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Tag: Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

  • We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    Igbo traders in Bayelsa State, yesterday, marched the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, in protest of the continual murder of Igbo businessmen in the state capital by unknown gunmen suspected to be armed robbers and hired assassins.

     

    They were particularly angry over the gruesome murder of Agodo Martins by gunmen at his Yenagoa residence early hours of Monday.

     

    The hoodlums were said to have broken into the house of Martins, who owns a popular boutique called Omars Fashion Plaza at the Ompadec area of the Yenagoa-Mbiama Road.

     

    It was gathered that the gunmen who stormed the house of Martins located at the Punch Road area demanded money from their victim.

     

    The deceased reportedly told his assailants that there was no cash at home because shops in the capital city were shut down for about four days in honour of the late Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was buried on Saturday.

     

    After ransacking his house, the gunmen were said to have shot and killed Martin in cold blood in the presence of his new wife.

     

    The traders led by the President, Ohaneze Youth Council (OYC), Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, also lamented that Martin was killed a few days after gunmen suspected to be assassins murdered another successful Igbo businessman, Ugochukwu,  popularly called Ugo Best.

     

    It was gathered that Ugochukwu was killed along the Azikoro village on his way home after business of that day.

     

    A source who spoke in confidence said: “He was close to his house in company with his wife when gunmen operating in commercial tricycles blocked his car. They dragged him out of the car and forced into the tricycle.

     

    “His corpse was discovered the next day at the Azikoro cemetery with his hands and legs tied up. He was a successful businessman who built a big house at the Azikoro village. We are scared”.

     

    The traders also related how another businessman was gruesomely murdered at the Tombia area adding that others were being harassed and injured by arm-bearing youths.

     

    The traders assembled at the front of Omars boutique, forced shops to close down and marched with anger to the state command of the police.

     

    They were received by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Peter Ogunyawo, and other senior police officers.

     

    Presenting their grievances, Arthur-Ugwa said: “The Igbos are no longer safe in Bayelsa. We are being killed by gunmen. One was killed at Azikoro, the other one was killed at Tombia and today another one who just got married was killed in cold blood.

     

    “We are not happy and we have closed down our business to come and tell you at the headquarters that we are not safe. If you cannot guarantee our safety, we will relocate our business and families out of the state. We are pleading for your assistance”.

     

    Ogunyawo in his response, told the grieving traders that crimes exist everywhere and were not targeted at the Igbos.

     

    He said death is one debt everybody must pay and that nobody knows how it will be paid.

     

    He said the command was doing everything possible to check the crime wave in the state and asked the traders to furnish the police with information to enable them become effective.

     

    “We can’t be effective if you don’t partner with us. Once you have feelings of any crime, let us know. You don’t need to run to anywhere because crimes exist everywhere”, he said.

  • Bayelsa standstill as Alamieyeseigha begins final journey

    Bayelsa standstill as Alamieyeseigha begins final journey

    Shops, social activities and all forms of businesses were, Friday, shut down in different parts of Bayelsa State as the heroic state burial for the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, entered day two.

    Commercial institutions, government agencies and parastatals were shut especially   in Yenagoa, as the state stood still in honour of the Ijaw hero, who was referred to as the Governor-General of the Niger Delta.

    At about 12noon, an ambulance carrying a shiny white casket bearing the remains of the late Ijaw icon touched the soil of Bayelsa.

    The ambulance was accompanied by convoy of vehicles of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, led by its President, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, who added colour to the solemn ceremony.

    The youths led by Eradiri followed the ambulance from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, to Yenagoa.

    The youths who bore banners and emblems of Ijaw struggle sang and danced as the white casket draped in Ijaw flag and decorated with bouquets of flowers arrived the Executive Chambers of the Banquet Hall, Yenagoa.

    It was taken to a podium at the center of the hall where Governor Seriake Dickson held a valedictory session in the honour of the late Ijaw icon.

    Though there was no lying in state for the late hero, his remains were expected to be taken to his expansive compound in his community in Amassoma where a wake had been arranged before his final burial on Saturday.

    In Amasoma, business and commercial activities were also completely shut down. Even commercial motorcyclists and buses have been out of the road since Thursday.

    The town was agog as residents and students of the Niger Delta University (NDU), Alamieyeseigha’s major achievements prepared to receive the remains of their hero.

    The quiet town became boisterous with gridlock of vehicles in some roads in the community.

    On Thursday night avalanche of tributes was poured on late Ijaw leader by other Ijaw living heroes including former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Jonathan, who narrated how the late Alamieyeseigha brought him to political limelight, said the late hero believed in the oneness of the Ijaw nation.

    Referring to him as his boss, Jonathan said the man famously called Alamco left the stage when the ovation was the loudest.

    The president said the late former governor would be missed by not only the Ijaw nation but the entire Niger Delta.

    Also the leaders of various levels of IYC led by Eradiri gathered at Ijaw House to reflect on the ideals and virtues of the late Ijaw hero and seized the opportunity to take a collective position on national issues affecting the Ijaw nation.

    Eradiri said that the council would henceforth organise public lecture every year to immortalise Alamieyeseigha.

    He said the public lecture would centre on true federalism and resource control which were some of the ideologies Alamieyeseigha promoted.

    Eradiri said: “We will be holding annual public lecture on true federalism and fiscal federal as a mark of honour to immortalising Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

    “Every year, on the date he died, we will organise annual public lecture to look at issues concerning resource control and true federalism.”

    Eradiri who was flanked by the IYC, Spokesman, Eric Omare, and other executive members of the council noted that the late governor-general was a victim of political prosecution and victimisation.

  • Alamieyeseigha to be buried March 26

    Alamieyeseigha to be buried March 26

    The burial ceremony of the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, will commence on March 24 and end on March 26, a family source said on Tuesday.

    The Nation gathered that Alamieyeseigha would have been buried on November 16 last year, the day he would have marked his 63 birthday.

    But it was reportedly put off because of preparations for the state governorship election and lack of agreement between the state government and the deceased’s family.

    The silence over his burial had led to speculations especially outside the Niger Delta region that Alamieyeseigha’s death might have been faked to stop his extradition to Britain on corruption charges.

    But Major Graham Naingba (rtd), the first cousin of the deceased and Traditional Ruler of Amassoma, Alamieyeseigha’s community in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state, said the death was not faked.

    Graham, who spoke on Tuesday when our correspondent visited his palace in Amassoma, said it was an abomination in Ogboin community, comprising Amassoma, Amatolu and Otuan, for anybody to fake his death.

    Naingba noted that though the chiefs in the community were yet to see the remains of the late former governor, some members of the family were present when he died.

    He said: “Alamieyeseigha is truly dead. I have heard people who claimed that he faked his death. It is not true. In Ogboin community, we don’t fake our death.

    “If anybody claims that he is dead and he eventually comes back, the person cannot live for more than three months. It is our tradition. If you fake your death, you are gone because you cannot live again.

    “Even if the whole world says he is not dead, I the traditional ruler of this community will tell you that he is dead.”

  • I’ll forever remain grateful to Alamieyeseigha – Jonathan

    I’ll forever remain grateful to Alamieyeseigha – Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has paid tribute to his former boss, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, for giving him a breakthrough in politics.

    Chief Alamieyeseigha picked Dr. Jonathan as running mate for the 1999 governorship election in Bayelsa State which they won.

    The former President went on to replace Alamieyeseigha as governor following his impeachment.

    He was preparing to seek re-election as governor in 2007 when he was drafted in as running mate to the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua in that year’s Presidential election.

    Speaking during  an interdenominational thanksgiving service organised by the Bayelsa State government as part of the grand reception in his honour in Yenagoa, yesterday Jonathan said he never dreamed of becoming  a commissioner in the state until Alamieyeseigha convinced him to become his running mate in 1999.

    “Without Alamieyeseigha, l wouldn’t have been here talking about being a former President. Nobody would have heard about Jonathan without him. So, help me thank him,” he said.

    He appealed to religious leaders and the Christian community to keep praying for him and his family saying that he would continue to contribute to development and nation-building by virtue of his current position.

    He commended the CAN President and other Christian leaders for their prayers and support throughout his Presidency.

    Jonathan who read the first Bible lesson from Luke 17:11-12 hailed his former aides for their services to the country saying that they all worked tirelessly to develop the country.

    He praised Dickson for packaging the grand reception.

    The thanksgiving service, which was held at the St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Ovom, Yenagoa, was attended by dignitaries from across the country and abroad.

    Governor Seriake Dickson and his wife, Rachel, Deputy Governor John Jonah, Alamieyeseigha, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson and other notable politicians in the state were in attendance as were over 50 former presidential aides including ministers.

    The Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, led a high-powered delegation of Rivers people including the former Governor of the state, Celestine Omehia, to the event.

    President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor  Ayo Oritsejafor, received Jonathan and his wife, Patience, at the church.

    Earlier in his welcome address, Dickson said the people of the state were elated to welcome the former President and thanked the people for accompanying him to his Otuoke country home.

    “The significance of this thanksgiving is that we as a government felt that all the activities will not be complete unless we assemble here to thank the awesome God for the opportunity granted us to serve this country.

    “Our leader Jonathan did a great job and he has now entered into an exclusive club of national and international statesman. We know the challenges of public office but God helped him and we are very grateful to God”, he said.

    In his sermon, Pastor Uma Ukpai described Jonathan as “one man that remembers those who helped him when he was nobody. He was approachable and he doesn’t behave like a   Nigerian.”

    The highpoint of the event was a presentation made to Mrs. Jonathan by a group of Abuja women led by Onyeka Onwenu.

  • PDP mounts pressure on Alamieyeseigha to drop senatorial bid

    PDP mounts pressure on Alamieyeseigha to drop senatorial bid

    Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa Central Senatorial District are mounting pressure on former Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to drop his senatorial ambition in 2015.

    The stakeholders were said to have begged the former governor to respect the zoning arrangement of the party in the spirits of fairness.

    A leader of the party, Mr. Douye Diri, appealed to Alamieyeseigha, to forget his 2015 senatorial ambition.

    Diri urged the former governor to play a statesman’s role for the younger generation.

    The advice came shortly after Alamieyeseigha, who is from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area in Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, was said to have submitted his expression of interest form to contest for the Senate in 2015.

    Diri, the Principal Secretary to Governor Seriake Dickson, who is from Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, has also declared for the senatorial seat having submitted his form.

    Speaking in an interview yesterday, Diri also said the former governor should forget his ambition in the interest of peace, justice and equity.

    He said out of the three councils that make up the senatorial district, Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw have been occupying the Senate for 16 years with the exception of Kolokuma/Opokuma.

    He said: “For Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, politically speaking, his declaration is actually very wrong. He is from Southern Ijaw. Somebody from his local government area was there for eight years.

    “For another Southern Ijaw man again, particularly for a person we all have very high regard and respect for, I expect that Alamieyeseigha should be a father figure for all of us. He should play more of an advisory role to us and allow us (the younger ones) to also grow.”

     

  • Who is who in battle for Rivers’ future

    Who is who in battle for Rivers’ future

    The gladiators in the deepening political crisis in Rivers State, ahead of the 2015 elections, are in two camps. BISI OLANIYI in Port Harcourt writes that the Abuja forces are led by President Goodluck Jonathan. The home-based politicians have as leader the youthful Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The former lecturer-turned-politician, President Goodluck Jonathan, is an indigene of Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and was born on November 20, 1957. In 1998, he was picked as the running mate to the Bayelsa’s former Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

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

    A chain of events saw him emerging governor, vice-president, acting president and president. He is seeking re-election in 2015, but many persons are saying that he has not performed up to Nigerians’ expectations.

    The President is not comfortable with Amaechi as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and his recent defection to the main opposition All progressives Congress (APC). He is working to cut Amaechi to size.

    Peter Odili

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

    The Ndoni, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA-born Odili, who was born on August 15, 1948 was the thirteenth Governor of Rivers state. He is a member of the ruling PDP and owns Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited, Port Harcourt. Odili is married to Justice (Mrs.) Mary Okaego Odili (nee Nzenwa, born on May 12, 1952), a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The former governor graduated from the Medical School of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and pursued post-graduate work in Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. In 1988/89, Odili was elected member and leader of the Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly.

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

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

    The medical doctor was later nominated as Yar’Adua’s running mate, only to be dropped dramatically at the convention venue in Abuja, through a complex power game between the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu.

    The former governor had moved from being a frontrunner in the 2007 presidential race to a sure bet as Yar’Adua’s running mate, but eventually emerged with nothing at the end of the day and felt so pained over the humiliation by ex-President Obasanjo, whom he has not forgiven.

    Odili, a famous politician, in his new biography titled: “Conscience and History: My Story,” described Amaechi as an ingrate.

    On why he was stopped from the presidential race, the former governor said he was later informed that Ribadu had told Obasanjo that some foreign missions in Abuja would not be happy to see him on the PDP ticket, on the basis of the “EFCC interim report.”

    In the book, the former governor also narrated how his anointed successor and current governor of the state (Amaechi) was disqualified from the governorship race, but lamented that bad blood later generated between Amaechi and him.

    Odili has scores to settle with his political son (Amaechi), thereby teaming up with President Goodluck Jonathan to fight him, while also capitalising on his closeness to the President’s wife, Dame Patience, to deal with the Rivers governor.

    Patience Jonathan

    The wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Faka, was born on October 25, 1957 and hails from Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers state.

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

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

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

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

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

    Rotimi Amaechi

    Amaechi’s place of birth is Umuordu-Ubima in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State and he was born on May 27, 1965. He attended St. Theresa’s Primary School, Ubima (1976); Okolobiri Grammar School in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State (1982) and the University of Port Harcourt (1987), where he read English. He is married to Dame Judith and they are blessed with children.

    Amaechi was the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited, Port Harcourt, owned by Dr. Peter Odili (1988); the Special Assistant to Odili (1992) and was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly for eight years (1999 to 2007), during which he doubled as the Chairman of Nigerian Speakers’ Conference and performed excellently, before becoming governor on October 26, 2007 through the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of the previous day.

    Amaechi’s cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, from the same Ubima, was inaugurated as governor on May 29, 2007, having benefitted from the infamous K-leg of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other leaders of the PDP, but sacked by the Supreme Court on October 25, 2007 and since then, has refused to reconcile with the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    Omehia contested for Rivers governorship on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011, just like his counterpart of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Dr. Abiye Sekibo, a former Transport Minister and an ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in the Odili’s administration.

    Surprisingly, Omehia and Sekibo were “defeated” by Amaechi. With the emergence of Chief Felix Obuah as the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both of them returned to the ruling PDP and will join forces to fight the NGF chairman, who earlier dealt with them during the 2011 campaigns and elections, especially for sealing off the Sekibo’s campaign office at the new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.

    The Rivers governor performed well during his first term, especially in the education, health, agriculture and power sectors, with most Rivers people now complaining that he has relaxed and almost gone to sleep in his second tenure, as well as stopping his surprise routine inspection of projects, said to have been caused by his NGF chairmanship distraction of always travelling.

    Amaechi said it would only be fair to allow somebody from another ethnic group, to be the next occupant of the Brick House (Government House), Port Harcourt.

    The Rivers governor was recently accused by the sacked Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, of poor performance and using the state’s funds to bribe people all over Nigeria, with Port Harcourt, the state capital, now a slum, while Amaechi described the Delta State-born ex-minister as a failure.

    Orubebe later visited Amaechi at the Government House, Port Harcourt, as a strategy to resolve their differences.

    The NGF chairman recently defected to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and vowed that he would never allow the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, to succeed him in 2015, accusing him of betrayal, which he denied.

    Nyesom Wike

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

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

    Amaechi, probably in an attempt to appease Wike, early 2012, appointed his wife, Eberechi Suzzette, as a judge in the Rivers State judiciary. While appearing on the radio programme in Port Harcourt, the minister of state for education said: “Rivers government is playing politics with federal presence in the state. People should not play politics with every issue. Federal Government should be appreciated.

    “I supported Amaechi in 2011. My LGA (Obio/Akpor) gave Amaechi the highest votes during the 2011 governorship election. I do not have personal problems with Amaechi. We may disagree on certain issues. I risked my life for Amaechi when it mattered most and I almost lost my life. I lost my driver to assassins. I stood firmly with Amaechi and stuck my neck.

    “My choice is Felix Obuah (PDP Chairman in Rivers State). He purchased form. I have no regret about supporting Obuah. I am not standing against somebody (Amaechi) I fought for in 2007. I supported Amaechi in 2007 and we fought till the end. I was the Commander-in-Chief of that era. I also supported Amaechi in 2011. Obuah should not be denied his rightful position. I never sponsored Ake’s (Chief Godspower, sacked Chairman of the PDP) election.”

    Magnus Abe

    The representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly, born on May 24, 1965 hails from Bera, Ogoni in Gokana Local Government Area of the state. He represents Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly. He is also eyeing the governorship seat during the next election, in order to make history as the first Ogoni man to be the governor of the state, created on May 27, 1967.

    The youthful Senator (Abe) was the Rivers Information Commissioner, in the administration of Dr. Peter Odili, having earlier been in the state’s House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, where he was the Minority Leader and then in the All Peoples Party (APP)/All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    In order to compensate hardwork, loyalty and commitment to a worthy cause, Amaechi, shortly after his October 26, 2007 inauguration, made Abe the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), the position he held before moving to the National Assembly in 2011.

    Some claim if Abe emerges as the next governor, he will make it a bit difficult for the Bori State dream of Ogoni people and their neighbours to be realised.

    The former SSG insisted that Rivers State would be governed by person who would provide electricity, good roads and well-equipped schools like Amaechi is doing.

    Abe said: “Somebody (Chief Felix Obuah, aka Go Round, being backed by Wike and also a former Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state, where the ex-Governor, Dr. Peter Odili hails from) who neither picked form nor contested election, is now the Chairman of PDP in Rivers state.

    “Rivers people, hold your peace. Do not go for war. Judiciary has done it before and will do it again. The will of Rivers people and the will of God will be done.”

    George Sekibo

    The representative of Rivers East Senatorial District was in April 2003 elected into the House of Representatives to represent Okrika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency.

    In 2007, Sekibo was again elected for a higher responsibility, to represent the Rivers East Senatorial District.

    The incumbent governor is not comfortable with the ambition of Sekibo to be governor since they are from the same senatorial district and the senator is close to Dame Patience Jonathan, who hails from Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area in Rivers state, to get the PDP’s governorship ticket, which will amount to survival of the fittest, considering Wike’s ambition of also becoming governor in 2015..

    Dakuku Peterside

    The representative of Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, 43, hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Amaechi has soft spot for Peterside, who is also the Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

    Peterside, who is Rivers State’s immediate past Commissioner for Works, is loved by most stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC), considering Rivers upland/riverine dichotomy in the choice of a governor and his closeness to the helmsman. Amaechi is from the upland part of the state.

    Otelemaba Amachree

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

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

    The move by the 25 members of Rivers House of Assembly loyal to Amaechi to suspend the six lawmakers loyal to Wike, will put the speaker on the spot and he may not survive the aftermath, considering the Obuah-led PDP executive’s April 29, 2013 suspension of the pro-Amaechi lawmakers, including the speaker.

    Godspower Ake

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

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

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

    The sacked Chairman of the PDP earlier in Port Harcourt received members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers state chapter, led by its Chairman, Chimbiko Iche Akarolo, who is also the Mayor of Port Harcourt City LG, who paid him solidarity visit.

    The Rivers ALGON chairman earlier noted that as members of the PDP, they were aware of a judgment in Ake’s favour in Rivers High Court, Okehi, Etche Local Government Area, which had not been set aside and also aware that the sacked chairman had appealed the judgment over his “purported” removal by the Abuja High Court.

    Felix Obuah

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

    The new chairman also pleaded with his teeming supporters and PDP members in Rivers state to remain calm and law-abiding.

    Lee Meaba

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

    The anger of being deprived representation might have made Meaba to fight Amaechi in the PDP, where he is strategising to be Rivers governor in 2015.

    Tele Ikuru

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

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

    During elections in Rivers state, especially governorship, the upland/riverine dichotomy is always played up. The next polls may not be different.

    Ikuru is loyal to Amaechi and there is the likelihood of his remaining loyal to the end, having joined the Rivers governor to the APC, not minding the fact that his political father, Prince Uche Secondus, from the same Ikuru town in Andoni LGA is the Deputy national Chairman of the PDP.

    Last word

    Prominent Nigerians are, however, making moves to reconcile President Jonathan and the chairman of the NGF, to put an end to the political crisis.

    While strategising towards the 2015 elections, politicians and their supporters in Rivers state should sheathe their swords and give peace a chance, since without peace, there cannot be development, especially considering the deepening crisis.