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Tag: Jerry Needam

  • Wike is committed to good governance – Rivers PDP chairman

    The Rivers State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, has stated that Governor Nyesom Wike is committed to good governance, as confirmed by his Thursday’s BusinessDay award in Abuja as the Governor of the Year 2018 for Competitiveness and Good Governance.

    Obuah, in an online statement on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Pastor Jerry Needam, stated that the latest award laid credence to Wike’s leadership qualities and commitment to service.

    Rivers PDP chairman noted that the state governor’s recognition was a reward for not only performing, but having done very well in all facets of governance, which he said also earned him the special title of “Mr. Projects.”

    Read Also: ‘PDP considering 2019 polls boycott’

    He pointed out that the voice of the media, being the voice of the people, was a confirmation of the interest of God in Wike’s leadership, since the voice of the people is the voice of God.

    Obuah congratulated Rivers governor on the well-deserved award, lauding the BusinessDay newspaper for giving the honour to whom it was due.

    Rivers PDP chairman prayed God to grant Wike more grace to do more for Rivers state, Nigeria and this generation, especially at this period that Nigeria had urgent need for selfless leaders who could dare to fight injustice in defence of the masses, irrespective of the risks involved.

  • Rivers PDP chairman’s aide, family escape assassins’ bulletsv

    Rivers PDP chairman’s aide, family escape assassins’ bulletsv

    BARELY 48 hours after leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Rivers State and thugs engaged in a free for all in Abuja, the Special Adviser, Media to the Rivers PDP Chairman, Jerry Needam, and members of his family, narrowly escaped assassins’ bullets in their Port Harcourt residence.

    The Thursday’s show of shame in Abuja took place at the national campaign office of the PDP in Maitama, Abuja, with the thugs, who used dangerous weapons, beating and injuring some leaders of the party from Rivers State, who were opposed to the governorship ambition of the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    The Rivers Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, however, claimed that Wike did not sponsor the thugs, while declaring that there would be no entry into the PDP through the back door, while urging the members of the party to be law abiding.

    Shortly after the Abuja fracas, Needam issued a press statement on behalf of Obuah and the Rivers PDP, describing the aggrieved leaders of the PDP as “known and expelled members of the party.”

    Needam, an indigene of Kono-Ogoni in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state, is also at the forefront of the mobilisation to ensure that Wike emerges as the governorship candidate of the PDP, not minding the fact that the Minister of State for Education and Governor Rotimi Amaechi are Ikwerre.

    The anti-Wike PDP leaders, including Lolo Ibieneye, Prof. Israel Owate, Anabs Sara-Igbe, Tabotamuno Dick, Dr. Sowaribi Tolofari and Chief Bekinbo Soberekon, who were to meet with members of the party’s National Integration Committee, South-South zone, led by Prof. Iya Abubakar, before the attack, are clamouring for zoning of governorship in Rivers.

    In a telephone interview last night, Needam said: “As tension builds up ahead of the 2015 elections, my family members and I escaped death between 4 am and 5 am today (yesterday), as four gunmen stormed our residence in Woji, Port Harcourt.

    “The gunmen gained entrance into my premises. Only my gateman was injured. He was tied hands back and locked inside the gate house. Police were invited and they arrived after the gunmen had left in a speed boat. My house is close to the Woji River.

    “My wife, my first son, two daughters, my elder sister, two of my wife’s siblings and my three-month-old son were with me in the house when the gunmen invaded. Everybody is okay, but under tension. My gateman is being attended to in a private hospital in Port Harcourt.

    “The matter has been reported officially to the police. It may be connected to the political activities and tension building up in Rivers State.”

    The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed the incident, said no arrest had been made yet.

  • ‘PDP primaries will be open’

    ‘PDP primaries will be open’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has said its primaries will be open to all qualified aspirants and ethnic groups.

    It said it will field only tested, trusted and capable candidates who can match any opponent from any party.

    The Chairman, Felix Obuah, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Jerry Needam, said he was not intimidated by criticisms, as the party’s decision was resolute.

    Obuah said no system could be more democratic than giving all ethnic groups the opportunity to field their best candidates.

    “May I also use this opportunity to enjoin faithful party members not to be deceived by our opponents’ antics and remain steadfast to party policies and resolutions.”

  • Rivers govt, APC, PDP disagree over state’s financial status

    Rivers govt, APC, PDP disagree over state’s financial status

    The Rivers State Government, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have disagreed over the financial status of the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The Rivers government, through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, and the APC, through its Interim Rivers Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, yesterday said the state was not broke.

    PDP’s Jerry Needam, the Special Adviser, Media to the Rivers Chairman of the party, Chief Felix Obuah, insisted that the state was broke.

    Semenitari and Ikanya urged Rivers people to ignore the PDP’s claims, which were described as misleading, frivolous and ridiculous.

    Rivers PDP, however, maintained that available evidence showed that the Amaechi’s administration could no longer meet its responsibilities.

    PDP said: “We wonder how the Rivers Commissioner for Information will deny this glaring fact, in the face of the failure and collapse of almost all the social and public agencies in the state.

    “The Commissioner’s brazen denial is laughable. We want Mrs. Semenitari to explain why the Rivers State Government still owes officers and men of the Rivers State Road Transport Management Authority (TIMA-RIV) for about six months.

    “The newly-recruited 13,000 teachers are also owed six months’ salaries, roads and other infrastructural projects have been abandoned and there is delay in the release of the N300 million Christmas bonus meant for the civil servants in the state.

    “The PDP also demands explanation from the Rivers Information Commissioner to justify the reason for the denial of funds for the full implementation of the 2013 budget by the various ministries, if the state is not broke.

    “If the state is not broke, let the pensioners receive their full gratuities, rather than the piecemeal, a style of payment which has never happened in Rivers State, except now that the state is in financial distress.”

    The Rivers APC also stated that the leader of the party in the state (Amaechi) had created what the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Chuma Chinye, described as the 24th LGA of the state.

    The NIPPG, according to Chinye, the political leader of group, who hails from Delta State, was to protect the political interests of the over 1.5 million non-indigenes residing in Rivers State.

    Chinye described setting up of the structure as the first of its kind in any part of Nigeria, which he said was in keeping with the antecedents of Amaechi as a great leader, whose patriotism is legendary and a true nationalist.

    The NGF chairman was also referred to as the hero and hope of the non-indigenes in Rivers State, if the ways he had carried the non-indigenes along in his administration were things to go by.

    The Rivers commissioner for commerce and industry said: “Governor Amaechi has a history of giving non-indigenes a sense of belonging, as reflected in the composition of the State Executive Council.

    “Apart from myself, many other non-indigenes such as Mr. Ade Adeogun from Ondo State, who mans the powerful Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority and Mr. David Iyofor, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, who is from Delta State, are holding key positions in the Amaechi’s administration.”

    The Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, to the Interim Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, yesterday noted that at a keenly-contested election, held at the state secretariat of APC at Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt over the weekend, Chief Uchenna Okokoba defeated the duo of Alhaji Yusuf Tanko and Chief Williams Ubeka, to emerge the Interim Coordinator of the non-indigene group in Rivers APC.

    Inaugurating the group on behalf of the Rivers APC chairman (Ikanya), the Interim Secretary of the party, Chief Emeka Bekee, said: “This is another strong signal of the doom awaiting the PDP and other opposition parties during the 2015 elections.

    “I assure you of the support of Governor Amaechi and leadership of the APC. So, go out and mobilse your people to ensure that the APC becomes the party to beat come 2015, seeing that Governor Amaechi recognises and has made your people an integral part of his administration.”

    In a related development, the APC in Rivers State has concluded the harmonisation of the different groups that came together to form the party, the legacy party, comprising the defunct ANPP, ACN, CPC and NPDP, in the 23 LGAs of the state.

    The interim Rivers chairman of the APC also admonished members of the harmonised steering committee of each of the LGAs of the state to go and spread the gospel of the party in all the nooks and crannies of Rivers.

    The harmonized steering committee members were also urged to establish the wards’ steering committees and mobilise Rivers people to formally register with the APC from February 5, for the PDP, their common enemy, to be politically dealt with during the 2015 general elections.

     

  • 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.