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Tag: Governor Nyesom Wike

  • Peterside kicks as Wike’s man raises allegations

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State during the 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of being economical with the truth.

    Peterside, who is also the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), during his 48th birthday celebration in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on December 31 last year, accused Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of poor performance.

    The NIMASA chief said during his birthday celebration: “Nyesom Wike is a terribly bad governor. If we do not do anything, we will be in the wilderness for another four years. There is no guarantee that after the four years of being in the wilderness, that we will still not be roaming about in the wilderness. God forbid. So, I want to plead with my friends in the APC in Rivers State, please, let us allow peace to reign. No sacrifice is too great to make.”

    Wike, in his reaction through his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, on Wednesday, described Peterside’s remarks as the sad lamentation of a bruised houseboy.

    Nwakaudu said: “If not for the senseless nature of the APC brand of politics, the 2015 defeated Rivers State APC governorship candidate would  have taken wine to Governor Wike for connecting his Opobo Kingdom to the rest of Rivers State via the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Unity Road.

    “Instead, Dakuku Peterside resumed his forgotten cries of gubernatorial deprivation, just to please his Oga, the failed Minister for Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

    “Peterside played a major role in the total failure of his Oga, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. As Works Commissioner, Peterside had no visible achievement anywhere in Rivers State. He could not even complete the road to his hometown.

    “Even at NIMASA, Peterside has failed to deliver. Instead, funds have been diverted and the House of Representatives has indicted him for mass fraud in the parastatal. Peterside has not attracted any form of development to Rivers State since he was compensated by President Muhammadu Buhari for joining Amaechi to betray the entire Southsouth by using Rivers funds to finance the APC national campaign.”

    The media aide also stated that Rivers people were happy with Wike and they would re-elect him in March this year.

    Peterside, through his media team, yesterday in an online statement, declared that Wike and Nwakaudu needed help, in view of their careless and senseless remarks.

    The media team of the NIMASA chief said: “If Nwakaudu is close to average in his intellect and thought process, he would have known that not even his master, Wike, has the credentials to question the depth, intelligence, posture and being of Dr. Peterside, who is a symbol of integrity and performance in public service. As at today, Dr. Peterside speaks for Africa, as far as maritime activities are concerned.

    “In his latest ranting, Nwakaudu chose to focus on statements made by Dr. Peterside during his birthday celebration, where he spoke truth to Wike to rise above being petty, visionless, deceitful and work towards a peaceful and prosperous Rivers State.

    “Dr. Peterside spoke the minds of Rivers people, including high-ranking members of Wike’s government, who are visibly tired of an administration that is owing pensioners for the past three years, not promoted a single civil servant since 2015, that has abandoned Rivers students abroad, that awards contracts against all known procurement laws of the state, that has some of the highest unemployment figures in the country, among others. Wike, he said, represents everything but transparency and accountability.

    “It is on record that no commissioner in Wike’s government knows the value of any project under their respective ministries, just as no one has seen the state’s budget since 2016. Contracts are awarded by the fiat of the governor, an action that has stalled many initiatives and rendered cabinet members as mere appendages. The Rivers governor has absolutely no programme to address job creation in the state. These were the issues for which Wike had no response and he cannot have a response.”

    Peterside also stated that a proof of Wike’s rejection by PDP members in Rivers state and beyond was the abysmal failure of his preferred presidential aspirant, Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State, during the party’s convention in his backyard (Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt).

    He declared that Wike and Nwakaudu’s generation could never rise to the stature of Amaechi, a former Rivers governor and Transportation Minister, whom he said performed excellently while at the helm of affairs in the Niger Delta state.

    The former member of the House of Representatives (Peterside) also said Rivers people knew that his tenure as Commissioner for Works in Amaechi’s administration remained unparalleled and also receiving accolades from President Buhari, other world leaders and international organisations, among others, for his impressive performance in NIMASA.

  • Wike urged to respect judgment on stoppage of workers’ salaries

    The lawyer to the 255 workers of three Rivers State government-owned tertiary institutions, whose salaries were stopped in February 2016, Damian Okoro, has urged Governor Nyesom Wike, also a lawyer, to respect the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on the matter.

    Okoro, Monday in Port Harcourt, disclosed that eight of the 255 affected workers from Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, both in Port Harcourt and Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori-Ogoni had died due to hardship, since the affected staff last received salaries in January 2016, making 31 months at the end of August.

    Read Also:By-election: Wike, APC chair clash over ‘N200m bribe’

    The lawyer also stated that children of the affected staff could no longer go to school, in view of their parents’ inability to pay the required fees.

    Okoro said: “It has become very difficult for the affected staff to also pay their house rent. The psychological breakdown and emotional torture can just be imagined. Many of the staff have put in over 20 years in the service of Rivers State government.

    “The workers want the Wike’s administration to pay their outstanding salaries to enable them to live normal life, as they have continued to carry out their daily activities in the various schools, since the stoppage of their salaries.”

    Rivers governor, in February 2016, ordered the stoppage of salaries of the 255 workers in the Demonstration Schools of the three tertiary institutions, stating that the state government would no longer pay salaries of the staff, where the students pay some fees.

    The affected workers, in May 2016, filed a suit on the shocking development at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Yenagoa Division, but the case was moved in November 2017 to the Owerri Division of the court.

    In a judgment after over two years, the presiding judge, Justice Salisu Danjidda, said: “The claimants’ (255 workers’) respective employments are valid and subsisting, because they have statutory protection. The first defendant’s (Governor of Rivers State’s) directive stopping the payment of the claimants’ salaries is unlawful, null and void.

    “The defendants (Rivers State Governor, Attorney-General/Commissioner for Justice and heads of the three tertiary institutions) are restrained, whether by themselves or through their agents, privies or proxies from interfering with the employments of the claimants.”

    Justice Danjidda also awarded a cost of N2 million to the affected workers against the defendants, which he said should be paid within 30 days of delivering the judgment.

  • Wike: why I don’t sleep at night

    Wike: why I don’t sleep at night

    Rivers State Governor  Nyesom Wike has said he does not sleep at night.

    He said he does not sleep so that people like the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast, Magnus Abe, will not  take over his seat in 2019.

    Wike, who is seeking re-election,  said Abe, a 2015 aspirant in All Progressives Congress (APC), was determined to occupy the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    He said only his (Wike’s) hard work, through sleepless nights, could stop Abe and other aspirants from taking over his seat.

    Wike, who was accompanied by his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette,  spoke yesterday at the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch House.

    He launched a 617-page book, titled: The Challenge of Justice, Contemporary Legal Essays, in honour of ex-Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barinua Moses Wifa, SAN, who just turned 80.

    Present at the launch are NBA President Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, who chaired the event; the reviewer, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, SAN; and State Chief Judge Justice Adama Iyayi-Lamikanra.

    Others are a former president of the Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ledum Mitee; National Coordinator of Ken Saro-Wiwa Associates, Chief Gani Topba; ex-Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam.

    Wike, who launched the book with N60 million, said: “I came close to the chief celebrant (Wifa) in 2003, in one of the election petition tribunal matters between Chief Sergeant Awuse and Dr. Peter Odili (former governor of Rivers State). I watched him (Wifa) with all admiration and we became good friends, like father and son. He is a very jovial person.

    “One Saturday, I was in his house (at old Government Reservation Area, GRA, Port Harcourt). He served me himself. I was just watching him. At the end of the day, he told me what he wanted to tell me. I have seen him as one of those who do not, because of your position, they will not tell you the truth.

    “After taking his pepper soup and having played with me, he said: ‘This that you are doing is not good. This that you are doing is good.’ My respect for him that day increased. It is not everybody that will tell the governor, when he is doing something wrong. To some people, everything the governor does is right.”

    “He (Wifa) is one of the elder statesmen I respect in this state. That was why, yesterday (on Wednesday), when I was going to Abuja, the Attorney-General (of Rivers State, Emma Aguma, SAN), said I must be here (in Port Harcourt). I asked him to represent me, but he said no and that I must come. Because he (Wifa) is one of the persons I respect, I said whatever it was, I would abandon my assignments in Abuja, to come back this (yesterday) morning, to participate in this book presentation.

    “I want to congratulate you, on behalf of the government and people of Rivers State, for your contributions towards the peace and development of this state (Rivers). Because you contributed so much, that was why the state honoured you (during the celebration of 50th anniversary of the creation of Rivers State on May 27, 2017) with the Distinguished Service Star of Rivers State (DSSRS). Your colleagues (lawyers) are also honouring you with this book presentation.”

    NBA President, in his remarks as chairman of the occasion, described Wifa as a true nationalist, who had immensely contributed to Nigeria’s unity, progress, peace and development, stating that it was always better to celebrate people while alive.

    Mahmoud noted that at 80, the celebrator is still very strong, contributing to national development and mentoring many persons.

    A former President of NBA, O.C.J. Okocha, SAN, described Wifa as an icon and a good mentor.

    The celebrator, while responding, thanked Wike, his wife and other guests for honouring him, as well as editors of the book and all the contributors for their sleepless nights, while stating that it was always better to celebrate and honour people, while being alive.

    Wifa also described Wike as a very hardworking governor, stressing that some persons might politically disagree with the Rivers governor, but he had been showing commitment to the development of critical infrastructure across the 23 LGAs of the state.

  • Thanks, Governor Wike, thanks

    Thanks, Governor Wike, thanks

    MY friend, Simeon Nwakaudu, took exception to almost every single word in my open letter to his boss, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike. His reply published on this space last week accused me of misinforming the public on the fate of final year beneficiaries of a scholarship programme inherited by the administration.

    Interestingly, the day his reply was published, this newspaper also carried a report that Wike released $1 million for  the payment of tuition of 28 final year overseas scholars.

    Commissioner for Finance Dr.  Fred Kpakol said the Wike administration was not responsible for their admissions, but found it necessary that the education sector should be taken very seriously.

    Kpakol’s words: “We came and incurred a lot of debts because the previous government, even while it took the students to foreign universities, could not pay their fees.  And most of the students became very frustrated.

    “And as students of Rivers State and government is giving service to all and sundry, the governor felt it was necessary to look into their plights and foster a solution to that.

    “Within the first month, as we came in on May 29, 2015,  on June 10,  the governor released the sum of N200 million to the RSSDA to pay for overseas scholarships because they encumbered a lot of cost and they needed to have a good documentation of the students that are involved.  So, the first tranche of N200 million was paid.

    “On September 29, 2016, the governor released N485, 289,000.00,for part of their tuition fees. After he has done that, he considered it was necessary do an audit to know the students and how they were meeting up.

    “Now, the governor has graciously released the sum of $1 million to pay to nine universities for 28 RSSDA final year overseas scholarships beneficiaries for payment of their outstanding tuition fees. This was done in the midst of biting economy and down trend in the economy of the country.”

    In my piece, which Nwakaudu read upside down,  I asked for the governor’s understanding for the sake of the future of Rivers and Nigeria. I also made allusion to my past critical essays and pleaded they should not form the basis for assessing my plea.

    The main concern of the piece was 16 Rivers indigenes studying medicine at the All Saints University in Saint Vincent and Grenadines. These guys, which I have chosen to address as All Saints 16, found themselves overseas after they went through thorough screening under the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration.

    The RSSDA found these guys worthy of overseas scholarship and sent them abroad. The overseas scholarship covered Medicine and allied courses. It was received after an aptitude test. After this, RSSDA secured admissions for successful candidates and entered into a bilateral agreement with students and the universities.

    The scheme underwent a review after Wike took over. That review led to the suspension of these guys from medical school two months to their graduation. The school had no choice than to take this line of action because of the inability of the Rivers State government to pay outstanding tuition fees and living allowance.

    Their plight made them upload a petition on www.change.org. Through the petition, the All Saints 16 pleaded with the governor to pay their allowance and tuition, which was stopped in November 2014.

    It reads: “We have not been paid our upkeep allowance for about two years and 11 months. Our tuition fees have not been paid for 5 semesters (Clinical rotation [CR2 to CR6]), and as a result of this, all 16 of us were suspended from school in September, 2016 (2 months to our scheduled graduation date of November 2016).

    “Ever since our suspension, we have been staying at home, not being allowed to conclude our remaining elective clinical rotations and all efforts to contact the Rivers State government for the release of funds proved abortive.”

    One of the All Saints 16, Promise Adimele, spoke with our award-winning star reporter Hannah Ojo. He was full of lamentation: “Feeding has been very difficult as we rely on the charities of friends and school colleagues. Most landlords have evicted us from their houses due to non-payment of rent and threatened us with legal proceedings in order to recover the outstanding rent. Life has been tough and unbearable for all of us since we were abandoned by the Rivers State government and RSSDA.”

    In my ‘offending piece’, I quoted a letter dated July 16, last year, which the RSSDA wrote the school’s management to announce changes to the scheme.

    It reads: “The point that needs to be emphasized here is that we will only sponsor students that are completing their studies in 2016 as well as settle outstanding commitment to date.

    “Kindly be assured that the outstanding tuition payment for our students in your school have been adequately captured in the list of payables that are on the front burners of the Rivers State government. We will plead strongly with you to continue to show understanding and to kindly allow a little more grace and period specifically for the 16 final year students who also fall in the category of students that the government has pledged to continue their sponsorship.”

    The letter, which was signed by Mr Lawrence Pepple, the Executive Director/CEO of the RSSDA, shows that the All Saints 16 still fall under the category the scheme is willing to sponsor.

    Hannah’s attempt to get the reaction of Rivers Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Kenneth Kobani, saw him blaming it all on Amaechi, who Nwakaudu described as The Nation’s ‘second benefactor’.

    “You are from The Nation newspaper. Have you asked the APC zonal leader who was governor who refused to pay the fees of these children since 2014?  When you ask him you can come to us and ask us what we are doing,” Kobani told Hannah and hurriedly hung the phone.

    Unlike Kobani, Commissioner for Information Emma Okah made a lot of sense in explaining the situation to Hannah.  He alluded to the bad economy, which only a dead person, would not have felt in the last two years.

    Okah told Hannah: “For those who are in final year pursing speciliased courses like medicine, the state government planned to pursue their welfare to the extent it can take. Some people have been coming and cases have been dealt with on merit. I do not know what has happened to these set of students.  I am just hearing it for the first time today.”

    He said it was baseless to feel the students were abandoned on the assumption that they are children of political opponents.

    I ended the piece by pleading on behalf of Adden Babeye Paul  (Asari/Toru), Amaechi Promise Adimele (Oyigbo),   Amadi Udochukwu Junior (Etche), Maakai Baribor          (Gokana), Precious Wifa (Khana), Baritore Princewill Ikpe   (Tai),Victor West Kpelene (Tai),  Nsiipu Namene Nsiipu (Tai) and other final year RSSDA scholars, for an arrangement to be worked out for them to earn their degrees.

    I feel happy that these guys will earn their degrees and be in a better position to lift our world.

    My final take: What more is there for me to say? Thanks your Excellency; thanks for being a listening governor. Thanks for hearing our cries.

     

  • Rivers makes U-turn on launch of road construction

    The declaration of the Director-General of  Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to lead the people of Rivers State on a protest to the Government House, Port Harcourt, has made the Governor Nyesom Wike administration to make a U-turn on the launch of construction of the Bonny-Bodo Road.

    Peterside, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 election, described Wike, a former minister of state for Education and a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the worst enemy of the state.

    Last week, Commissioner for Education Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, an indigene of Opobo, headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government, warned headtechers of schools in Bonny not to allow the launch in their schools.

    Gogo-Jaja, a former Majority leader of the House of Assembly, also declared that any errant headteacher, who acted contrary to his directive, would be sanctioned.

    The launch was billed to take place in a government school on Bonny Island, but the Education commissioner claimed that the necessary approval was not sought from the Ministry of Education.

    The strategic road that was abandoned in Bodo-Ogoni for many decades would put an end to attack by pirates on the waterways and incessant boat, mishaps which had claimed the lives of many.

    Dualisation of the road to Bonny Island, the base of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company, is a partnership between the Federal Government and NLNG, a major project of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    In order to do damage control, Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, a lawyer, denied that Wike was planning to frustrate the launch  of the road.

    He claimed that the governor had been clamouring for the construction of federal roads in the state and would not at the same time disrupt or frustrate the launch.

  • Why Wike is silent on killing of Policemen, destruction – APC

    Why Wike is silent on killing of Policemen, destruction – APC

    …’Rivers gov is raising false alarm against security agencies’

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has disclosed why Governor Nyesom Wike is silent on the killing of two policemen, violence and destruction of valuable property in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers by protesting members of the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Rivers APC, at a news conference Thursday at the state secretariat of the party on Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt by its Publicity Secretary, Chief Chris Finebone, who was accompanied by the party’s state Secretary, Chief Emeka Beke, and other leaders of the party, declared that Wike was benefiting from the IPOB’s violence in Rivers and not up to the game of ensuring good governance.

    The main opposition party in Rivers (APC) also accused the state governor of raising false alarm against security agencies, in order to divert attention from what he was planning to do, having earlier sewed police uniform for thugs that were used by his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the 2015 elections and rerun in Rivers, with some of the criminals caught in Bori-Ogoni.

    It stated that Wike ought to have emulated his Abia State counterpart, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who was proactive by immediately declaring three-day dusk to dawn curfew in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia, with the curfew later extended to today (Friday), in order to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

    Rivers APC noted that the failure of Wike’s government to engage in productive ventures, the cultists, kidnappers and other criminals, who recently surrendered their arms, ammunition and other dangerous weapons in the state government’s amnesty offer, was responsible for increase in the crime rate in Rivers, with the hungry and angry youths now returning to criminal activities with full force.

    Rivers governor, while addressing reporters at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday, alleged that most of the kidnapping and armed robbery taking place in the state were perpetrated by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

    Wike also alleged that the SARS Commander in Rivers, Mr. Akin Fakorede, and operatives of the squad were indicted by an official police signal, which he claimed indicated that they were responsible for the series of kidnapping and deadly robbery across the state.

    The main opposition party said: “Ordinarily, the APC has no business involving in any matter between the Rivers governor and any other entity, but in the instant case and even in previous related cases, Wike has either alluded to or expressly stated that the APC benefited from whatever allegations he raised against the police or particularly the SARS. The APC has also been at the receiving end of the false alarms Wike had previously raised against the police, which in all cases turned out to be mere smokescreen by the governor to mask his real intentions.

    “From all indications, the Rivers governor’s accusation on Wednesday that members of SARS abducted some persons and forced them to withdraw N500, 000, is manifestly cooked up to directly smear members of the SARS and the Commander, Akin Fakorede, who is known to have resisted all the advances made by Wike to compromise the officer.

    “Wike has never hidden his disdain for the SARS commander, due to the officer’s principled and professional stance in rejecting the governor’s baits in the past two years. Wike seems to have sworn to have Akin Fakorede compromised or transferred out of Rivers State, to pave way for a replacement that may play ball with him.

    “Just before the killings in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA (ONELGA) of Rivers State assumed a frightening dimension, Wike had raised the alarm, accusing the military and police of invading ONELGA. Just after his blackmail of the army and police, his private army, led by Don Wannie, launched his massive killings and beheadings in ONELGA. Same was the case when Wike sponsored a campaign of calumny against the military personnel that tried to normalise security in Ogoniland. He made all manner of accusations against the army that had gone in search of Solomon Ndigbara, Wike’s private army general in Ogoni. Shortly after the sponsored campaign against the army in Ogoni , Ndigbara launched his killings in Ogoniland.

    “Part of the concerns of the APC is that whenever Wike is about committing some security infractions, he diverts attention from himself, by raising false alarm against the security agencies, especially the police. In the instant case, Rivers governor is raising these alarms to distract the police and pave way for his killers to undertake further killings in Rivers State. Without doubt, we believe the security information in our kitty to that effect.”

    Rivers APC also called on Rivers people and Nigerians not to fall for the antics of Wike, stressing that they must remain vigilant.

    It admonished the various security agencies to refuse to be dismayed, demoralised or distracted by the antics of the Rivers governor, but must continue to work to secure the state from the grip of Wike’s killers, who it said were on rampage across Rivers 23 LGAs.

    The party said: “Rivers State APC considers the yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) accusation against the police, particularly against the SARS, as patently malevolent, mischievous and intended to mask the next phase of killings by Wike’s killers.

    “The police and other security agencies must remain focussed and have their eyes on the ball, to forestall worsening security situation in the state, a situation that is already getting out of hand.”

    Rivers APC also urged the peace-loving people of the state to continue to endure Wike’s bad governance till 2019, when they would have the opportunity of effecting the much-needed change through their votes, asking them to prepare to vote wisely for all the candidates of the main opposition party, in order to move forward.

     

  • Rivers PDP chair disowns defecting group

    Rivers PDP chair disowns defecting group

    The Rivers State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, has disowned the members of the defecting “I See You Group” and berated the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

    He disagreed with Thursday’s claim of the group in Port Harcourt of defecting from the PDP to the main opposition APC.

    Obuah, Friday in Port Harcourt, through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam, declared that he never knew the persons or a group of persons, who claimed to be members/supporters of the PDP, describing the decampees as political jobbers, who allegedly used the name of the PDP to seek relevance and patronage.

    Rivers PDP chairman stated that neither the ruling party (PDP) in the state nor himself had any relationship with the group and had never engaged the members in any mission or benefited from their activities, stressing that their “so called” defection was immaterial and of no effect on the success of the PDP in Rivers.

    He said: “There is no doubt that ‘I See You Group’ is another prank by the APC to divert the attention of the Rivers State government and the PDP, who are focused on the improvement of the wellbeing of the people and overall development of the state.

    “The PDP in Rivers State does not know the faceless group. They are a bunch of professional political jobbers, who are ever ready to play the script of their pay masters in the APC.”

    Obuah also urged Rivers people to disregard the group, which he said comprised people of doubtful character.

    Excited and overwhelmed by the laudable achievements of Governor Nyesom Wike in a little over two years in office, the Rivers PDP chairman, in a related development, again called on the people of the state to continue to support the “performing” governor, for him to do more.

    Obuah made the call while playing host to the members of D-Source Connect Group, an acclaimed social media group that paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt, in appreciation of the landmark achievements of the PDP-led government in Rivers.

    Lauding the D-Source Connect Group, which aimed at promoting the laudable achievements of Wike’s administration, the Rivers chairman of the PDP stated that the governor had done the party and Rivers people proud by delivering on his campaign promises, stressing that the group was not alone in observing and appreciating the good works of Wike, which he described as historic and unprecedented.

    He enjoined members of the group to remain steadfast in their belief and trust in the PDP-led government in Rivers state and assured that the Rivers governor had more to offer to the state, if given maximum co-operation by all interest groups and stakeholders.

    The leader of the foremost social media group, Amadi Dike Vincent, a lawyer, had earlier informed the  Rivers PDP chairman that it was in appreciation of Wike’s achievements that the members decided to organise an annual event tagged: “Walk for Wike,” to promote his good governance in the state, disclosing that the second phase of the street walk would hold next Wednesday.

    Vincent assured that this year’s version of “Walk for Wike II” would be wholesome, while urging all well-meaning Rivers people and residents of the state to join members of the group in celebrating and praying for continuation of good governance and democracy in action in the state, epitomised by the Wike’s administration.

  • When sense goes sour

    When sense goes sour

    PERSPECTIVE

    Reading a recent attack on the person of Dr Dakuku Adol Peterside, Director-General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, by Governor Nyesom Wike, through a proxy, Simeon Nwakudu, I felt obliged to render a voluntary duty, to state the facts in a simple, unambiguous manner, and next, leave the reader to the impartial judgment of the conscience.

    The style adopted herein presents both Peterside and Wike, their personalities, motives in the respective portfolios they hold, and then, testimonies about them in the public domain. I shall sum my argument to proving that Peterside is refined, responsible and an invaluable asset to Rivers State and Nigeria. On the other hand, the evidence I shall plead in my argument shall summarise Wike in his true person – an error in governance.

    While that treatise, tried as the author, a political appointee of Wike and therefore beholding to him, might, to arm-twist truth, there is no alternative to the truth. The truth is a healer of the conscience.

    First, who is Wike? What is his personality? There is no doubt that Wike’s character defines his personality. Sigmund Freud, the popular psychoanalyst, considered the father of psychiatry, argues that the adult personality emerges as a composite of early childhood experiences, based on how these experiences are consciously and unconsciously processed within human developmental stages, and how these experiences shape the personality, the case of Wike deserves a new research.

    But he stresses that not every person completes the necessary tasks of every developmental stage. Under such scenario, Freud argues that when they don’t, the results can be a mental condition requiring psychoanalysis to achieve proper functioning. Wike, through his actions, may be a good species for Freud’s further analysis.

    Now to the specifics of Wike’s barrage of lies. First, on the 2015 governorship election captured in the opening paragraph of the essay, never was Wike elected through a majority, lawful votes by the electorate.

    To state that Peterside visited the All Progressives Congress, (APC) National Chairman with bank statements and financial documents are nothing but a rehearsal of the Third Reich propagandist, Paul Joseph Goebbels, whose theory of “the big lie” sustained Adolf Hitler. This figment of the aide’s mind gives an insight into how Wike’s mind operates. Everything, including serious state business, must be reduced to cash and bank statements.

    As to what Peterside told the APC National Chairman, it was never in doubt that he narrated the horror members of APC had been through in the hands of armed groups working for Wike Administration for which the author works for and labours, albeit fruitlessly, to prop its obnoxious human rights records. Wike has the worst personality image hiatus among governors in Nigeria. No essay or whitewash coating or image laundering shall clean the horrible person that the governor is. The Bible had Wike in mind when the Spirit asked, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?…”

    Even national security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, said Wike sponsored violent activities and bought off people’s conscience with his stolen cash.

    Because of Wike, many civil servants working with INEC are not sure how their careers would end. They are before the court. Peterside was right when he said that Wike had brought the Office of the Governor in Rivers State to a state of disrepute.

    Then to the second, and the most critical question that I have to answer. Who is Peterside? What is President Muhammadu Buhari’s testimony about him? How impressed is the American Administration with Peterside?

    Peterside was the sole leading governorship candidate in Rivers State in 2015. His statewide acceptance and popularity drew crowds to his campaigns. Truly, he was the candidate to beat.

    Why was his popularity the threat Wike and his sponsors needed to crack? The single project Wike and those who sponsored him with stolen funds, bullets and arms, had was to stop Peterside by any means possible, including killing Rivers people.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, a man, not given to flippancy, unlike Wike, had this commendation for Peterside: “Peterside’s unanimous election (as Chairman, Association of African Maritime Administrators, AMAA) is not only a personal honour and an affirmation of confidence in his ability to lead AAMA but also places Nigeria in a pivotal position to rally other maritime administrations in collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) towards safer global maritime activities.” Unfortunately for Wike, nobody has such presidential commendation for him.

    President Buhari had acknowledged NIMASA’s encouraging performance under Dr Peterside especially in the fight against sea piracy through inter agency cooperation. There is indeed a new NIMASA under Peterside, but it is a story of hard work.

    NIMASA under Peterside has a new direction unlike the cash cow it was under Wike’s boss and benefactor, Goodluck Jonathan. NIMASA was their ATM that the national waterways were one of the most dangerous in Africa after the Strait of Somalia, Africa’s most dangerous. But under Peterside, NIMASA today is the beautiful bride while Nigeria’s waterways, including those in Rivers State, enjoy safety.

    Peterside’s testimonials also have international recognition. Wike won’t like to hear this – the United States has recognised his exploits at NIMASA. Hear the verdict from America – “It appears the energy that NIMASA has at the ports is very tremendous, as seen in all the ports we visited in Lagos.”

    The United States Coast Guard (USCG) led by Commander Thomas Foster, on a visit to Nigeria, commended NIMASA for its strides in ensuring safety at the ports and expressed satisfaction with the infrastructure development regarding ISPS Code implementation in the ports. Through NIMASA, Nigeria now has about 80 per cent compliance rate for the International Ship and Port Facility Security, ISPS Code.  Wike won’t understand this term.

    Under Peterside’s watch, NIMASA has targeted 100 per cent compliance.

    While Wike is revoking Certificates of Occupancy of business chains in Rivers State, Peterside is pursuing Nigeria’s common good, creating jobs for thousands of Nigerians, including Rivers natives.

    Wike is ignorant of the role of NIMASA so he should read up the function of a maritime administration and he will surely join to celebrate this pride of our country.

    While Wike has borrowed billions under two years, Peterside has moved NIMASA to a giant revenue earner for the country. My summation in this matter is simple.

    Peterside did far more in communities in Rivers as Commissioner for Works than Wike did as Governor in two years. Peterside’s imprint can be seen in all parts of the state till date many years after serving as commissioner.

    It is dismissible and laughable for Wike to say that Dr Peterside has a retinue of Nigerian Navy personnel attached to him. Though his office as NIMASA Director-General offers him enormous access to Nigeria’s top security apparatchik, yet he maintains a simple security apparatus. This cannot be said of Wike who moves with about 221 police officers. Peterside had never returned home with naval men. He does not need to. He is at home with the people.

    Wike is what Peterside has described him to be – a huge joke in governance in Rivers State that must be stopped.

    • Ibitari is the spokesman of APC Youth Advocates
  • Cultist kill eight, behead four in Rivers  

    Cultist kill eight, behead four in Rivers  

    No fewer than eight people have been gunned down in Ibaa community in Emohua Local Government Area in Rivers State on Friday.

    It was gathered that four of the victims were beheaded and their decapitated heads taken away by the rampaging cultists.

    Mr. Chimdu Emenike, a resident of the community who told our correspondent that he was speaking from his hideout, noted that the cultists invaded the community in reprisal attack.

    He said that Deygbam cultists visited the community around 3 a.m, to avenge the death of their member who was killed by the Icelanders, last month.

    Emenike said, “Some cultists invaded the community and have killed over eight people. They killed and beheaded four people. The whole people are living in fear, but the killers were shouting in the night that we should not run that they know the people they are looking for.”

    “We are calling on the state government and security operatives in the state to send security personnel and restore peace in the troubled community.

    Every effort made to reach the Community development Committee Chairman (CDC) Ibaa, proved abortive as his contact were not reachable at press time.

    Hon. Lucky Worluh, the elected All Progressive Congress (APC) Chairman of the Local government who was sacked by Governor Nyesom Wike, said two days before the recent incident there was open shooting in the area.

    He said cultists have taken over Emohua Local government area, alleging that the present administration has not been give security allocation to the LGA caretaker committee chairmen in the state.

    Worluh said: All we need now is immediate security mobilization of the area, the people are living in fear and the government is not doing anything to assist the people. The area is poorly underdeveloped and he is yet to show any concern.

    “Those given amnesty should be empowered and settled you cannot claim to have given somebody amnesty without empowering the person. Wike should empower the boys.”

    However, the Public Relations Officers of the Rivers State Police Command, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, noted that personnel of the command have been drafted to the community to restore normalcy.

    Omoni confirmed that it was cult reprisal that led to the killings, adding that number of casualties in the incident had not been ascertained.

    Omoni said, “Cultists invaded the community today and killed some people believed to be rival cultists in reprisal. It is a cult related incident. The police are aware of it. The Commissioner of Police in the state has mobilized personnel to the community to restore peace and smock out the perpetrators of the act.”

     

  • Alleged N360m bribe: 23 INEC staff now to be tried in Rivers

    Alleged N360m bribe: 23 INEC staff now to be tried in Rivers

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has directed that the 23 staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accused of accepting N360m bribe from Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State are to be tried in the state.

    In a ruling on Monday, Justice John Tsoho upheld the objection raised by the INEC staff against their being tried in Abuja since their alleged offence took place in Rivers State.

    The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) on March 7 this year, filed a seven-count charge against the 23 INEC staff for allegedly receiving N360m bribe from Wike in connection with the December 10, 2016, rerun elections in River State.

    Before they could be arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the defendants challenged the prosecution’s decision to conduct the proceedings in Abuja, when they were accused of receiving money in Rivers State.

    They sought the transfer of the case to Rivers State, a request the Prosecution objected to and insisted on their trial in Abuja.

    In his ruling, Justice Tsoho held that the charge ought to be filed in the capital of Rivers State, Port Harcourt, where the alleged offences were supposedly committed.

    The judge said the prosecution was unable to provide any cogent evidence of insecurity in Port Harcourt to justify the filing of the charge in Abuja.

    He said the prosecution failed to support, with evidence, its claims that there was “pervasive insecurity” in Port Harcourt and that the city has become ungovernable.

    The judge said the “frightening pictures” attached to the prosecution’s counter-affidavit have no proof of location and time of the incidents.

    He added that there was no evidence presented before the court to back the prosecution’s claim that there were daily reports of threat by cult groups in the state.

    Justice Tsoho said, in the absence of such evidence, provisions of Section 93 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and Section 45 of the Federal High Court Act, providing that charges must be filed in the area or place where the alleged offences were committed “shall apply”.

    He consequently ordered the transfer of the case to Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court for the arraignment of the defendants.