-inducted resident minister, Rev. Kaleb Kay Uche, and the assistant resident ministers, Rev. Canon

  • Rivers crisis: Jonathan turned down Rivers’ elders, says Amaechi

    Rivers crisis: Jonathan turned down Rivers’ elders, says Amaechi

    President Goodluck Jonathan turned down the request of Rivers State elders to attend the centenary celebration of Port Harcourt City last November, Governor Chibuike Amaechi alleged yesterday.

    He added that the request of the elders to leave him alone also went unheeded.

    According to the governor, because of the president’s action, he also decided not to be part of the events marking Nigeria’s centenary.

    Amaechi spoke at the 70th birthday celebration of a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Nimi Dimkpa Briggs. The event was held on the campus of the university.

    The governor said the President disrespected Rivers elders that visited him at the Presidential Villa to invite him for the Port Harcourt celebration, by failing to turn up in spite of the President having grown up in Port Harcourt.

    According to Amaechi, declining the invitation for Nigeria’s centenary was meant to save the faces of the elders whom he said the president should have honoured by attending the Port Harcourt programme.

    “There are some elders who have gone on a delegation to Mr. President to leave this young man (referring to himself/Amaechi), alone but they each time came back disappointed.

    “People are asking why I did not attend the last centenary celebration?, I said, five prominent Rivers men, left here to go and invite the president, when they approached me that they were going to invite the President, I told them, don’t bother your head, the President won’t come, they said no, not after he had seen them.

    “They are Justice (Adolphus) Karibi Whyte, Prof. Tekena Tamuno, Prof. T. K. Alagoa, Prof. Nimi Briggs and Chief Agbaru; they were very well received by our President and when they came back and told me how they went; I was expectant, everybody at the Federal Government told me the President was going to come, but he didn’t come.

    “So I told myself I was not going to attend the Nigerian centenary because Port Harcourt turned 100, the President refused to come even though he grew up here.

    “I did not attend because of you, I wanted to respect your age, I was bothered that Mr. President should have respected you and honoured that invitation.” Amaechi said.

    Speaking of the celebrator, Amaechi noted that he was not a politician but had vested interest in the development of the state.

    He pledged to name one of the new specialist hospitals being built after Briggs for his good will and contributions to the state.

    Briggs was also Chairman, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and current Chairman of the state Economic Advisory Council.

    “We will try to immortalise Prof. there is this 100-bed hospital being constructed at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), we are going to name it after him. This is in honour of his 70th birthday and his contributions to the growth and development of the state.

    “We have paid 100 per cent of the cost, it is not a matter of whether it will work or not.

    “We want to name it Prof. Nimi Briggs Hospital,” he said.

     

  • Amaechi: I won’t stop fighting Jonathan’s anti-Rivers policies

    Amaechi: I won’t stop fighting Jonathan’s anti-Rivers policies

    •Says Wike spoke for President over arrest threat

    Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State declared yesterday that no amount of threats, including the one issued at the weekend by the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, would cow him into silence.

    Wike had threatened that the governor would be arrested and the Port Harcourt International Airport shut if President Goodluck Jonathan wins the 2015 election.

    Amaechi vowed to continue to speak up against the policies and decisions of the Jonathan Administration whenever he considers them inimical to the ultimate interest of the people that voted him into office.

    He insisted that he is not a coward and has never liked a coward.

    The governor spoke through his Chief of Staff on phone to reporters in response to Wike’s threat that Amaechi would be arrested and sent to jail once President Goodluck Jonathan is re-elected next year.

    “I presume Wike is speaking the president’s mind,” Amaechi said.

    “Nothing will stop me from fighting for the right and interest of the people of Rivers State. The people and residents of Rivers State are my primary constituency, and I have sworn on oath to protect their interests. I have repeatedly said that I will support and vote for President Jonathan if he gives back to Rivers State the five Soku Oil wells that have been ceded to Bayelsa State.”

    He added: “The issue of the Soku oil wells is not about Amaechi, it is about the economic interest of our state. So, I cannot be cowed because of some imaginary threat. No! Amaechi is far more than that.”

    The governor who spoke through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, also revealed that although he (governor) was not aware of any plan to punish or humiliate him if President Jonathan is reelected, it was clear that Wike was speaking the president’s mind.

    He said: “Well, if you have been following the political crisis in Rivers State, especially the role of the presidency in its avowed support for the Abuja-based politicians from Rivers State, you can easily deduce that Wike is speaking the president’s mind. When the evil plotter beats the drum for the innocent, the gods will not let it sound.

    “Wike will not stop playing God. He is an indecent mind contributing nothing than a baggage of mischief and villainy, yet he remains a senior member of the federal government. In contrast to Wike, Governor Amaechi remains a hero in our political history. His prodigies in the political landscape cannot be dwarfed by never-do-wells as Wike. Amaechi is a great achiever, erudite scholar, incorruptible and fearless.”

    Okocha also pointed out that Governor Amaechi’s decision not to support President Jonathan in 2015 is borne out of principles and self conviction to which Amaechi is entitled.

    “It is not surprising that Wike speaks so despicably of a man who threw him up politically. He is one of those who ill- advise the president that opposition is punishable by death.

    “Now, see where we are today. One will expect that Wike is scolded for making such gutter statement but, alas, it’s a further meal ticket for him. Nigeria we hail thee!”

    Wike had said that members of the PDP in the state would shut-down the Port Harcourt International Airport and all land and sea borders in Rivers State after next year’s elections to prevent the governor and his supporters from escaping from the state.

     

  • Police detain pro-Amaechi council chiefs

    Police detain pro-Amaechi council chiefs

    Two local government chairmen loyal to Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi have been detained by the police in connection with Sunday’s violence in Bori, Khana Local Government Area.

    Hoodlums prevented the rally planned by the pro-Amaechi group Save Rivers Movement (SRM) from holding.

    They attacked government officials, who came early to the venue, smashing their vehicles. Many people, including journalists, were injured.

    Detained are Chairman of Khana Local Government Council Greg Nwidam and Gokana Council boss Demua Ledee Demua (both Ogoni councils).

    Nwidam’s Press Secretary, Patrick Nwika, in a telephone interview, confirmed that his boss, who he described as non-violent and a complete gentleman, and Demua were being detained by the police.

    Nwika said the two council chairmen were invited by the police on Monday and as law-abiding citizens, they honoured the invitation, only to be asked to wait for many hours, later asked to write statements and subsequently detained.

    Gun-wielding militants invaded the All Saints’ Anglican Church, Bori, not far from the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori-Ogoni, the traditional headquarters of Ogoni, and upturned the canopies, tables, chairs and the podium.

    Senator Magnus Abe, who is from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana council, was shot with rubber bullets by the police on January 12 at the disrupted SRM rally at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt. He is recuperating in a London hospital.

    The arrested Ogoni men, staging a protest over the shooting of Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), were arraigned at the Magistrate’s Court, Port Harcourt on Monday, but granted bail.

    The accused persons are: Barinaaghaalo Kugbor (26), God-Gift Brienalor (24), Stephen Nuata (24), Akpobari Aminikpo (29), Sunday Dugbor (20), Dubor Kpeghasi (30), Promise Kagbor (29),Baribor Nnade (25), Kiesira Nteegha (22), Lucky Pourii (25) and Baridor Kukue (27).

    Ten of them are facing a three-court charge of conspiracy, unlawful gathering and possession of dangerous weapons. The eleventh suspect (Aminikpo) is facing a four-count charge, including illegal possession of a walkie-talkie.

    Abe condemned Sunday’s attack, lamenting that rather than implement the recommendations contained in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni, the Federal Government chose to arm youths with guns, worth millions of naira, to kill fellow human beings.

    The Chairman of the SRM, Charles Aholu, yesterday in Port Harcourt, described the arrest and detention of Nwidam and Demua, as well as the 11 protesting youths, as the height of intimidation and lawlessness.

    Aholu insisted that the Mbu Joseph Mbu-led Rivers Police Command was informed about the SRM rallies in Rumuola, Port Harcourt (January 12) and Bori (January 19), for police protection through letters which were acknowledged by a police officer. He was shocked that the rallies were disrupted by the police and militants.

    The SRM chairman also called for the unconditional release of the detained chairmen and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to give moral direction to Nigeria.

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) also warned that Ogoni should not be turned into a political battleground.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) declared that the police’s double standard could plunge the state into unmitigated chaos.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers chapter, through its spokesman, Pastor Jerry Needam, alleged that Amaechi was pushing Ogoni people to war, by declaring that the botched Bori rally would be repeated on Saturday.

    Rivers police spokesman Ahmad Muhammad said the command would soon release the detained council chairmen, arrested policemen and other persons, whom he said were assisting the police in their investigation.

    Abe, through his spokesperson, Honour Sirawoo, yesterday in Port Harcourt declared that the guns being used by the opponents of Amaechi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), would soon be turned against their owners.

    Abe expressed gratitude to friends, well-meaning individuals, groups and indeed Nigerians for their prayers, phone calls, solidarity messages and support.

    The ex-Rivers SSG (Abe) said: “Every gun has a lifespan of over a hundred years. Our politics may change. As today’s friends become opponents tomorrow, the guns will also change hands, but they will still remain lethal, even against their present owners.

    “Rather than encourage violence to gain relevance in politics, I will continue to arm my supporters, just like my children, with school fees, laptops, prayers and the fear of God. We have faced violence before and we emerged victorious.”

    Abe, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), sued for forgiveness and for the people to focus on set goals, noting that the law, as impossible as it might look today, would one day take its course.

    MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, condemned Sunday’s violence in Bori. It urged Ogoni politicians and youths to refuse the temptation of turning Ogoni into a political battle ground for political parties.

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people said it was of the view that the disturbances in Bori were the fallout of a cocktail of political intolerance and lack of accommodation among members of political parties in Ogoni, ahead of the 2015 elections, which it described as unnecessary at this time and highly condemnable .

    MOSOP said: “While people from other areas of Rivers State have been engaging in their political activities peacefully and without violence, it is humiliating that Ogoni politicians and youths have allowed themselves to be externally manipulated to turn against themselves in the most despicable way, that is making a mockery of the sacrifices of our heroes to unite us, for the purpose of developing our area.”

    The APC, Rivers chapter, through Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, to the Interim Rivers Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said it was saddened by the repeat violence at the SRM’s rally in Bori.

    APC said: “The SRM’s rally at Bori was brutally stopped by gunmen, who left some vehicles vandalised and many people injured and two innocent persons lost their lives, as reported by the PDP in Rivers State.

    “For PDP to have sent out a press statement, even while the shooting was ongoing, indicated pre-information of the attack and ascertaining the number of people they killed, simply indicated that they were part of the attack.”

    The PDP said: “Amaechi, in spite of security challenges in Bori-Ogoni, occasioned by the aborted APC rally of January 19, states that he will dare the police and the people, and lead a rally in Bori on Saturday, is obviously pushing the Ogoni people to war.

    “Rather than threatening to go ahead to hold a rally in Bori and provoke the people to another round of crisis, Amaechi should talk and for once act like a governor, by seeking ways to bring about peace in the area and the state, before he proceeds on the rally to Bori or any other part of the state.

  • PDP rejects budget

    PDP rejects budget

    The Felix Obuah-led Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has vowed to frustrate the implementation of the state’s 2014 Appropriation Bill, which was passed into law yesterday by lawmakers.

    Obuah issued the threat at a news conference he addressed in Port Harcourt, the state capital, shortly after the budget was passed.

    Twenty-five of the 31 state lawmakers passed Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s N486.5billion “budget of sustained action”.

    The session, which was held at the old Government House complex in the State House was presided over by the speaker Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.

    Presenting the bill to the members earlier, Amaechi said the budget was aimed at completing on-going projects in the state, to ensure no projects were left uncompleted as he leaves office in 2015.

    But the state PDP said the budget would not see the light of the day, because it was an act of illegality.

    According to Obuah, “the act of presenting and passing budget outside the legislative chamber is illegal, criminal and of no effect.”

  • Police say Amaechi well protected

    Police say Amaechi well protected

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi has no reason to complain about police security because he has enough men to protect him, Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu said yesterday.

    Amaechi has been saying that his police protection unit has been depleted by the police chief, adding that he is exposed to attacks.

    But yesterday in Port Harcourt, Mbu said no fewer than 287 men are attached to the governor and the Government House.

    The government, however, faulted Mbu’s claim.

    Mbu, who spoke through Rivers Police spokesman Ahmad K. Mohammad, said the 287 officers and men attached to Amaechi, were on shift duties.

    According to him, they include 18 men from the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) and 18 from the Swift Operation Squad (SOS). He said three Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) are stationed at the front and back gates of the Government House.

    The police said Amaechi’s Chief of Staff Tony Okocha is not qualified to have police protection. He said Secretary to the State Government Georhe Feyii, by virtue of his position, is qualified to have a police orderly, which he enjoys.

    The police chief urged the public to disregard Okocha’s allegations and complaints about the withdrawal of his police security, saying it was one of his endless strategies to score cheap popularity and whip up public sentiment against the police.

    He reaffirmed the police’s commitment to ensuring that lives and property of all residents were protected, including that of the governor.

    Okocha, last week, raised the alarm that the policemen had been withdrawn from his residence and that of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) without notice.

    The police said five policemen were attached to Okocha and Feyii – as a privilege and not a right.

    According to the police chief, the policy does not provide for any police security for the Chief of Staff, but the SSG is entitled to just one orderly.

    The police spokesman said: “The Rivers State Police Command hereby reacts to the recent outcry by Chief Tony Okocha, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Rivers state, in his endless attempts to score cheap popularity and whip up public sentiments, that policemen invaded and broke into his house and withdrew some policemen attached to him. The command wishes to state categorically that there was no such incident and that the statement was false and misleading.

    “Going by the existing circular from the police authority, the Chief of Staff is not entitled to police orderly or guard.

    “However, for the avoidance of doubt, the Secretary to the State Government is only entitled to one police orderly.

    “The command wishes to further reaffirm its continued protection of His Excellency, Rt, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi(CON), the Executive Governor of Rivers State.

    “The command furthermore wishes to draw the attention of the members of the public to these facts and to dismiss and regard such outcry as misleading and false.”

    The statement said 32 police escorts are attached to Amaechi’s convoy, 20 each are attached to his wife Dame Judith’s and Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru’s.

    Also, the wife of the deputy governor moves with 12 police escorts. The SSG had five, the Chief of Staff also had five while a total of 109 policemen guard the State House front and back in alternate arrangement.

    The statement added that 10 men of the Anti-Bomb Squad and 10 State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) were part of the government’s security arrangements, but noted that the governor rejected the SIB personnel.

    Okocha said: “The CP has a way of covering his wrongdoings with lies.

    “if a public officer of my status is not entitled to police officers, so be it. The CP is sinister in mind and he knows the implication of his actions.

    “I intercepted the SPU signal in Port Harcourt directing police personnel in my escort and guard duties be withdrawn, leaving only an orderly.

    “The CP should better address the issue immediately rather than telling lies.” On the number of plice scurity presently with Amaechi and the Government House he said: “This is another blatant lie. It is not true at all. Is the Government House a police battalion that it would have this number of personnel?”

  • PDP warns Amaechi against opening secretariat

    The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has declared that it would resist attempt by anyone to open up a parallel secretariat in the state in the name of the new PDP other than the existing legitimate ruling People’s Democratic Party.
    The party in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the state chairman, Jerry Needam and made available to the Nation, gave the warning against the moves by Governor Chibuike Amaechi to open up a state secretariat for the new PDP at No. 38 Forces Avenue, Old GRA, Port Harcourt.
    The statement said that any such move not only amounts to an outright disregard for the rule of law, but is also aimed at truncating the nation’s democracy, stressing that there is a subsisting Federal High Court order barring any attempt to impersonate and, or float any other political party in the name of the PDP which must not be abused.
     As a law abiding party, the PDP said, it is imperative in the light of the apparent danger this criminal plan portends to alert the security operatives in the state to be beware, alleging that this is another in the series of plots to create disharmony in the state so as to have enough reasons to accuse the law enforcement agencies of reneging on their responsibility to ensure safety of lives and property in the state.
     “We’ll however not let this be, but nonetheless, there is need to sensitize the entire Rivers people to be alert to such plot, regretting that Gov Amaechi should strategically choose to hatch the plot same time and day President Goodluck Jonathan made a stopover in Port Harcourt enroute Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
    “This is most embarrassing, insulting and satanically arrogant of a leader on a mission to destroy the system instead of going down alone.
    “It’s intolerable and unfathomable by any person or group of person’s conscious of their identity and personality as typified by the God-fearing and self-respecting Rivers people.  We are therefore calling on all to resist this arrant madness and animalism of one man desperate and power drunk,” the PDP declared.