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Tag: Nyesom Wike

  • Buhari inaugurates new PH Int’l Airport terminal 

    After four years of spadework, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday inaugurated the new international terminal of Port Harcourt Airport, in Omagwa, Rivers State.

    The terminal was built by the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company Nigeria Limited as part of the $500 million concessional loan from the Export – Import Bank of China.

    Buhari landed about 12.30 pm and was driven in a convoy to the location of the new terminal.

    Speaking at the ceremony Buhari said the Port Harcourt International Airport terminal will play a significant role in promoting economic prosperity of Rivers State.

    He said the new terminal will increase passenger growth as well as facilitate the movement of cargo.

    He said the facility will bring the airport to international standard to create economic growth for Rivers State as well as the country.

    He said the concession of four international airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt will improve infrastructure in Nigeria.

    He said the construction of new terminals will be linked to the Warri Rail Line.

    Buhari said government is making deliberate efforts to increase handling capacities and infrastructure of the nation’s transport sector which was not taken care of since the 70s and 80s when they were built.

    He said it was part of his promises to upgrade Nigeria’s transport infrastructure in all geo political zones of the country.

    The president said:” Today’s commissioning is a significant landmark for international travellers especially those in the South South region.

    “Not much was done after these airports were built in the 70s and 80s to increase handling capacity of the airports and so we needed to take decisive steps to ensure that our terminals meet the minimum international global standards.

    “In the 2017 budget, I promised to upgrade Nigeria’s transport and complete a number projects that will be beneficiary to the nation economically and these include construction of new terminals, railways and power projects.

    “Today’s commissioning is a direct policy to sustain economic growth in all geo political zones of the country,” the president said.

    In his remarks, Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika said the project commenced in 2014 and was inherited from the previous administration at 30 per cent completion in 2015.

    He said despite the inherent challenges associated with the project, Buhari gave approval for the lapses to be corrected.

    He listed the challenges to include: inadequate power supply, litigation, lack of apron space which have been addressed.

    Speaking earlier, Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike assured the president that the people of Rivers State and indeed the South South are happy with the project stating that it would foster further investment in the state.

    Wike said; “I can tell you this today that the people of Rivers State and the Niger Delta are happy with you Mr. President. This terminal here will help the drive of the state to grow the economy and it will attract investment to the state. What has happened here shows that Rivers State is safe, Rivers State is secured and if it was not CCECC will not have been here to construct this.”

     

  • Wike declares support for Atiku

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has declared his support for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar for 2019 elections.

    He spoke yesterday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, during a special thanksgiving service for the successful hosting of 2018 PDP National Convention.

    His Special Assistant, Electronic Media Simeon Nwakaudu quoted the governor as revealing that he promoted the candidature of Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal at the convention.

    He, however, added that he has accepted the party’s choice as the way forward.

    Wike said: “I supported the Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal fully. I have no regrets for my support for Tambuwal.

    “But the party has made a choice and as a loyal party man, I stand by the choice of the party. I will support His Excellency Atiku Abubakar to victory in 2019. That is what is called party loyalty.”

    Wike said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed Nigeria, adding that Nigerians must work diligently towards sacking the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “We must put our heads together to ensure that this bad government is sacked.  We must ensure that this bad government goes in 2019,” the governor said.

    He said after the thanksgiving service, Nigerians must head to the fields to work for the PDP victory in 2019.

    The governor noted that the PDP would win in Rivers State despite the machinations of the APC-led Federal Government.

    He added that he would complete his mission in Rivers State through a resounding victory in 2019.

    On the successful hosting of the National Convention, Wike noted that he stood his ground because of the Rivers State’s economy and the fact that the state remains the home of PDP since 1999.

    The PDP National Chairman noted that after the party’s national convention, its leadership has been involved in fence-mending to bring all groups to work for victory in 2019.

    He said Atiku is the best candidate to drive the country to growth and prosperity.

    “APC will be finally buried in February 2019,” he said.

    Secondus thanked the government and people of Rivers State for hosting the convention.

    In a sermon, Apostle Zilly Aggrey said the PDP is right to thank God for the successful hosting of its national convention, noting that it was a platform for greater success.

    Rivers State PDP Chairman Felix Obuah said despite obstacles, God ensured that the national convention was the best ever.

     

  • The die is cast but why in God’s name did Secondus apologise to Nigerians?

    What do these PDP people take Nigerians for; a bunch of fools?  Why, sans  the giddiness of his new office then as new  PDP Chairman, did Secondus apologise to Nigerians, promising never again to  tread their old  dishonorable ways of literally eating Nigeria out  of existence,  only to now take   us back to the Siemen’s scandal days ?

    If PDP meant well for Nigeria, as it  never ceases to proclaim from rooftops ,  and it  seriously  intends  to change the  ‘change’  by improving on what they describe as Buhari’s poor performance, would  they choose Atiku over  a cool and calm  Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, a former state governor, senator and the man  who, together with Prince Dayo Adeyeye, provided the rare  grit, and tact, that extricated  PDP from its worst  ever crisis,  that is, apart from  Buhari’s massive shellacking of a sitting President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 Presidential election? Yes, governors Nyesom Wike and Ayo Fayose may have provided the funds as well as all the bravado , Makarfi was, unquestionably,  the chief driver of that narrow escape as Modu Sheriff  was  dead set on completely  annexing the party.

    I have asked myself this question: Why didn’t PDP just pull together all the dollars  allegedly on display at the Port Harcourt bazaar, pay their 3000 plus delegates twice their transport fares to the garden city, and  promptly  hand over the balance to  Makarfi who,  though no billionaire, has the double advantage of being the most  worthy of  all the presidential wannabes , as well as having saved the party at its most critical hour when the likes of  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar ,  Bukola Saraki and Rabiu Kwankwaso were hibernating in  the APC,  daily planning how to make governance difficult for President Muhammadu Buhari so they could make short shrift of  everybody in the party , the president inclusive, to  emerge, through all manner of serpentine tactics and contrived  shenanigans, as it’s presidential candidate since becoming the President of Nigeria has been, for them, a consuming  ambition for which they would do anything, no matter how reprehensible . It was, therefore, no coincidence that being no match for Buhari, they all had to  scamper out of  the party, faking all manner of reasons.

    That , Makarfi, is the man PDP  has just thrown under the bus, all because he  doesn’t have the billions  to buy votes? The choice of this incorruptible gentleman, with both age, and experience  on his side,  to face Muhammadu Buhari -Mr Integrity himself – would, no doubt have  given APC some goose pimples  since  integrity, not anything else should, and will, decide the  2019 Presidential election in a country just slowly  coming  out of the consequences of  PDP’s 16 – year stranglehold, and rapacity.

    Nigeria cannot, and must sure not go back to the Egypt of unmitigated systemic corruption. Never.

    This was why, reacting to the vituperations  from  the  Atiku campaign, the Buhari campaign organisation could not help recalling the fact that PDP had, years past, questioned Atiku’s credibility, wondering why it could now name him its candidate like a spell was cast on them. But what spell can be more potent than the almighty dollar, especially when dished out like a drunken sailor. Continuing, the BCO exploded: “It is like a dog going back to  its vomit. Are there no better people to challenge President Buhari in the PDP? This people were in power, one way or the other, since 1999, only for Nigeria to have been regressing. Now, they want to take Nigerians back to Babylon after Buhari has painstakinly secured their freedom from corruption and a battered economy that was tottering towards an eclipse”.

    What surprised me to no end is the fact that the Atiku campaign could, listlessly,  be touting privatisation under his chairmanship  as an asset when Nigerians know  exactly, how  their prime assets, like African Petroleum (AP) and NITEL, to mention but a few, were sold for pittance, at no more than a quarter of their book values,  to  his allies, friends and cronies. The Atiku campaign should go and research both Obasanjo and El Rufai’s angst against their employer. They will learn how, and why, AP is now as dead as dodo while other oil companies privatised at the same time are flourishing, as well as how over 2000 Nigerian employees of NITEL had to lose their jobs overnight.

    Since many of my highly valued readers loathe having to be asked to go on the net to finish reading my articles, let me conclude this article  with the following response which I gave on Face book to a gentleman whose middle name,  during the 2015 Presidential election literally became  ‘Buhari’ because of  his total support for the APC candidate. Today, for a host of reasons which he state, President Buhari has disappointed him.

    I was no less supportive of candidate Buhari but have since had cause to severally  criticise him, especially for  his nepotistic security appointments. I have, however, since been educated that had he not done what he did, all these generals hovering over him, these new military owners of PDP who donated their old National Security Adviser to oversee the Port Harcourt event, may have since taught him a lesson, or two, in how not to forget to learn from history. They may, in fact, have, again, changed the democratic trajectory of our dear country especially when Buhari was in London battling for his dear life  and they were busy holding serpentine meetings in some eye popping hilltop mansions.

    I wrote: “Lade this is a fantastic write up. Very logical, even seminal, and well presented.  You’re not alone. During the 2015 campaign for the APC primaries which Buhari won, I wrote in my weekly column in The Nation on Sunday that Nigeria needed Buhari more than the obverse. While I, like you have observed very grievous errors committed by him, I have not, and will not, change my views about him. One, I knew Buhari was/is human, not an angel, and so prone to make some mistakes like you and I. The highly perceptive person that you are, judging  by your post, there’s no way you, or I,  could have known that Jonathan was  going to hand over to Buhari a shell of a nation; almost already  completely eaten up by the Ali Babas that predominated PDP then, and still  do – witness, for instance, the recent dollar bazaar in Port Harcourt. I knew, like Buhari said then, that if Nigeria didn’t kill corruption, it will, in turn kill Nigeria. Fighting corruption in Nigeria is a grim war. While it was systemic in PDP days, all you can now point to are individuals abusing their positions. And they are beginning to get their comeuppance. Note too, that some of our best lawyers, especially SANs, are arrayed against Buhari on this. They get paid in millions of dollars and you will recall that for a mere election case, a South South government was said to have paid in excess of N1B legal fees . That, as you should know must have included bribes for judges. Yet, with all the opposition, Buhari has successfully retrieved over 1trillion Naira and hundreds of properties, from these marauders who are using their loot to fight the anti corruption war. Please mentally put half of that to infrastructure procurement at a time the Naira was much stronger. Would we still have this gap in our infrastructure stock? Look at the humongous efforts of this government on roads, especially in the South East & South South; see railway construction literally everywhere.

    I have seriously criticised Buhari on his condemnable insular appointments especially in the security agencies. They are totally indefensible. But look at his social network programmes devoted to improving the lives of the poor, and the most at risk, in our country. They are unprecedented. So dear, when they say Nigeria hosts the most poor in the world, cast your mind’s eye back, not on Buhari alone, but on the IBBs, the TY Danjumas, the Obasanjos and, of course, the PDP predators that had us under their grip for 16 years. I will obviously score Buhari more than 55% overall. So please rethink your position and look at Atiku’s past to gauge where he will take Nigeria, if voted”

    Let me quickly add this, lest Nigerians are scammed. Now Atiku is flaunting Restructuring, as important as it is, as his ‘deu ex machina’, his silver bullet, for all of Nigeria’s problems. Restructuring has, of a truth, become very lucrative since 2015. But it failed then, and will fail now.  This is because Atiku, despite all his grandstanding on the subject, is a wrong candidate for it. He is Fulani, like Buhari. Add to that the fact that he is a patron of Miyetti Allah. His promise to restructure Nigeria is a ruse aimed at sucking in the Yoruba.

    But we are far wiser, even more than in 2015, when we, very respectfully, gave the electoral wishes of our highly regarded Afenifere elders, a wide berth. It will be worse, this time around.

    In this respect, it is with great pleasure I repeat to our Afenifere Greats, Chief Bode George’s panergyric  to PDP concerning the Yoruba nation: “the Yoruba people have been openly maligned. The Yoruba have been savaged, tormented, treated with contempt, scurried, scoffed at, humiliated and denigrated by little men (Wike and co)whose sun will soon set.

    Add that to Obasanjo/PDP treatment of Yoruba and think where the Yoruba vote will go in 2018.

  • Fayose threatens to leave PDP over Atiku’s emergence

    Outgoing Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose on Friday threatened to quit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the outcome of the national convention.

    He is believed to be unhappy with the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential flag bearer at the primary held at Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Fayose, who is the Chairman of the PDP Governor’s Forum, supported Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal at the national convention.

    The Ekiti helmsman alongside his Rivers State counterpart Nyesom Wike rallied support for Tambuwal at the national convention.

    Fayose, in a six-paragraph statement sent to reporters on Monday said he would continue with consultations and watch how events unfold in the umbrella party.

    The statement which the governor personally signed was entitled: “Re: PDP National Convention.”

    The statement read: “We have no regret aligning with Governor Wike to support Governor Tambuwal for the presidential ticket and no apologies either.

    “We kept the party alive and strong when most men became ladies. We never compromised. If any group feels it can do it alone, we will see how far they can go.

    “I may renounce my membership of the party if the need arises.

    “In the main time, myself and others will continue with our consultations while watching the turn of event.

    “We cannot but appreciate leaders that have intervened so far, but this release became necessary to avoid fresh crisis or misrepresentation.”

    It remained unclear why Fayose wants to quit his beloved party as he gave no cogent reason in the statement.

    Read Also: ‘Stop using traditional rulers as fire fighters’

    Fayose had earlier declared interest in the Presidency but later withdrew before the official sale of nomination and expression of interest forms.

    He was also said to be considered as the party’s presidential running at a time but the loss to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the July 14 governorship poll has put a dent on the ambition.

    Fayose joined the PDP before the 2003 governorship poll which he won but had been in and out of the party at various times.

    His supporters joined All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Progressives People’s Alliance (PPA) after his impeachment from office while he had a working agreement with the Action Congress (AC) in the 2009 governorship rerun election.

    Fayose defected to the Labour Party (LP) in 2010 and ran as the Ekiti Central senatorial candidate in the 2011 general elections but lost to Senator Babafemi Ojudu.

    He returned to the PDP in 2012 and ran again as its candidate in the 2014 governorship poll which he won.

    Fayose, at various times, had boasted that he would never leave PDP but his latest threat to quit has been causing ripples since it broke Monday evening

  • Convention venue: PDP bows to Wike

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decided to hold its national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    This was one of the key decisions taken at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held yesterday at the Abuja secretariat of the PDP.

    The party reportedly agreed to hold the convention in Port Harcourt, after Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, tendered an apology to the leadership of the party and other stakeholders at the meeting.

    An inside source said some party chieftains also apologised on behalf of the Rivers Governor, adding that he was sober and contrite while tendering his apology.

    Governor Wike had on Wednesday, gone on air, threatening to “teach the PDP a lesson” if the party failed to hold the convention in Port Harcourt.

    The governor’s threat was in response to a statement by the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin.

    Jibrin had, at a stakeholders meeting on Monday, dismissed reports that the PDP convention would hold in Port Harcourt, saying that the party hadn’t taken a decision on the venue.

    Speaking with journalists, shortly after the meeting, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, confirmed that the issue of venue was amicably resolved by all stakeholders.

    Saraki said, “We all agreed  to hold it in Port Harcourt. Some of the issues that we are having before, which were reported in the newspapers were discussed.

    “Everybody decided that we should stay with the party. Where tempers were flared, people apologised and everybody felt that yes, there was a commitment to assure everybody that there will be free and fair primaries. So today has been a very good day”.

    All the aspirants were said to have collectively assured the meeting that their initial fears over the Port Harcourt venue for the convention had been allayed by the leadership of the party.

    They reportedly reposed confidence in the ability of the leadership of the party and the convention committee to conduct a seamless exercise.

    However, the convention, where the party’s presidential candidate will be elected, has been shifted from October 5-6 to October 6-7.

    No fewer than 3,619 delegates across the country are expected to vote to elect the party’s presidential flag bearer at the convention.

    Other resolutions arrived at included a written commitment of all the 12 presidential aspirants to a bond accepting the outcome of the primary election and to join forces with the eventual winner to form a united front.

    The party on its part, pledged to ensure transparent, free, fair and acceptable primaries that will be acceptable to all the aspirants and their supporters.

    The PDP also expressed readiness to engage democratic stakeholders all over the world towards achieving a credible free and fair general election in February 2019.

    The meeting, which was presided over by the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, was attended by all its presidential aspirants, the party’s governors, members of the National Assembly among others.

  • Rivers: Three friends in fierce battle

    In Rivers State, a fierce political battle among three friends will help to shape the battle for the ticket of APC’s governorship ticket, reports Southsouth Bureau Chief, Bisi Olaniyi

    Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, is a former boss of current Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe. But today, the three are at loggerheads ahead of the September 29 primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Amaechi, an Ikwerre from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area, was Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly between 1999 and 2007. Abe was the House of Assembly’s Minority Leader from 1999 to 2003, prior to his appointment by the then Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, as Rivers Commissioner for Information. While in the Assembly, Abe was a member of the All Peoples Party (APP), which later became the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also an Ikwerre from Rumueprikom-Port Harcourt in Obio/Akpor LGA, was a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG council of Rivers State and he had his re-election as the council’s helmsman made possible by Amaechi as Speaker, when most Ikwerre people in his LGA kicked against his candidature, because of alleged poor performance and lack of respect for elders.

    Amaechi became Rivers governor on October 26, 2007, following the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court the previous day, which sacked Sir Celestine Omehia, from the same Ubima hometown.

    Shortly after his inauguration as governor, Amaechi appointed Wike as Chief of Staff, Government House, Port-Harcourt, while Abe, a lawyer, emerged as Secretary to Rivers State Government (SSG).

    In order to ensure hitch-free re-election in 2011, Amaechi appointed Wike, aka High Tension, as the Director-General of his campaign organisation and subsequently recommended him to the then President Goodluck Jonathan for a ministerial appointment, while Abe was elected into the Senate.

    Right from 2011, especially shortly after Wike’s ministerial appointment, he started nursing the ambition to be Rivers State governor on the platform of the PDP in 2015, which he got through federal might, while Abe was a governorship aspirant on the platform of the APC in Rivers in 2015. However, a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, got the ticket, with Abe returning to the Senate.

    The senator (Abe) started his 2019 governorship activities very early, but disclosed that Transportation Minister visited him in his Abuja house, warning him in the presence of his wife, not to vie for governorship next year, which Abe said he was not comfortable with.

    Amaechi wants the governorship candidate of APC next year in the multi-ethnic Rivers to be a riverine person to ensure even development, equity, justice and fairness, in view of the fact that the state’s governors since 1999: Dr. Peter Odili, Omehia, Amaechi and Wike are from the upland part of Rivers.

    On August 30 in Lagos, stakeholders of APC in Rivers endorsed a co-founder of Sahara Group, Pastor Tonye Cole, as the governorship aspirant of the party in the state, but Abe stated that he was not aware that Cole was a member of APC, insisting that he would vie for Rivers governorship on the party’s (APC’s) platform.

    Ironically, Amaechi’s impact in the political life of Abe cannot be denied, which made the Senator (Abe) to proudly and openly state recently that the Transportation Minister had invested so much in his political career, making him to become the highest political investment of Amaechi in Nigeria.

    Abe, however, inaugurated a parallel secretariat of APC at Waterlines Bus Stop on Aba Road in Port Harcourt, with the former Deputy Chairman of the party, Prince Peter Odike, emerging as the Acting Chairman.

    The three friends (Amaechi, Wike and Abe) have now turned to foes, because of the politics of 2019 elections.

    Amaechi, on Sunday, September 16 this year, at Rumueme Civic Centre, Port-Harcourt in Wike’s Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State, at the LGA’s mega rally of the APC to receive over 5000 defectors from the PDP, declared that his successor (Wike) was panicking and had stopped shouting, but he must go in 2019, in spite of his sponsoring unnamed members of APC to cause confusion.

    At the well-attended rally were Senator Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East), the endorsed governorship candidate of APC in Rivers, Tonye Cole; the state Chairman of APC, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree; and leader of the party in Obio/Akpor LGA, Chikodi Dike, among other top politicians.

    Amaechi, who is also the current Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Re-election Campaign Organisation, said: “Nothing is greater than God. I closed my mouth for nearly three years, to enable Wike to do his work. Instead of doing his work, he was busy going everywhere, talking and stealing our money. Wike stole N117 billion belonging to Rivers State, as revealed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    “Wike is sponsoring people in our party (APC) to disintegrate the party. Now, I have come out. The way to go about it is to let the party at the national and to let the country know that we are ready for elections. All these people distracting us inside the party, under the sponsorship of Wike, we will ignore them, because Wike must go in 2019.

    “This is not a campaign rally, but it is a rally to show the world that we are in Wike’s village. Just five minutes trek. I walked from there to this place. When I was running for governor, if you entered Ubima (his hometown in Ikwerre LGA) and you come out alive, then you are a good man. We have entered here (Rumueme Civic Centre), we will enter again and again.

    “I am very impressed with the quality of people who are defecting to APC. Wike has stopped shouting. I told you he would stop shouting. I told you we would go underground, we would work and seeing our work, Wike would panic. Now, Wike is panicking and I am enjoying it. Do not be afraid anymore. Wike does not have the monopoly of killing.”

    “I want to know the membership of APC in Rivers State. Get registered in APC and also get your Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). I will come, ward by ward, to meet you. If our membership base is 796,000 as at now, we have won the elections.”

    The former Rivers governor (Amaechi) also called for the setting up of prayer groups in APC across the 23 LGAs of the state, assuring that members of the party would pray and vote, to end Wike’s bad governance next year.

    Cole, while also speaking at the rally, assured that APC would win in all the wards of Rivers State during the 2019 elections, while declaring that Rivers belongs to APC.

    Leader of APC in Obio/Akpor LGA (Dike) stressed that with PVCs of members of the party and other Rivers residents, Wike would be voted out in 2019, ‘to end impunity in Rivers’.

    While speaking on behalf of the defectors, Solomon Ademola, who was Obio/Akpor LGA’s Coordinator of Wike’s Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), described PDP as dead in Rivers State, with the defections from PDP to APC across the 23 LGAs of the state.

    Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Chief Emma Okah, while reacting on behalf of Wike, however said that his boss has no basis to panic, as alleged by Amaechi, who he described as “a dictator, with oppressive style.”

    Okah said: “Amaechi is the person sponsoring opposition against Governor Wike and the Rivers State government. Amaechi should look inwards and solve his problems, rather than blaming the focused and performing governor of Rivers State.

    “Governor Wike is solidly on the ground in Rivers State. His administration has enough development projects across the 23 LGAs of the state to justify his re-election next year. Amaechi should tell Rivers people the development projects he has attracted to Rivers State, as the Minister for Transportation.”

    Rivers Information Commissioner also admonished discerning minds to ignore Amaechi and APC’s propaganda and to continue to support Wike’s administration.

    Abe, on September 17, at an interactive forum with members of 26 notable organisations within the old Port Harcourt Township, popularly called Town, which took place at an event centre on Aggrey Road in the Rivers State capital, stated that Wike was not sponsoring him.

    The interactive forum, with theme: “The possibilities of restoring the economic prospects of Rivers State, a case study of the old Port Harcourt Township,” was also attended by the Director-General of Freedom House, Abe’s campaign organisation, Worgu Boms, a lawyer; and the representative of Ikwerre/Emohua Constituency in the House of Representatives, Elder Chidi Wihioka; among other APC chieftains.

    Representative of Rivers Southeast Senatorial District declared that the Minister for Transportation, who is also the leader of APC in Rivers State and Southsouth zone, would not be able to stop him from participating in the party’s primary election and emerging as the standard bearer of APC, in spite of August 30 endorsement of Pastor Tonye Cole by Rivers stakeholders of the party in Lagos.

    Abe, a lawyer, early this year, had electoral victory thanksgiving reception at Polo Club, new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port-Harcourt that was attended by Wike and other top officials of Rivers State Government.

    A chieftain of APC in Rivers (name withheld) later alleged that Wike supported Abe with N30million, thereby ensuring the success of the thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Garrison Bus Stop, Aba Road, Port Harcourt. But that alleged financial assistance has been denied.

    The governorship aspirant (Abe) said on September 17: “I have the capacity, I have the knowledge, having been to every part of Rivers State, and I have the understanding of the challenges of our state. If you give me the opportunity to lead this state, I can lead the state in a different direction. I can do things differently. I can bring our people together, in a way that we have not been together in a long time and be able to get the best out of every Rivers man and woman.

    “In this political season, I have decided that I will offer myself as a governorship aspirant of my party, the APC, to be given an opportunity to challenge Rivers people that we can do things better and differently.

    “Rivers State needs unity. The politics of hatred, bitterness and acrimony that has characterised our state in recent past cannot move us anywhere. It will destroy the state. We need to bring people together. We need to learn how to tolerate one another and accommodate divergent views, thereby bringing out the best in us.

    “When I was Commissioner for Information to Dr. Peter Odili, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (the then Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly) was aspiring to be governor of Rivers State, and it caused a big problem in the politics of that time, between him (Amaechi) and Dr. Odili, but I stood with Amaechi. At a point, I was practically the only person in Odili’s government that Amaechi was still talking to. I chose to stand by my friend (Amaechi). Whoever God has said will be governor of Rivers State will be governor of Rivers State and there is nothing Amaechi can do about it.

    “I am not being sponsored by Governor Nyesom Wike. I decided to fight for my right, not only as a citizen of Rivers State, but as a member of the APC. Amaechi also fought for his right up to the Supreme Court to be governor in 2007 and we stood by him. The then Governor Odili never accused Amaechi that he was a betrayer or being sponsored by anybody.

    “I am fighting for my right. I want to be governor of Rivers State. I will fight in any way that is constitutionally allowed, both by the party (APC) and our Constitution. Whatever God says at the end, I will accept in good faith. Nobody can deny me the right to fight for my right.”

    The senator also stated that he would continue to refer to Amaechi as the leader of APC in Rivers, especially as the only member of the party that is a former governor and a member of the caucus of the party.

    Abe stressed that referring to Amaechi as APC leader in Rivers was also to send a signal to all members of the party that no matter how aggrieved they might be, they should be ready to work with him (Amaechi), anytime he decided that it was appropriate to allow justice to prevail in the party, adding that he had never abused the Transportation Minister publicly and he would never allow any APC member to do so, but to continue to respect his former boss.

    Wike-led Rivers State Government has however asked Amaechi to account for the  $308 million (about N112 billion) proceeds of the sale towards the end of his administration of the state’s gas turbine power stations to Sahara Energy, belonging to Pastor Tonye Cole, the endorsed governorship aspirant of the APC in the state.

    Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, alleged that the sale of the power stations and diversion of the proceeds to fund political activities of APC was responsible for why Amaechi’s government abandoned so many uncompleted projects and owed salaries and pensions to workers before he left office in 2015.

    Okah claimed that besides the power assets which Amaechi sold to Sahara Energy, the same company also bought the Olympia Hotel in the old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt and other high-value state assets, under suspicious circumstances.

    He said: “The Justice Omereji Commission of Inquiry investigated the spurious sales and indicted the Minister for Transportation. Instead of refunding the money, the minister rushed to court to set aside the findings of the commission. He lost at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal. His appeal to the Supreme Court has been abandoned, because for over a year, he has failed to file a brief of argument,” he said.

    Responding, the Publicity Secretary of APC in Rivers, Chief Chris Finebone, declared that the state’s Information Commissioner’s allegation was a classical display of the fright that had gripped Wike and his government since the possibility of Cole, an Architect, flying the governorship flag of APC in Rivers State, became public knowledge.

    Finebone said: “It will be an unthinkable and unimaginable mismatch to have Architect Tonye Cole and Nyesom Wike debate the economy, politics and development, among others, on the same platform. What will Wike say? Nothing!

    “Wike is a drowning man who is being abandoned by reasonable people. His case will be made worse if he has to square up with Tonye Cole in 2019. We truly understand his dilemma.

    “Tonye Cole is one of the governorship aspirants of the APC in Rivers State. Should he get the party’s ticket, Wike is finished; hence the frenzied fear that has enveloped Rivers governor and his men.

    “On the matter of Cole’s businesses that cover energy, power and oil and gas within and outside Nigeria, it is absurd to talk about his company buying a single facility in Rivers State. Let those talking about it be informed that Cole’s organisation bought  a wide range of power plants from the Nigerian Federal Government, such as Egbin Power Plant, Afam Power Stations and others. The power plant sold by the Rivers State government to his company pales into insignificance, even if his company had to pay twice the amount the company bought that of the Federal Government during the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, because of the competitive negotiation of the state government under Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

    “Wike and his Commissioner for Information will be sorry for themselves, if they had an idea that Tonye Cole’s company paid higher for the Rivers State-owned power plant, almost twice what it paid for all the Federal Government power plants the company bought. The facts are there.”

    Rivers Publicity Secretary of APC also asked the state’s governor to quickly recover from his fright and be ready to face the so-intelligent, well-travelled, highly-experienced and very brilliant Cole or anybody APC fields in 2019 and stop behaving like a village coward at the wrestling arena.”

    APC guber ticket

    To slug it out for APC’s governorship ticket in Rivers State are Cole, an indigene of Abonnema, the headquarters of Akuku-Toru LGA: Abe, who hails from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana council; and a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Dawari George, an indigene of Buguma, the headquarters of Asari-Toru LGA.

    Other APC governorship aspirants in Rivers are an oil magnate, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, also from Abonnema; and a renowned environmental and human rights activist, AkpoBari Celestine, an Ogoni man.

    Abe and Celestine are from the upland part of Rivers State, while the other governorship aspirants are from the riverine part.

    Keen observers say APC leaders must put their house in order, in order to present an acceptable and popular candidate that will be able to dislodge Wike in 2019, considering the fact that APC leadership wants the governorship running mate to be from Ogoni and Speaker of the House of Assembly to be an Ikwerre person from Wike’s Obio/Akpor LGA or Port Harcourt City LGA with the highest voting strength.

  • Wike, Abe conspiring to defame me – Amaechi

    The Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that his successor, Nyesom Wike, and the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, are conniving and conspiring to disparage and defame him. 

    He declared that Rivers State governor (Wike), a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and Abe, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were plotting to use his former cabinet members to tell fake, concocted and distorted stories to the media that were meant to denigrate him, impugn his unblemished integrity and paint a very terrible image of him to members of the public.

    Amaechi, the Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Re-election Campaign Organisation, who is also the leader of APC in Rivers state and the Southsouth zone, stated this on Friday in an online statement by his media office.

    The immediate past governor of Rivers state revealed that the plot against him was already far-gone and persons were being coached on what to say and how to say it. 

    Wike, a lawyer, was the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt between 2007 and 2011, when Amaechi was governor of Rivers state, while the then governor also appointed the former Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council (Wike) as the Director-General of Amaechi Re-election Campaign Organisation in 2011, before later recommending him the same year to the then President Goodluck Jonathan for ministerial appointment.

    Abe, also a lawyer, was appointed by Amaechi as Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) from 2007 to 2011, before proceeding to the Senate in 2011. The former Rivers Information Commissioner (Abe) aspired to be the standard bearer of APC in 2015, but a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, emerged as the candidate of the then ruling party (APC), but he was “defeated” by Wike in a massively-rigged and bloody election.

    Amaechi, on September 16 this year in Port Harcourt, accused Wike of sponsoring unnamed APC members to cause confusing in the party, but he declared that the Rivers governor would be sacked next year by the state’s electorate, to put an end to his poor performance and bad governance.

    Read Also: Amaechi to Abe: ‘I am not your leader’

    The senator (Abe), who earlier inaugurated a parallel secretariat of APC at Waterlines Bus Stop in Port Harcourt, on September 17 in the Rivers state capital, said: “Whoever God has said will be governor of Rivers State will be governor of Rivers State and there is nothing Amaechi can do about it.

    “I am not being sponsored by Governor Nyesom Wike. I decided to fight for my right, not only as a citizen of Rivers State, but as a member of the APC. Amaechi also fought for his right up to the Supreme Court to be governor in 2007 and we stood by him. The then Governor Peter Odili never accused Amaechi that he was a betrayer or being sponsored by anybody.

    “I am fighting for my right. I want to be governor of Rivers State. I will fight in any way that is constitutionally allowed, both by the party (APC) and our Constitution. Whatever God says at the end, I will accept in good faith. Nobody can deny me the right to fight for my right.”

    The transportation minister, however, insisted that Abe was not sincere with his claims.

    Amaechi said: “I am aware that two former commissioners who served in the State Executive Council when I was governor have been procured by Wike and Abe, jointly and collaboratively, to carry out the hatchet job of ‘hack Amaechi down’ campaign. The plan is to throw as much dirt at me as possible and rubbish my image.

    “While one (former commissioner) is being coached in Rivers State Government House (Port Harcourt) of what to say to the press and how to say it, to do maximum damage; the other one is busy distorting, concocting and fabricating fake screenshots, text messages, documents and all sorts in Senator Abe’s Freedom House campaign office in Port Harcourt; that they intend to release to the media to tarnish my image.

    “I want to alert the media and members of the public of the smear plot by these two political collaborators (Wike and Abe) to unjustly discredit and smear me for their selfish political reasons.” 

    The former Rivers governor also stated that he would not be distracted by any cheap and fake smear campaign of calumny against him, while urging Rivers people to pay no heed to the desperate attention-seeking duo of Wike and Abe and all of their fabricated lies, but to focus on the goal of ensuring that Rivers state gets a better leader that would turn around the fortunes of the state and its people for good, in 2019.

    The transportation minister insisted that no amount of sabotage and fake stories would deter him and all genuine APC members, supporters and Rivers people from changing and voting out the inept Wike’s government in Rivers State, next year.

  • EFCC, INEC partnership targeted at opposition – Wike

    The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has described the partnership between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and INEC to monitor campaign finances ahead of 2019 elections is a witch-hunt targeted at the opposition.

    Speaking during a special appearance on Channels Television Sunrise Daily broadcast from the Government House Port Harcourt on Thursday, Governor Wike described the partnership as a political deception.

    He said: “EFCC working with INEC to investigate campaign finances is merely a smokescreen.  It is targeted at the opposition party.

    “When have you heard that EFCC would come up to say, as regards the ruling party, funds came from the government.  I will not be carried away by the so-called EFCC investigation “.

    Governor Wike noted that the EFCC is working towards creating an atmosphere of advantage for the ruling party in the long run.

    He said: “The fund they want to investigate is only when it has to do with the opposition states. Take for example; EFCC said PDP spent money in the last 2015 elections.

    “Has EFCC investigated those states that were APC, like Rivers State at that time that funded part of their election.  Who is deceiving who? EFCC is only working to witch-hunt the opposition. ”

    Read Also: Leave us out of PDP’s problems, APC tells Wike

    The governor regretted that since 2015, the APC Federal Government has been unable to complete the Port Harcourt International Airport. He said despite criticising Jonathan, the APC Federal Government has refused to upgrade the airport.

    “When you look at the whole thing, you see the hatred. How this government does not like the people of Rivers State “, the governor said.

    Commenting on the 2019 elections, Governor Wike said that the desperate rigging moves on August 18, 2018 at the Port Harcourt State Constituency Three Elections indicate that the APC is not ready for elections.

    “Through the Port Harcourt State Constituency Three Election, they revealed to us what they planned for 2019. They don’t want election.  They want to use security to rig”, he said.

    Governor Wike denied claims that he drafted a Presidential Aspirant from another political party to fly the party’s flag. He stated that no single governor can achieve that.

    “We have 36 States and Abuja. We have about 14 governors.  How can a governor of one state lure a particular aspirant to run for the Presidential Election.

    “I am not a member of the convention planning committee. I am only providing the venue.  I am not going to be a member of any sub-committees, so where does the influence.  In any case, if you like you do the election in Lagos, people will still have influence”, Governor Wike said.

    He reiterated his position that certain Presidential Aspirants are funded by the APC and planted in the PDP ahead of the primary.

    He said: “As I speak with you, just yesterday, certain Presidential Aspirants and some people in the ruling party met to take some steps to make sure that our convention fails”.

    Speaking on the environmental challenge posed by flooding, Governor Wike said that the State Government has established an emergency response team to tackle issue.

    He added that the State Government is working with other stakeholders to end the prevalence of soot in the state.

  • Why I want to be president — Bafarawa

    A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Attahiru Bafawara, on Wednesday said the he was seeking to be president not for personal interests, but to serve the nation.

    Bafawara, a former governor of Sokoto State, made the statement while addressing party members in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bafarawa’s visit to the party secretariat was in continuation of his nationwide tour of state chapters to seek support for his aspiration.

    He said the nation needed somebody with a good understanding of governance and track record of performance to address the country’s challenges.

    The former governor said the All Progressives Congress (APC) had failed to deliver of its promises and a change was needed to salvage the country.

    “I am coming for damage control; I am coming to right so many things that are wrong with governance in the country.

    “I am contesting not for personal interests but to genuinely serve the country and put it on the path of prosperity.

    “The APC government has failed to deliver on its promises: it is time to kick them out and put a responsible government in place,” he said.

    The aspirant said his time as governor of Sokoto was the golden era in the state in terms of democratic dividends delivered.

    Bafarawa said he did not only uplift the state economically, but also built human capacities both in the health and the education sectors.

    He said it was on record that he never borrowed to run the state and even left N13billion in the coffers of the state when leaving.

     

    Read Also: Buhari should campaign by road, says Bafarawa

     

    Bafarawa said Nigerians could trust him to run the country efficiently if elected.

    He appealed to Nigerians to beware of politicians who decieve with fake promises,  as they would abandon them at the end of the day.

    The former governor urged party delegates in the state to vote for him at the convention , promising not to abandon the people if elected.

    He assured them that the party’s presidential primary would be rancour-free, as all aspirants had agreed to unite after the primary.

    “I don’t think there would be any problem after the primary. We (aspirants) have all agreed to unite and work with whoever emerges,” he said.

    On the allegation by Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State that some aspirants are being sponsored by APC in PDP, he said he did not have a definite answer to the claim.

    He, however,urged Wike to expose the moles among the aspirants in the interest of the party.

    Responding, Secretary of PDP in the state, Prince Muiz Dosunmu, thanked Bafarawa and his team for the visit.

    He said the chapter was in support of his agenda to move the country forward.

  • 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.