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Tag: Chief Nyesom Wike

  • Wike is an asset to Tinubu government, says CSO

    Wike is an asset to Tinubu government, says CSO

    A civil society group, Centre for Transparency and Accountability said on Friday that FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike as a huge plus to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government. 

    Wike, has been widely commended by Nigerians for his work ethic which has culminated in the completion of a number of roads in the FCT his first one year as Minuster among other projects. 

    The group said as a result of the resilience of the former Rivers governor, the nation’s capital which in the past was a haven for criminal activities, is gradually becoming a safe fortress, given the leadership of the FCT Minister.

    Addressing journalists in Abuja, President of the group, Moses Adam,  commended the President for prioritizing competence over political consideration in the appointment of Wike to head the FCT ministerial portfolio.

    He said: “It is not common for a President to pick a Minister outside the fold of his party but Asiwaju Tinubu did it. Today, Nigeria is good for it and we are happy.

    “The last time satellite towns and villages in the FCT had a feeling of government presence was in the era of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

    Read Also: Wike praises Police, DSS, Military, others for ensuring FCT safety

    “Successive administrations concentrated on the city centre as if residents of satellite towns were not part of the FCT.

    “Today, Wike has given us back our belief in the strength of the nation’s capital. The work he is doing is commendable . We are proud of him and we again thank Mr President for the confidence he has in the Minister.”

    In most districts of the FCT, Wike has caused a revolution in road construction and rehabilitation.

    The massive infrastructural development include construction of new parks, relocations of business premises and commencement of operations of the Abuja light train services, among others.

    Speaking on the difference Wike has made within a year, Adam said, “For eight years of the previous administration, we couldn’t see sign of work done. It was like the proverbial slogan of motion without movement.

    “In a little over a year, changes are noticeable even to the blind. I am sure that if you ask Nigerians to rate the Ministers based on their performances, Wike will top the chart.

    “The massive logistic support given to the security agencies is yielding dividends. The night patrol by Policemen has reduced criminality in the FCT.”

    The group also commended members of the National Assembly for working in harmony with the executive arm of government in the quick passage of the 2024 statutory and supplementary budgets for the Federal Capital Territory Administration.

    “Without the support of the 10th National Assembly, we won’t be here celebrating successes. We thank our lawmakers in both chambers for having the masses in their thought. We urge them to continue to work together with the executive in the interest of our nation,” Adam added.

  • NAFEST: Amachree commends Wike

    Former President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) and  Nigeria’s father of tourism, Chief  Mike Amachree, has praised the Rivers State government led by Chief Nyesom Wike for its decision to host the 2018 National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

    He said the state will use the opportunity to showcase all her tourist endowments in the areas of culture and ecotourism.

    Amachree urged stakeholders in the cultural and tourism sectors in the state to come up with wonderful presentations so as to use the opportunity offered by NAFEST to re-launch the state as a destination.

    He said: “Our cultural troupes, artistes and managers of tour sites should all join hands to make sure that Rivers State puts on display what would be the best spectacle in the history of NAFEST. You know in such cultural-cum-tourism events, visitors would  buy arts and craft works from the host community to take back to their places.  Our craftsmen should be able to make brisk business from the fiesta. They should be prepared to showcase our tourism products in Rivers State.”

    Amachree called Wike to assist tourism practitioners through soft loans so that they can invest in the sector and build the tourism profile of the state and in the process complement his efforts in the sector.

    Amachree praised the efforts of  Wike for his efforts in developing the tourism in the state through infrastructural development.

    He said the governor has been able to create the enabling environment necessary for tourism to thrive.

    “Governor Wike has done very well to promote tourism in the state. The NAFEST to be held in the state is a credit to the governor. If there is no conducive environment, we will not be talking about Rivers State hosting the NAFEST.”

    He praised the Director-General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba  Segun Runsewe, for his efforts in the cultural sector.

    He said: “He was a former Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and did well. He knows the nexus between the tourism and culture. He knows the huge role that culture has to play, especially in Nigeria, for the development of tourism.

    “I commend the zeal and doggedness he brings in whatever national assignment he undertakes. The nation will really see the best of River State during the year’s NAFEST” .

  • Wike/Ortom faceoff: ‘Wike’s charity should begin at home’

    Wike/Ortom faceoff: ‘Wike’s charity should begin at home’

    The President of Ikwerre Bu Otu Peace Movement in Rivers State, Amb Prince I. Ihuonwo, has weighed in on the war of words between the state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, and his Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom over Wike’s road construction in Benue state.

    The two governors have been sparring over Wike’s decision to reconstruct the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka and the Aliade-Oju-Obarike-Ifo-Otukpo roads in Benue, with Wike calling for the declaration of state of emergency in Benue state.

    Ihuonwo, during a chat with The Nation, expressed surprise that Wike’ was committing about N4billion to reconstruct roads in the middle belt state when there were several roads begging for attention in the state.

    He urged the governor to let “charity begin at home’.

    He said, “We are surprised that our governor is committing about N4bn to sponsor road in another state and we are here in Ogbakiri (Emuohua local government area) where there has been no road since the creation of Rivers State.

    “He (Wike) should not be doing something that he would receive praises for from outside while his people are dying. We have no road, nothing to show, while he is bettering the lives of other people in Benue state.

    “How does it benefit people of Rivers? He should start from Ogbakiri, where the people have nothing to show for supporting the PDP.

    “It was the former President Shehu Shagari that gave us road. After then former governors (Peter) Odili, (Rotimi) Amaechi and now Wike have been governor yet we do not have road and our governor is building roads in other states?

    “We wonder what the point is in doing that because there are people in Ogbakiri who are supporting him and there is nothing for them to show for their support,” Ihunowo said.

    Speaking further the Ikwerre leader lamented the absence of development at the grassroots of Ogbakiri, stressing the area lacks good roads and drainage system to alleviate their suffering.

    Ihuonwo said Ogbakiri was still suffering from the crisis that rocked the area till 2000, noting that 17 years after the people and infrastructure are not better off.

     

  • Wike: Rivers APC hails Supreme Court’s verdict

    Wike: Rivers APC hails Supreme Court’s verdict

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court’s verdict on Governor Nyesom Wike’s application challenging the relocation of the Rivers Election Petitions Tribunal from Port Harcourt to Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Apex Court had dismissed Wike’s suit challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the petition of APC’s governorship candidate in the April 11 poll, Dakuku Peterside.

    Mr. Chris FineBone, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, said in a statement in Port Harcourt that the apex court had affirmed that the tribunal’s sitting was moved to Abuja because of insecurity.

    “As a party, the APC is grateful that all seven eminent jurists of the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that there was sufficient violence before, during and after the elections to justify the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja.’’

    It also commended the reason for the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja which was to safeguard the lives of the tribunal chairman, members and witnesses.

    The statement said that the party was happy with the observation of the court that Rivers State was “a theatre of war’’ and as such protection of lives of members of the panel and interested parties was paramount.

    The APC also noted with satisfaction that the justices for once again re-affirmed that they were always ready to dispense justice without fear or favour.

    “The significance of all seven eminent justices of the Supreme Court speaking in one voice in today’s judgment is that the faith, hope and confidence of the ordinary Nigerian to get justice is assured in the Nigerian judicial system.’’

  • Rivers N53bn cash not “missing”, says Amaechi

    Rivers N53bn cash not “missing”, says Amaechi

    Former Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has said no N53billion cash was missing during his tenure.
    He said the funds were from the Rivers State Reserve Fund which was duly approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
    He accused Governor Nyesom Wike of resorting to last ditch effort to scuttle his nomination as a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    The ex-governor, who is now a ministerial nominee, made the clarification in a statement by his Media Office on Wednesday night in Abuja.
    The statement said: “The attention of the media office of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has been drawn to a statement credited to the chairman of Mr. Nyesom Wike’s invidious panel of inquiry.
    “The statement credited to the panel’s chairman Justice Omeriji of a “missing” N53 billion is unfortunate and leaves much to be desired.
    “The mischief is all the more evident as the funds referred to are funds from the Rivers State reserve fund which was duly approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly and whose expenditure were duly captured and accounted for.
    “Ordinarily we might not have responded to the mischief of Mr. Wike knowing that having failed with his various desperate tactics to stop the nomination of the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi as a minister he has embarked on this last ditch effort which is his trump card in the hope that it will diminish the former governors towering stature as a statesman and honest Nigerian.”

  • Omega Church vs Rivers: The facts, the fiction

    Omega Church vs Rivers: The facts, the fiction

    The General Overseer of a Port Harcourt-based church, the Omega Power Ministries (OPM), Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, not long ago, hosted the Rivers State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nyesom Wike, in his church on the Godspower Ake Road in the Rivers State capital.

    While addressing Wike, who is also the immediate past Minister of State for Education, and members of his entourage, the cleric accused the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration of denying his church approval/permit and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for the 19.26 hectares of land at the Greater Port Harcourt City.

    Wike, a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt; the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011 and a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council of Rivers state, while speaking at the OPM, assured that two days after his inauguration as Rivers governor from May 29, 2015, he would give the church the C of O, allegedly being denied it by Amaechi’s government.

    The Rivers government, through the Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, however, declared that Apostle Chinyere was being mischievous and economical with the truth, describing his claims as spurious and baseless.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) and an ex-Rivers Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, admonished the general overseer of OPM not to abuse his position and to always get his facts correctly.

    The administrator said: “We are in an electioneering period and at times such as this, so many activities go around, particularly in a fledgling democracy like ours, that send different signals to the undiscerning general public, which if not professionally handled, are likely to create negative impressions, including bitterness and unhealthy rivalry. We have a responsibility to address the issues dispassionately and for the purpose of equity, fairness, responsibility and posterity, set the records straight.

    “Our attention has been drawn to the recent news item in respect of the alleged denial of the granting of Certificate of Occupancy to the OPM by the Rivers State government. It is important that we place on record that the Hon. Commissioner for Lands and Survey (Ezemonye Ezekiel-Amadi), has stated very clearly that OPM has not submitted any application for C of O in respect of its parcel of land (19.26 hectares) at Mbodo-Aluu (Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State) to the Rivers State Ministry of Lands and Survey, which is the only ministry responsible for the issuance of C of Os. Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority is responsible for planning and regulating development of lands in the new city.

    “OPM submitted its application for charting of its parcel of land to the authority sometime ago. The coordinates used in carrying out the survey were faulty and as such, the survey plan could not be used for the charting. OPM was advised to submit a new survey plan, which it failed to do for a long while, as Apostle Chibuzor complained about the huge expenses he would incur with re-engaging his private surveyors. OPM subsequently submitted a new plan, which was used in charting and verification of its land.”

    The ex-SSG exonerated Amaechi of playing politics with the OPM’s land, describing the Rivers governor, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a detribalised leader, who is fully committed to developing the state.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam said: “The OPM’s land (4 of the 19.26 hectares) is impacted by the right of way for the electricity transmission line from Rumuosi sub-station of Phase One of the new city, next to the stadium (Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex). The authority has held many meetings with members of the OPM’s team, advising them on the extent of the impact, to enable them to prepare their conceptual layout plan. OPM finally submitted the conceptual layout plan to the authority, by the letter dated December 16, 2014.

    “The authority also formally wrote to the OPM in January 2015, confirming that the conceptual layout plan was acceptable in principle. OPM was also requested to submit its application for outline planning permit to the authority. We are yet to receive any application from OPM.”

    The administrator also stated that the authority had a responsibility to serve the interests of all citizens of Rivers state, including non-indigenes, private, local, national and international stakeholders, irrespective of gender, creed, race, ethnic and other backgrounds.

    She maintained that the alleged case of discrimination and partiality or refusal to grant OPM a C of O was baseless, stressing that the authority does not have such powers.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam said: “Apostle Chibuzor has been very economical with the truth. It is, therefore, important that we correct the wrong impression he has left in the public domain. The authority will process any application submitted by OPM, whenever it is received.

    “We will like to encourage men of God, who hold such positions, to understand their callings and altars as sacred and therefore desist from using such privileges to create disharmony.”

    The administrator stated that OPM’s allegation that the authority hurriedly approved its application, because of public outcry, was misplaced and quite unfortunate, declaring that the church had not got approval to embark on any construction yet, insisting that Chinyere was politicising the matter.

    She urged OPM to stop playing to the gallery and getting involved in politics, instead of focusing on spiritual matters.

    Mrs Cookey-Gam maintained that that Rivers government is daily issuing C of Os, while officials of the state’s ministry of lands and survey had also been processing C of Os  daily , urging developers to always comply with all the requirements.

     

  • Governorship: Wike ‘asked’ to withdraw

    Governorship: Wike ‘asked’ to withdraw

    •Rivers elders give PDP candidate till Jan. 5

    Major stakeholders from the different ethnic nationalities in Rivers State, under the aegis of the Rivers State Elders and Leaders’ Council (RELEC), have given the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nyesom Wike, till January 5 to withdraw from the race.

    They called for his replacement with another candidate from the coastal area to ensure “justice, equity and fairness in the multi-ethnic state”.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, RELEC Chairman and a former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Albert Horsfall, explained the reasons for the action.

    He said RELEC would resist the imposition of Wike, a former minister of state for Education.

    The elders stressed that if the PDP governorship candidate was not replaced by the party’s leadership with a candidate from the coastal area, it would support any other candidate, particularly Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    They promised to vote for Peterside, adding that they would not be enslaved or bought with Wike’s dollars.

    Peterside is an indigene of riverine Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area in the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District.

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the PDP’s governorship candidate are Ikwerre, in the upland.

    Amaechi hails from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area and Wike is an indigene of Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, also in the upland.

    Wike, a two-term chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and the director-general of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, said he was from Ikwerre South, while Amaechi hailed from Ikwerre North and constitutionally qualified to succeed the governor.

  • Rivers: Aggrieved PDP governorship aspirants denounce truce with Wike

    Rivers: Aggrieved PDP governorship aspirants denounce truce with Wike

    Ahead of the 2015 governorship election, nine out of the 17 aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirants in Rivers State have clearly stated that they are not part of any reconciliation with the party’s governorship candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    The displeased governorship aspirants, speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, also denounced the process that led to the emergence of Wike, the immediate past Minister of State for Education, as PDP’s governorship candidate.

    The nine governorship aspirants noted that they did not participate in the meeting that took place at the Le’Meridien Hotel in the new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt on Christmas Day, stressing that that they did not subscribe to any decision that was reached at the meeting.

    “Majority of those who attended the meeting were not governorship aspirants. Persons who attended the meeting supposedly convoked for reconciliation with Wike were doing so to achieve their inordinate ambition. We will continue to stand for justice, equity and fairness. We will continue to fight for the attainment of the principle of rotation and zoning within the PDP,” they said.

    The aggrieved PDP governorship aspirants, who kicked against reconciling with the ex-minister of state for education are Gabriel Pidomson, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Mrs Biobele Dodi Odesola, Chief Pawariso Horsefall, Major Lancelot Anyanya(rtd.), Bernard Mikko, Samson Ngerebara, Fafaa Dan Princewill and Atamuno Atamuno.

    They said: “Our attention has been drawn to certain news reports in both electronic and print media, including a website named Riversconverge, to the effect that 15 nameless PDP governorship aspirants have met with the PDP’s leadership in Rivers State and its governorship candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    “We wish to state unequivocally that we were neither aware of nor were we part of any such meeting and did not subscribe to any decision arising therefrom, particularly when it is realised that majority of those who attended the meeting were not governorship aspirants.

    “We further state that we did not authorise the use of our names for such a meeting and any person or persons doing so are only striving to achieve their inordinate ambition.

    “We will be in a position to make our considered decision on the matter of PDP governorship ticket known at the appropriate time. We stand for justice, equity and fairness and must fight for our cause within the party. We advise our dedicated supporters and Rivers people to remain calm and resolute as they look up to God.”

    It will be recalled that on December 23, the Rivers Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, inaugurated a 69-member reconciliation committee to reach all the aggrieved members of the party before the commencement of the party’s campaigns and were given seven days to conclude its assignments, but divided into three, with each to address the issues in the three senatorial districts.

    A former Rivers Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia, chairs the reconciliation committee for the Rivers West Senatorial District. Elemchukwu Ogbowu is Chairman for the Rivers East Senatorial District, while the Minister of Sports, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, chairs the committee for Rivers Southeast Senatorial District.

  • Wike’s emergence means easy victory for APC, says chair

    Wike’s emergence means easy victory for APC, says chair

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the emergence of the former Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate will make it easier for the progressives’ party to win next year’s election.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, APC State Chairman Davies Ikanya said: “This means an easy victory for us as he cannot in any way be compared with our candidate, the very reputable and visionary Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside.”

    The statement by his Media Aide, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, noted that following Wike’s, emergence, the stage was set as “the battle is now between the Rivers State people and the forces of darkness, which the PDP represents”.

    The APC chairman condemned the process the PDP took to produce Wike.

    He noted that the Presidency and PDP’s national body had proved that they were not sensitive to the yearnings of Rivers State, where zoning had always worked for the stability of the state.

     

    Ikanya stressed that if Wike could be allowed to emerge, after the alarm raised by the 16 other PDP governorship aspirants that were allegedly duped of their hard-earned money, it implied that “the outcome of the process had already been determined by forces whose hatred for Rivers State is legendary and it speaks volumes about the extent to which the Presidency and the PDP national leadership are prepared to go to humiliate the good people of Rivers State”.

    APC expressed disappointment that President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP leadership disregarded the warnings and pleas by Rivers State elders, like Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, Chief Albert Horsfall and Jonathan’s ethnic Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on the dangers of fielding Wike.

    He said the emergence of the former minister of state was a danger signal to the peace, progress and unity of Rivers State.

    The decision of PDP, Ikanya also added, “demonstrates the level of disdain and scorn the Presidency and PDP leadership have for Rivers State and her people”.

    Describing Wike’s emergence as “an illogical imposition”, the APC chairman wondered why the PDP could not emulate what APC did, by fielding a candidate from the coastal area.

    He said the upland had ruled the state for almost 16 years through Dr Peter Odili and Chibuike Amaechi.

    He urged the people to vote for Peterside and APC in nextb year’s elections.

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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