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Tag: Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

  • ‘INEC chairman should stop doing Wike’s bidding on Rivers APC candidacy’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South zone, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has asked the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to stop doing the bidding of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Rivers APC candidacy for this year’s general elections.

    Eze, yesterday in Port Harcourt, urged the INEC chairman, who was reportedly the Director of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), when Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was the Minister of State for Education in the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, to free himself from the entanglement of bias.

    Yakubu was admonished not to allow misleading interpretations of court rulings on Rivers elections to put him in judicial troubles.

    Eze said: “There is no judgment of the Supreme Court that bars Rivers APC from fielding candidates in the 2019 general elections. INEC chairman is allowing himself to be misled and used by enemies of true democracy, to deny candidates of the party (APC) from participating in the elections, and prevent Rivers people from having the opportunity of voting for candidates of their choice.

    ”It is unfortunate that despite the rulings of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt and the Supreme Court, the names of candidates of APC have not been published by INEC for the purpose of participating in the 2019 general elections.

    ”I call on the electoral commission, as a law-abiding institution, to without delay, publish the names of candidates of APC in Rivers State for the 2019 general election, as submitted by the APC.

    ”The enemies of democracy that are bent of ensuring that Rivers APC is not reflected in the ballot during the February 23 and March 9 polls are out to frustrate the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, by weakening the APC’s structure in Rivers State and causing members of the main opposition party to be disillusioned, thereby leading to apathy.”

    The APC chieftain also urged the Rivers electorate, especially the party faithful, to stay focused and ignore the propaganda of PDP and the INEC collaborators.

    Eze admonished party loyalists to come out en masse and vote for President Buhari and other candidates of APC.

    Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, has said that he and 42 allies, who lost on Thursday at the appellate court in Port Harcourt, will approach the Supreme Court for proper interpretation of the merits of their suit for declaration, that, they should be affirmed as authentic candidates of APC in Rivers.

    Abe said, yesterday in Port Harcourt, that, ”There is need to ensure that justice and equity prevail for Rivers APC members who participated in a lawful process, but were wrongfully excluded from the polls.”

    The senator, who was Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in the administration of Rotimi Amaechi, now Transportation Minister, also urged Nigerians to massively vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of APC.

    He noted, that, there was the need for Rivers people and other Nigerians to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner before, during and after the 2019 general elections, while backing President Buhari’s directive to the military and police to deal decisively with ballot box snatchers and other miscreants who might attempt to disrupt the elections.

  • Amaechi not responsible for Abe’s political woes – APC chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has insisted that the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is not responsible for the political woes of Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast).

    He described the remark by Abe, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA)), that nobody could stop his 2019 governorship ambition as reckless, untoward, unfortunate and undemocratic.

    Eze noted that Abe’s unguarded statement had brought out the undemocratic nature of the senator, while insinuating that even the electorate or party members lacked the power to stop his governorship ambition.

    He said: “Abe, as a citizen of Nigeria, is well qualified to contest any electoral position in the country, but to go about it as if it is a do-or-die affair is what will make it impossible for such a dream to be realised through APC during the 2019 general elections.

    “Abe must stop blaming his mentor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as the person behind his political woes, but rather blame himself for whatever he is currently going through in his political life.

    Read Also: Wike, Amaechi clash over 2019

    “it is a fact that Amaechi’s impact in the political life of Abe cannot be overemphasized, which made the Senator (Abe) to proudly and openly state that Amaechi had invested so much in my political career, making him to become the highest political investment of Amaechi in Nigeria.

    “It beats my imagination that Abe who knows what Amaechi has invested in him politically will  still constitute himself as a stumbling block to APC dislodging Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose tenure as the governor of Rivers State has become anathema and a curse to the state.”

    The APC chieftain also urged Abe to stop dropping the names of leaders of the party, including President Muhamnadu Buhari; the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; wife of the President, Aisha Buhari; and the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; as the people behind his candidature, just to deceive his followers.

    Eze cautioned his friend (Abe) against aligning himself with Wike and other external forces to divide and undermine the progressive vision and mission of APC in Rivers state, while urging him to retrace his steps.

  • APC chieftain faults Wike on choice of governorship candidate

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has faulted the destructive criticisms by Governor Nyesom Wike of the endorsement of Pastor Tonye Cole as the governorship candidate of APC in Rivers.

    Eze, on Thursday in Port Harcourt, described as most unfortunate, satanic, diabolical, malicious, devious, sad and unacceptable, the remarks of Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Rivers governor, while speaking with reporters in Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said: “For the APC to even think of bringing up anybody against me in this state to challenge whether I have done something or not, then you know that something is fundamentally wrong.

    “What has the Federal Government done for the APC in Rivers State? What has Rivers APC achieved? Mention one thing. Is it in terms of the roads, the airport or seaports?”

    The APC chieftain, however, maintained the Wike was a disaster, as far as governance in Rivers state was concerned.

    Read Also: ‘Why riverine person will succeed Wike in 2019’

    He said: “This is a man who forced himself on the people of Rivers State through spilling the blood of hundreds of the people of Rivers State. This is a man who supervised the ceding of some oil wells that belong to Rivers State to Bayelsa State. This is a man who institutionalised insecurity as a way of governance.

    “This is a man who has governed Rivers State against the constitution, without making public the budgets of the state since 2015. This is a man who has refused to account for what he has used over N900 billion that accrued to the state for, since he assumed office these past three years.

    “Wike lacks the capacity to govern a sophisticated state like Rivers, as he has only succeeded in making the state a laughing stock among other states in Nigeria.

    “The only major achievements of the Wike’s administration, apart from inaugurating projects earlier completed by his predecessor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (now Transportation Minister), are to withdraw our students studying on scholarship outside the country and decimated all the educational and agricultural facilities set up by the government of Amaechi.”

    Eze also stated that Rivers APC needed not to campaign vigorously this time round, based on Wike’s maladministration, thereby turning himself into the chief campaigner of the main opposition party (APC).

    He said: “Let me, as Wike’s good friend and brother, counsel him to concentrate more on his hand-over note, as the coming of Pastor Tonye Cole to rescue Rivers State from his maladministration is not only divine, but timely.

    “Cole, a renowned Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), coming at this point is answer to the prayers of various churches and groups in Rivers State, that a child of God will govern Rivers State in 2019.”

    The APC chieftain also described as untrue, Wike’s allegation that Amaechi failed Rivers people by refusing to attract development projects to the Niger Delta state.

    Eze revealed that Rivers governor denied the Federal Government land to enable it to construct an Industrial Park that would revolutionise the state, just to spite Amaechi, making the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to buy 10,000 acres of land for the project in Rivers.

  • ‘Tinubu, Amaechi didn’t impose Tonye Cole on Rivers APC’

    Contrary to claim in some quarters, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has stated that the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, did not impose the Chief Executive of Sahara Energy, Pastor Tonye Cole, as governorship candidate of Rivers APC.

    He stated this on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, while describing last Thursday’s endorsement of Cole in Lagos by stakeholders of Rivers APC as a step in the right direction, in order to easily take over from Governor Nyesom Wike next year.

    Eze urged some displeased members of APC in Rivers to give peace a chance and embrace the popular choice of the Abonnema-Kalabari-born Cole, in order to move the state forward.

    Wike, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), while responding to Cole’s adoption, described him as Amaechi’s business partner, with the intention of looting Rivers treasury, while alleging that Asiwaju Tinubu recommended and imposed Cole to enhance his (Tinubu’s) business activities in Rivers state.

    Eze asked Rivers governor to desist from attemping to bring the character and persons of Asiwaju Tinubu and Amaechi, a former Rivers governor, into disrepute.

    He said: “The reaction by Wike is unacceptable to the leadership of APC in Rivers State, as it presents the leaders of the party in the state as incapable of selecting and electing our candidates on our own terms.

    “Wike’s reaction on the coming of Cole shows that he is already frightened. I will not be shocked if he considers resigning before the 2019 election, to avoid the embarrassment of awful defeat that awaits him, if he summons courage to contest.

    “Politics truly is a serious business to be left in the hands of a person like Wike. It comes to me a great relief for Pastor Tonye Cole to accept to offer himself to rescue Rivers State from its present pitiable state, under the hold of some misfits that do not understand what governance is all about.

    Read Also: Shakarau returns to APC

    “It is time to put our best to work. I am convinced that with Tonye Cole’s global connections, he will attract investments and woo his friends in the private sector to Rivers State for the creation of Rivers State of our dream. So, let us leave sentiments aside and support him for a better Rivers of opportunities.”

    Eze also hailed the vision of Amaechi, the leader of APC in Rivers and Southsouth zone, as well as all other leaders of the party for agreeing on the brilliant choice of Cole.

    He noted that the choice of Cole was the answer to the perceived injustice done to the riverine part of the Rivers, which had not had a shot at governing the state since 1999, but being dominated by their upland brothers.

    The APC chieftain also lauded the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, an oil magnate, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Prince Tonye Princewill, Davies Sokonte, Dr. Dawari George and others eminently qualified to govern Rivers, for coming together to achieve the unity of purpose and agreeing to support Cole’s candidacy.

    He noted that Cole stepping down from Sahara Group as the chief executive officer, to enable him to participate actively in the Rivers state’s governorship race, was a positive step towards sacking Wike next year.

    Eze said: “It is gladdening to note that Cole’s candidature has been accepted by most key stakeholders of the APC in Rivers State, which will surely enable him to clinch the party’s governorship ticket during the primary election. This is a good sign, which demonstrates total departure from the normal practice in which politicians aspire for offices without any defined vision on what to do with governance, when they eventually get power.

    “With the resolve of APC to field a riverine candidate of Ijaw extraction, particularly from the great tribe of Kalabari Kingdom, the injustice of upland governing Rivers State for twenty years to the determent of the riverine area would have been addressed.

    “The choice of the party to settle for a candidate like Architect Cole, whose intimidating credentials are something that will aid the party in its efforts and mission to change the fortunes of Rivers State positively, is commendable. The internationally-acclaimed billionaire and son of a former Managing Director of Daily Times Newspaper and former Ambassador of Nigeria to Brazil, Pa Patrick Dele Cole, will actually send shivers down the spine of Wike and his allies.”

    The APC chieftain also described Cole as God fearing, highly cerebral and uniquely unassuming, while expressing optimism that he would lead Rivers State into a new era of prosperity, when the youths would be empowered to work hard and earn a living, rather than carrying guns.

     

  • Akpabio’s defection, beginning of the end of PDP, says APC chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has described the defection of Senate Minority Leader, Obong Godswill Akpabio, from the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling APC, as the beginning of the end of PDP.

    He noted that the two-term Governor of Akwa Ibom State (Akapbio) deserved commendation for acting wisely and jumping out of the crashing PDP train, before it would finally crash.

    Eze said: “Knowing Akapbio very well, he is a one-man Tsunami and with him in the progressive train, PDP’s end is only a matter of time. What is more, with Akpabio now in APC, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who recently made the mistake of defecting to the PDP, can be sure that his Presidency of the Senate is only a matter of weeks.

    “The present sorry state of PDP, under the control of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Prince Uche Secondus, is most unfortunate. Wike, who was a mere local government chairman in 1999, has through deft political scheming, turned many key Nigerian leaders still in the PDP into his disciples.

    Read Also: PDP jittery as APC, Akpabio parley

    “I wonder how great leaders like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Saraki, Governor Aminu Tambwual and National Chairman of PDP (Secondus) will now be taking orders from Wike, whose brand of politics is retrogressive.”

    The APC chieftain also congratulated the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, a former Rivers governor, on his reappointment as the Director-General of the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation.

    Eze expressed confidence that Amaechi would, once again, mobilize Nigerians to re-elect President Buhari, whom he described as a divine tool, to bring sanity and development to Nigeria.

     

  • ‘Peterside lost 2015 governorship election to sabotage’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has disclosed that the Deputy Leader of APC in Rivers, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, did not lose the 2015 governorship election in the state to Nyesom Wike of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), but to sabotage by some APC stalwarts.

    He also described Wike’s move to be the running mate to PDP’s presidential standard bearer as a ploy to escape governorship defeat in 2019.

    Eze, a former Spokesperson of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), on Monday described the 2015 election of Wike as a sham, but the ex-Minister of State for Education insisted that he won the “free and fair” poll across the 23 local government areas of the state, in view of his popularity, acceptance and impressive performance in previous public service.

    The APC chieftain said: “If there was no internal sabotage, APC would not have lost the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State to the PDP. I can confirm that APC  lost to internal sabotage and wrangling within its fold, orchestrated by some stalwarts of the party, who conspired with external foes to undermine the chances of APC during the election.

    Read Also: APC is still evolving, says Peterside

    “The sabotage was contrived to pave way for Senator Magnus Abe (representative of Rivers Southeast Senatorial District) to contest the 2019 governorship election on the platform of APC.

    “Not minding that Wike used security agencies and militants during the 2015 general elections to intimidate the electorate, members of the opposition political parties and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to influence the outcome of the election in his favour, if some of the APC stalwarts had effectively played their parts to support the party’s governorship candidate and match Wike with all his tricks, the outcome would have been different.

    “If not for the internal sabotage, there was no way Wike would have defeated Peterside, the shining star of Rivers State politics, in a free and fair election. With Wike no longer controlling the security agencies and INEC, it is difficult for him to win the 2019 governorship election in Rivers State, if he dares to contest.”

    Eze also stated that the upland and riverine dichotomy in the multi-ethnic Rivers would work against Wike’s re-election next year, since governors of the state since 1999 were all from the upland part of Rivers, with APC leaders pushing for governorship candidate in 2019 from the riverine part of the state to ensure even development, justice, equity and fairness.

  • Why Wike still hates Buhari, Amaechi – Rivers APC

    Why Wike still hates Buhari, Amaechi – Rivers APC

    *President was never under pressure to declare state of emergency in Rivers, insists APC

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) has revealed that Governor Nyesom Wike still hates President Muhammadu Buhari and Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, for masterminding the ouster from office in 2015 of the then President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ).

    It also insisted that President Buhari was never under pressure to declare a state of emergency in Rivers, as alleged by Wike.

    Rivers APC, through Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the Senior Special Assistant on Media/Public Affairs Consultant to Rivers State Chairman, Chief Davies Ikanya, stated these yesterday in Port Harcourt.

    Rivers governor, while receiving Anglican Bishops of Niger Delta Province at the Government House, Port Harcourt over the weekend, alleged that President Buhari was under intense pressure from leaders of the APC to declare a state of emergency in Rivers.

    The main opposition party in Rivers ( APC ) said: “Wike’s hatred for President Buhari and Amaechi is legendary, since the two APC leaders masterminded the ouster from office of his ATM, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, under whose watch our common patrimony was looted with impunity.

    Because of this, he is ever ready to use any forum to castigate, insult and malign these two great leaders, not minding the dire consequences.

    “President Buhari never complained to Wike of any pressure to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State. We are shocked that Wike could bring the exalted office of the governor to odium, in such a reckless manner, to ascribe to President Buhari something he never said.

    “To the best of our knowledge, the three issues that Wike discussed with President Buhari were Ogoni clean-up, the Nkpogu Junction (Port Harcourt) incident with Amaechi, where attempt was made on the life of the Transportation Minister and the detention of Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) for one week.

    “Nobody is interested in declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, not minding the abysmal failure of Wike to ensure protection of the lives and property of the people of Rivers State.

    “We urge Wike not only to call himself to order, but to formally apologise to President Buhari for ascribing words he never uttered to him, to score cheap publicity, always associated with him.”

    Rivers APC also stated that the Neighborhood Watch about being established by Wike’s government would be used to cause more mayhem in Rivers state, to boast his chances during the 2019 governorship election, declaring that the Rivers governor stood no chance in any election, without violence.

    The main opposition party reassured the peace-loving people of Rivers state and other Nigerians that not minding the abysmal failure of Wike in governance, the Federal Government would always protect lives and property in the Niger Delta state.

  • Rivers APC condemns Agumagu’s suspension

    Rivers APC condemns Agumagu’s suspension

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has condemned the suspension of Rivers State Chief Judge Justice Peter Agumagu by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    APC said it was surprising that the NJC could suspend Justice Agumagu few days after he was sworn in.

    A statement in Port Harcourt yesterday by the Media Aide to the APC Interim Chairman, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said: “The powers of the NJC have to do only with recommending to the president and governors on the appointment and disciplining of justices and judges.

    “It was in line with this that the NJC recommended the suspension of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

    “PresidentGoodluck Jonathan accepted the recommendation and suspended Justice Salami. After due investigation, Justice Salami was cleared. The NJC again recommended his reinstatement but President Jonathan did not accept the recommendation.”

    Urging the NJC to rescind the suspension, the party said there was a court judgment which the House of Assembly and Governor Rotimi Amaechi acted on.

    Eze said the NJC had a right of appeal “but under Part 1, Section 21 (d) of the third schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the NJC has no power to suspend Justice Agumagu.”

    The statement added that the NJC breached Agumagu’s right to fair hearing.

    “The purported query should first have been given to him to defend himself before suspension, if found wanting.

    “Since the procedure was not followed, the NJC is totally partisan in this particular issue as it has clearly demonstrated in this case.”

  • Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

    Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

    Getting to know the truth is becoming more difficult nowadays especially if you listen to the spin doctors of the main political parties.

    Last weekend rally by the Save Rivers Movement at Bori in the heart of Ogoni land in Rivers State was a huge success if you are getting your information from the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze.

    But if you have been listening to Jerry Needam, spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Ogoni people boycotted the rally and Governor Rotimi Amaechi was only addressing himself at the event. But as they say pictures don’t lie and the truth stands somewhere between their statements.

    Attempting to call white black would only damage the reputation of whoever was peddling lies and whatever he stands for or represents as the people of Rivers State certainly know the truth and who is fighting their cause.

    The size of the crowd at the rally is not even the issue here; the fact that it went well without any of the mayhems that had attended two previous rallies of the SRM, one in Port Harcourt and the second in the same Bori showed that whoever was behind the violent disruptions of the two previous rallies of the Movement loyal to Governor Amaechi had the support of the Nigeria Police.

    At the Port Harcourt rally where a serving Senator, Magnus Abe an Ogoni man and ally of Amaechi was hit by a rubber bullet shot at him by the police, it was glaring that the State’s commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu and his men were at work. Though the CP denied any bullet, rubber or live was used in dispersing the SRM rally, the public condemnation of the brutality of the police in Rivers State under Mbu and the partisanship of his men in the political crisis that has pitched the governor against the coordinating Minister of Education Nyesom Wike,(acting on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Patience) had forced the police to retreat from their onslaught on Amaechi and his supporters ahead of the second SRM rally at Bori.

    When the Movement gathered for what was essentially a pro-Amaechi rally, hoodlums and armed militants, allegedly paid by Wike and his group violently disrupted the gathering, injuring many and destroying cars and other property in the process. While all this lasted the police folded their arms. And while those behind the mayhem had not been arrested by the Rivers State police command, two local government chairmen from Ogoni land loyal to Governor Amaechi were picked up by the police for no other offence than being supporters of the governor.

    Of course the public condemnation of the police grew louder and finally the noise got to the ears of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and the country’s chief police officer had to order his Commissioner of Police in Rivers to allow another rally of the SRM planned for Bori to go ahead and also provide protection. And the rally went peacefully. Now do we need any soothsayer again to tell us who has been behind the violence that has recently engulfed Rivers State?

    When people point accusing fingers at CP Mbu for being partisan they get accused as being Amaechi supporters. But just for once that the IGP and his CP decided to act as impartial officers of the law, there was law and order. So, what this means is that if the police in Rivers State act in accordance with the law and in the overall interest of the state and the country, the crisis in the state would not be and would not have been.

    As his tenures draws to a close, IGP Abubakar would do well to leave a legacy of a disciplined, well trained and apolitical police force that would only do the biddings of Nigerians and not the powers that be. Abubakar started well and the only blot on his score sheet so far is the police in Rivers State under Mbu. Wherever the courage to stop Mbu came from, he should continue with it.

    Since the Rivers crisis began, so many stories have been flying around that CP Mbu rather than take orders from Force Headquarters in Abuja, go to the presidential villa for his briefs. It was even rumoured that he doesn’t take the calls of his IGP any longer preferring either Wike or even Madam Jonathan to give him directives.

    For the purpose of this argument, I want to believe this as one of those beer parlour rumours and the fact that when the IGP gave his orders to Mbu publicly, they were obeyed should be enough to put the matter of where Mbu takes his briefs to rest. But to further reassure us that he is in charge of the entire Nigeria Police, including the Rivers State Command, IGP Abubakar should henceforth be giving his orders to CP Mbu in particular publicly, so that if he refused to obey his IGP, then Nigerians would know who truly he is.

    But could the threat by the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress to all its Senators and House of Representatives members to shun discussions and debates on the 2014 federal appropriation bill and all other executive bills including confirmation of Service Chiefs until the Rivers crisis is resolved have anything to do with the thaw in the crisis rocking the state?

    Those who are blaming the APC for this directive and labeling the party and its leaders as unpatriotic should rather see the Rivers u-turn by the Federal Government and its agencies (security) as a positive fall out of the APC’s threat.

    It shows that a virile opposition is needed to put the ruling party in check and on the path of sound democracy and the rule of law. With the balance of power shifting in favour of the opposition in the National Assembly, the PDP Federal Government and in particular President Goodluck Jonathan no longer has room to maneuver and take Nigerians for a ride again.

    Nigerians have tolerated the PDP for so long and the party has proved itself unworthy of our trust and support. If it would require threats from the APC to make the government to do the right thing, so be it. Nothing bad in that! And by the way, what is the business of the opposition if not to bring down the government in power to pave way for it to form the next government. As long as it was done within the ambit of the law and in accordance with democratic tenets let it continue. Nigeria does not belong exclusively to PDP and its leaders alone. All the parties and indeed all Nigerians have equal stake in the destiny of this country. Enough of this PDP noise.

  • Dawn ‘impeachment’ drama in Rivers

    Dawn ‘impeachment’ drama in Rivers

    •APC warns against move by anti-Amaechi lawmakers to sit at PDP secretariat

    There was a mild drama yesterday morning in Port Harcourt, Rivers State over a plot to impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    Supporters of the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, gathered at 5:30 am at the Marine Base Junction, near the House of Assembly. They were confronted by the governor’s loyalists.

    Their early morning mobilisation was to enable the six anti-Amaechi lawmakers to sit at 6am in the chambers to begin impeachment proceedings against Amaechi.

    The Wike supporters and Amaechi loyalists, who mobilised to the Marine Base Junction, were mostly from Okrika, the hometown of Dame Patience, wife of President Goodluck Jonathan and the ex-leader of the Niger Delta Vigilance Movement, Ateke Tom.

    Initially, Amaechi’s supporters were always gathering around the Workers’ Square, near the main gate of the state secretariat, while the youth backing Wike would assemble in front of the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, with the barricaded House of Assembly in the middle.

    It became difficult for Wike’s supporters to access the main gate of the Assembly, thereby changing strategy, by moving to Marine Base Junction, but they were surprisingly confronted by thousands of Amaechi’s loyalists.

    It was learnt in Port Harcourt last night that the self-acclaimed Speaker Evans Bipi, who represents Ogu/Bolo Constituency and the five other lawmakers would sit at 6am today.

    Investigation also showed that attempts were being made to induce the 25 pro-Amaechi lawmakers with millions.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State yesterday warned the anti-Amaechi lawmakers against their plan to sit at the state secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remove Amaechi.

    The main opposition party, through the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, to the Interim State Chairman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, described the information on the planned sitting at the PDP’s secretariat as credible.

     

    APC said: “This warning is necessitated by the credible information at our disposal, to the effect that this inconsequential minority in a state House of Assembly of 32 members, after failing this (yesterday) morning to be smuggled into the state House of Assembly by some hoodlums.”

    “The hoodlums will be dressed in police uniform by 6 am, through the Eastern By-pass and guided by some Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) (with Wike as grand patron) officials, has changed their line of action, by concluding to sit at the Rivers State PDP Secretariat within the week, starting from 17th December, 2013 to impeach the Governor and announce the self-proclaimed Speaker, Hon. Evans Bipi, as the acting Governor of the State.

    “The imaginary crimes would be used as an excuse by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) to arrest Governor Amaechi. The resort to sitting at the PDP Secretariat, we understand, is occasioned by the failure of the rebel lawmakers to gain access to the State House of Assembly, to which the police have also denied the majority 25 lawmakers access.”

    The APC chairman also admonished the supervising minister of education to reflect on the good deeds of Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), towards him and allow peace to prevail in Rivers state, in the interest of the common man and the development of the state.