The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nyesom Wike

  • Looming anarchy

    Looming anarchy

    •Responsibility for restoring order in Rivers State rests on President Jonathan

    The drama in Rivers State has turned absurd and is threatening to consume the country. In all this, the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to give leadership is confounding. He has kept silent as the state is boiling. Already, lives have been lost, protests have gone awry and confidence is lost in the police force. Even the judiciary is not spared as two courts were nearly razed. Yet, the President seems not bothered by these developments.

    This has fuelled the speculation that President Jonathan is behind the mayhem in the state. The Grassroots Democratic Initiative, an initiative of the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, seems to be getting cover from the police. There have also been suggestions that the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who was once engaged in a public showdown with the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, might be behind the anti-Amaechi orchestrations in the state.

    These are serious enough suggestions. A President, as leader of the country, would have been expected to rise immediately to the occasion, distance his office from such acts that could lead to anarchy and call the head of the police force to order. Every move made so far by institutions of state to bring sanity to the state has been frustrated by the federal executive. Last July, the Senate passed a resolution to take over the legislative activities of the state as provided in the constitution. The move was frustrated by the courts. The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu ordered the chambers of the House of Assembly sealed off.

    Unless the President steps in decisively, gives effect to the resolution of the two Houses of the National Assembly that the commissioner of police should be removed and assures the people that he has no interest other than the higher interest of ensuring that the Rule of Law and peace reign in the state, the situation is likely to degenerate and the result unpredictable. At the moment, Mr. Mbu is seen by a section of the state as a participant in the crisis. The inability of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to act is equally perceived to be based on ‘order from above’. The logical consequence of this is a resort to self-help.

    The directive of the National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to its members in the National Assembly to block all executive bills already presented or that may be sent to the assembly now is instructive that the general good is being threatened. The party has said, if the federal ruling party could use its control of the federal apparatus to support Wike and his men in Rivers State, the APC would do all within its power to protect the governor; one of its own.

    The reality today is that Nigeria is gradually sliding into a fractured state. The country is being set on fire in one corner – one of the 36 states – and the President, like Nero, is fiddling in Abuja. He has time to play the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) politics, fly around the world and pretend that all is well. Nigeria’s history indicates that cauldrons start small.

    We call on President Jonathan to play his role as the country’s leader and as father of the nation. It behoves him to call all the parties to order. The constitution is clear on the place and role of the governor as Chief Security Officer of his state. He should not be undermined by a commissioner of police who should take orders from him. When that happens, mayhem may result and Nigerians are the ultimate losers.

     

  • A presidency in decline, a president in denial

    A presidency in decline, a president in denial

    A Lot a few Nigerians would want to be in President Goodluck Jonathan’s position as leader of Africa’s most populous and may be richest country, but very few would want his kind of presidency.

    Two years and eight months into a four-year tenure and with the option of another four years as second term likely, Nigerians it does seem cant wait to dump the man from Otuoke at the next available opportunity for a leader with a firm grasp of our problems and challenges and the best solution to take us to the next level.

    Dr Ebele Jonathan, who many thought few years ago could be the messiah the country needed because of his youth, education and a pan-Nigerian mandate at the polls, is such a big let down that even his main supporters are beginning to regret putting him forward to lead this nation of over a hundred and fifty million people with vast human and material resources.

    The man is fast becoming a lame duck do nothing president whose words nobody can go to bank with. Such is the weakness of the man and his presidency that many would rather turn to his wife or some of his other women in government to get things done than rely on his orders.

    Jokes apart, the women in his government get things done quickly and easily than even the Commander-In-Chief. It sounds unbelievable, but it is true. Madam Patience Jonathan, the First Lady, is more effective than her husband. Sometime ago underground news sources said she told the wife of a state governor; “tell your Oga not to rely on my Oga or be his friend, tell him to be my friend, my Oga is not reliable”.

    She surely knows what she’s talking about. Those who are very powerful in Jonathan’s administration today owe their loyalty to her. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of State for Education worships her, Deziani Madueke, the Petroleum Minister had to ‘settle’ her with oil subsidy contract before she could be appointed a Minister and has been ‘oiling’ the First Lady constantly ever since to remain in office, Stella Oduah has had to squeeze water out of the stones in the Aviation parastatals to be able to satisfy Madam’s insatiable appetite for money.

    Today, thanks to Madam First Lady’s support and Jonathan’s weakness, these three Ministers of the Federal Republic can not be removed except they leave or Madam Patience wanted them out. And these Ministers and the Chief of Staff are so arrogantly going about with this air of untouchability that even some other people close to the president are getting worried. In the Ministry of Aviation Stella Oduah does her things with impunity. Ask the parastatals, the managements are just waiting for her time to be up, hoping and praying that before then nothing untoward would happen and something would still be left in their coffers.

    The case of the armoured limousines are still there and even in the face of overwhelming public condemnation of the role of Oduah Jonathan seems helpless to punish her. What kind of a presidency is that? Even if for the sake of credibility?

    The other day we were told that several billions of dollars of our oil revenue have not been remitted to the federation account by the NNPC. The CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi alerted us about this and he was called names for that. He had an argument over this with the Finance Minister and at the end of the day the figure had to be revised down to about 10 billion USD the whereabout of which had not been satisfactorily explained.

    While Nigerians as usual were still trying to get over this and continue with their lives, the President threw in bomb shell; he asked the CBN governor to resign over the NNPC issue. Grapevine had it that the Petroleum Minister had who supervises the NNPC had for some time been putting pressure on Dr Jonathan to sack Sanusi over his letter on the ‘missing’ billions, but the president had resisted citing the provisions of the law. On this particular day, Deziani reportedly went to the president demanding that Sanusi be removed immediately because she heard he was planning another letter. It was a noisy atmosphere at the president’s office and the Commander-In-Chief had to give in. Sanusi was summoned and told to go, the Kano prince refused and dared the president to do whatever he wants. You know the rest of the story.

    The issue here is not the decision to sack Sanusi or not but that Dr Jonathan had to drag the office of the president of Nigeria into this and at the end of the that office was disgraced. Did Jonathan not know that he does not have that power to fire the CBN governor alone or force him to go? And why should he even ask the man to go without addressing the issue of alleged corruption in the remittance of our oil earnings by the NNPC that he raised in the letter?

    Why did Jonathan found it easier to ask Sanusi to go and but difficult to deal with the issue of the limousine purchase by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for the use of the Aviation Minister? This is double standard.

    The power and authority wielded by the president of Nigeria are such that should not be invoked frivolously lest they become less effective and Dr Jonatan has shown that by his handling of the Sanusi incident. If the president had been fair in the exercise of his power and authority I am sure the CBN governor would think twice before daring him, even if he knows he doesn’t possess the power to fire him. The fear and respect he should normally have for that office would have told him that if the president says he doesn’t want you, then you have to go. But this president is belittling that office, hence the little respect he now commands. Such is always the case with lame duck presidencies.

    And our man is in denial over this. The other day he was at the Shagamu inter change to launch with fanfare the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which his government had just repossessed from a concessionaire and promised to fund the project. After a few initial grading and excavation here and there the project is as good as abandoned and we are being told now that the government is considering giving it out again to another concessionaire because the money is not just there in the public purse to prosecute it. There is nothing wrong with involving the private sector in the funding of such a big project, but for the government to change course mid way after the whole world had been told that all is well with funding of the project shows that something is wrong somewhere. And the fact that it was the president that came and flagged off the project shows that somebody somewhere had deceived or is deceiving him about the availability of public fund for the project. Forget about government’s denial about another concession for the expressway, the fact is that some people are playing politics with us over this road and the presidency is either part of them or is the driving force behind the deceit. A serious presidency doesn’t behave this way. A serious and strong presidency would fish out those behind this and punish them for ridiculing the president and his office. But can we say this about Jonathan’s presidency?

    For six months or thereabout university teachers went on strike over unfulfilled promises by government. The Minister of Education Nyesom Wike was going about for much of this period playing politics trying to destabilize Rivers State while our children were idling away at home. And when Wike finally woke up to his responsibility he bungled the whole effort to resolve the crisis when he announced the sack of the lecturers for not going back to work as ordered. ASUU defied the order and made a laughing stock of government. A serious presidency would have fired the Minister for this embarrassment, but not Jonathan. Another sign of weakness, a waning presidency. The success of ASUU has now emboldened other similar bodies to challenge the government knowing fully that sooner rather than later the presidency would give in. Lame duck presidency!

    The security situation in the north east is a cause for concern for all and the government naturally is worried that in spite of all what it has been doing Boko Haram insurgency is not abating. While it would be wrong to entirely lay the blame for the seeming lack of a headway in the fight against terror in the region at the doorsteps of the federal government, could a perceived weakness in the authority of this president be the motivation for the insurgents to soldier on in spite of the superiority of the armed forces in terms of combat weapons and human resources? If this presidency is perceived and even seen to be a no nonsense leadership and is acting as such, would it be a signal to Boko Haram et al that this government means business and nothing is ruled out in the fight against terror? But if government policy is flip flop on this issue even those prosecuting the war would do it halfhearted.

    If the truth must be told, this presidency is not getting a lot of things done because Nigerians see it as weak, lame duck, but our president is in denial over this. It is unfortunate. Until President Jonathan sits up and face governance seriously and forget his re-election for now, things will continue to go bad and the country would continue to suffer. Enough of politics, Jonathan please govern. If you are the Comander-In-Chief, please chiefly command well. Apologies to Professor Jerry Gana.

     

  • Wike denies allegation of trying to ‘purchase’ judgment

    Wike denies allegation of trying to ‘purchase’ judgment

    The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, yesterday denied that he wanted to purchase court judgment to stop the implementation of the Rivers State’s 2014 budget.

    Responding to the allegation made by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, that Wike and his “acolytes” intended to procure a court order through the backdoor to stop the implementation of the budget passed last week by the State Assembly, Wike said the state government should look elsewhere to deal with its problems.

    The minister who spoke on Rhythm FM Radio in Port Harcourt described the allegation of the Rivers government as an insult on the judiciary.

    He excoristed over the manner of the budget presentation and said: “Budget must be presented by the Governor in the hallowed chambers of the House of Assembly and not in Government House, as done by Amaechi. How could he have presented budget to his loyalists in his office and passed the same day, thereby making a mockery of democracy?

    “The Rivers State Government has been obtaining various ex-parte orders from the Rivers State High Courts, without anybody complaining. The kangaroo 2014 budget cannot stand, much less of its being implemented.”

     

  • Rivers N486b budget passed

    Rivers N486b budget passed

    •Lawmakers sit at Govt House

    A MID tight security, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi presented to the Assembly yesterday a N485.524 billion budget for this year.

    The budget, which is N4.797billion lower than last year’s N490.320 billion, was immediately passed inside the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    The ceremony took place, in spite of protests by the six lawmakers loyal to the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt.

    The capital and recurrent provisions are N247.573 billion and N237.950 billion. The capital to recurrent ratio is 76:24 for the financial year 2014, as against 70:30 achieved as at September 2013.

    The budget, according to Amaechi, who is also the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) chairman, will be funded by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee’s (FAAC’s) allocation of N241.243 billion and the Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) of N92.420 billion.

    Others include balance of N10.717 billion, proposed loans of N100 billion, credit from the World Bank of N6.983 billion, the European Union’s (EU’s) grant of N0.660 billion and the sale of assets of N33.5 billion.

    The Ministry of Works has the highest allocation of N60 billion, followed by the Ministry of Education with N30 billion. The Rivers Urban Beautification, Parks and Gardens, as well as the Auditor-General (State), each has the lowest of 0.080 billion.

    The budget was passed into law, after a few hours deliberations by 23 of the 25 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree.

    The six anti-Amaechi lawmakers, in a joint statement, however, raised the alarm over Amaechi’s plan to present the 2014 budget inside the Brick House (Government House), instead of the hallowed chambers of the Rivers House of Assembly, which was done later in the day.

    Prior to the budget presentation, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Leyii Kwanee, a lawyer, on Rhythm FM Radio in Port Harcourt yesterday, denied the anti-Amaechi lawmakers’ claim and said the people would be informed when the budget would be presented in the Assembly.

    The pro-Wike legislators are Evans Bipi (Ogu/Bolo constituency, the self-acclaimed speaker), Michael Okechukwu Chinda (Obio/Akpor II), Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I), Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) and Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, the Chief Whip (Andoni). They were not at the budget presentation.

    Ibani, until his December 1 last year’s defection to Wike’s camp, was one of the 27 pro-Amaechi members of the Assembly.

    The chief whip is a political “boy” to the Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, from Ikuru Town in Andoni Local Government Area, but defected at the rally of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), which has Wike as the grand patron) in Ogu, the headquarters of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area.

    In the earlier group of 27 lawmakers supporting Amaechi and led by Amachree, one of them, Tonye Harry, a former Speaker of the Assembly and deputy to Amaechi while he was speaker for eight years, died last year. He is yet to be replaced.

    Besides the anti-Amaechi lawmakers’ joint statement, Bipi, in a telephone interview yesterday, described the budget presentation as illegal, stressing that the budget could only be presented in the Assembly.

    Amachree said the budget presentation and passage took place inside the Government House, in view of the ongoing renovation at the House of Assembly complex, because of the July 9 last year’s fracas, with most of the appliances and valuable items vandalised.

    Amachree also cited insecurity and not having access to the Assembly complex as other reasons for the Government House budget presentation and passage. He accused Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu of taking sides and unable to provide security for the lawmakers to perform their duties.

    The deputy speaker, a lawyer, also insisted that the presentation was legal and one of the constitutional rights and duties of the lawmakers.

    A renowned human rights activist, Ken Atsuwete, who is a Port Harcourt lawyer, backed the budget presentation and passage at the seat of power, while declaring that governance in the state was nor normal, in view of insecurity and uncertainty.

    Atsuwete noted that ingenuity and keeping governance running must be employed in the state, especially with the incessant bomb blasts across the state, particularly in courts and at the office of the Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, an engineer.

    The activist (Atsuwete) noted that the budget presentation and passage in Government House amounted to adopting the Doctrine of Necessity, which the National Assembly employed in making Dr. Goodluck Jonathan President, stressing that the legislature and the judiciary were being frustrated, but “the executive must not be frustrated”.

    While speaking live on Rhythm FM Radio in Port Harcourt at 4 pm yesterday, two of the six anti-Amaechi lawmakers: Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, the Chief Whip (Andoni) and Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I), faulted the budget presentation and passage, saying the implementation would be legally prevented.

    Ibani, who has been a lawmaker for six years, said: “The 31 legislators (Tonye Harry, a pro-Amaechi lawmaker and ex-Speaker of the House of Assembly, died last year; he is yet to be replaced) ought to receive the 2014 budget from Governor Amaechi in the hallowed chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    “There cannot be an exception to the rule. Anything to the contrary is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

    “You cannot present and pass budget into law in one day. It is laughable. It is an injustice. There is separation of powers. What they did will be challenged in court. It is a constitutional matter.”

    Amaewhule also described the action of the pro-Amaechi lawmakers and the NGF chairman as condemnable.

    The representative of Obio/Akpor I Constituency said: “What took place in Government House, Port Harcourt today (yesterday) was a kangaroo club meeting and not 2014 budget presentation and passage.

    “Budget presentation and passage outside the hallowed chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly amount to an illegality, unconstitutional and quite shameful. These have never happened in the history of Rivers State.”

    Late last year, the anti-Amaechi legislators attempted to sit in the Rivers House of Assembly, based on the December 10 judgment of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, presided over by Justice Ahmed Mohammed, which declared as unconstitutional, the taking over of the Assembly by the National Assembly, but were prevented by policemen.

    For many weeks late last year, the pro and anti-Amaechi lawmakers and supporters, including the members of the National Assembly, top Rivers government officials and prominent indigenes, protested in front of the Assembly, but were always teargased and dispersed by policemen, who barricaded the Assembly’s gates with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and patrol vans.

    In view of their inability to access the Assembly, the pro-Amaechi lawmakers, with plastic chairs form the nearby Port Harcourt City council, sat at the centre of Moscow Road, in front of the Assembly.

    The decision of the anti-Amaechi lawmakers and supporters to continue to protest in front of the Rivers House of Assembly, even as early as 4 am, for many days late last year, was to prevent the budget presentation and passage, while also raising the alarm then, of a plan by the pro-Amaechi legislators to sit inside the Government House.

    At yesterday’s presentation were commissioners, other top government officials and eminent Rivers indigenes.

    Presenting the appropriation bill for 2014, christened: “A year of sustained action”, Amaechi lauded the legislators for their “very kind” support and encouragement.

    The budget estimates were based on crude oil benchmark price of $67.5 to create a safety net of $10, in view of the inconsistent nature of the international oil market prices, to enable the government accommodate any shocks resulting from possible fluctuation.

    Amaechi expected his administration’s FAAC and IGR profile to be realistic, based on the modest projections, the reforms and improvements going on in the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR).

    He assured the people that the strategies, coupled with improvements in the implementation of policies and programmes this year were designed to handle the eventualities, while noting that the budget was presented after due consultations with stakeholders within and outside the public service.

    The NGF chairman said: “On behalf of the Rivers State Government, I would like to record our gratitude to Rivers people for supporting and defending the mandate given us in October 2007, to continue to lead the state.

    “In return, we shall be unwavering in our determination to deliver on every promise made to you, to deliver good governance and sustainable development. Neither our personal comfort nor any threat to our persons would deter us from reaching our collective goals as Rivers people.

    “In the midst of these provocations, we will fulfill the promises of our mandate and make our people proud. The 2014 budget will not accommodate new projects. This is in the light of current realities and out of a resolve to guarantee efficient service delivery.

    “The economic realities arising from already-dwindling revenues since mid 2013 suggest a need for prudence and good sense this year. Government will continue to demonstrate good sense of management, by making more money available to finance the ongoing projects for completion next year.

    “The focus of the budget (2014) will be on completing ongoing projects in health, education, roads, transport, power, water, agriculture and other critical infrastructure. The 2014 budget is formulated to achieve the agenda of this administration, with the overall objective of prospering the state and promoting the wellbeing of the people.”

    The Rivers governor also stated that his administration remained indebted to the lawmakers and grateful for all their support, encouragement and good sense of judgment, “particularly at this great moment of the state’s political history”. He urged them to sustain the tempo, in the interest of Rivers people.

    He said: “Posterity will judge your stance fairly, even as today, you have become hallmarks and bastions of our democracy. We at the Executive, reaffirm the commitment of this administration to our people and our stand for justice and equity and fair play.”

    Amaechi also stated that he remained focused and would never be distracted by the antics of the enemies of democracy.

    Prior to the commencement of the deliberations, during their brief sitting, the speaker of the Rivers Assembly (Amachree), stated that the lawmakers decided to continue with their legislative duties in makeshift chambers, in order not to be held to ransom by some persons who did not mean well for the state.

    Amachree called on the House’s Deputy Leader, Nname Ewor, to move the motion to designate the makeshift chambers as the chambers of the House of Assembly, after which the Assembly’s Deputy Whip, Irene Inimgba, seconded the motion.

    Moving the motion, Ewor said: “As it is common knowledge that on the 9th day of July, 2013, there were few events that took place in the hallowed chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    “In that circumstance, our computers and a few other items in the chambers, including the entire complex, were destroyed. As a result of this, our chambers are not ready for use, because the executive arm of government will have to undertake holistic repair and renovation of the complex.

    “In this circumstance, I move that this auditorium be designated as a temporary sitting place of the Rivers State House of Assembly, until such a time that the executive would finish with the renovation of the permanent Assembly complex that will enable us to carry on with our legislative business. I so move.”

  • Bombs: Govt fingers Wike’s group, others

    Bombs: Govt fingers Wike’s group, others

    The government of Rivers State yesterday accused members of the Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI), founded by Minister of Education Nyesom Wike of masterminding the bombings in some parts of the state since last December.

    Commissioner for Information and Technology Mrs. Ibim Seminitari made the allegation while addressing reporters in Port Harcourt, on the Sunday night explosion at the Ahoada High Court and the discovery of bombs at the Etche High Courts yesterday.

    Explosive suspected to be bomb early yesterday morning rocked part of the premises of Ahoada High court , in Ahoada East Local Government Area(LGA), destroying the building housing the secretariat of the state branch of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA).

    Ahoada High Court is being presided over by Justice Charles Wali, who last December issued an order of injunction to the self-acclaimed Speaker of the House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, to stop parading himself as speaker.

    The matter was to be heard yesterday.

    The event reportedly took place about 2am.

    Also yesterday morning, fire ignited by unknown persons reportedly burnt files at the State High Court in Etche Local Government Area.

    The Police spokesman Ahmad K. Mohammad confirmed the incidents, which he said were being investigated.

    Mrs. Seminitari said the bombing of the Ahoada court premises and destruction of case files at Okehi were carried out by GDI members to destroy records of the matters involving Bipi, to stall proceedings of the matters before the courts.

    Bipi could not be reached for comments. His media Assistant Fred Ofem could also not be reached.

    According to Seminitari, there were f three bombs planted on the court premises. The one at the NBA secretariat exploded. The other two did not. They were later removed by the Anti-Bomb Squad.

    The commissioner, who was accompanied to the conference by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms, decried the attitude of the police, saying they failed in command led by Mbu, their duty of protecting lifes and property.

    She described Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu as “unprofessional”, “a politician”, who is not doing anything to protect residents.

    “We have confidence on the Nigerian Police, but we do not have confidence in the Police in Rivers State as headed by Mbu. We have undoubted confidence that the police are professionals, but Mbu is an unprofessional politician and is not protecting the people,” the commissioner said.

    Mrs. Seminitari said: “Early this morning we all woke up to stories of bomb in two places – the High Court at Ahoada and the court at Okehi in Etche Local Government Area.

    “We have further established in the two places as follows: in the case of Ahoada about 2:am, an explosion was heard around the court premises confirmed it was bomb, while those who live farther away thought it was gun shots.

    “There was supposed to have been a court case involving Hon. Evans this (yesterday) morning, and when the lawyers got to court this (yesterday) morning, they found that the premises where the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), office is located had been burnt. Where they were there, they discovered that there were still unexploded devices that were there. The Police Anti-Bomb squad arrived at the place (scene) and confirmed that the explosives were bomb.

    “The lawyers were still around when these things were happening, between 10 and 11 am, the Police Anti-Bomb squad were still around taking stock of what has happened.

    “At Okehi, it wasn’t an explosion. The Registrar of the court at Okehi confirmed that files were gathered together and set ablaze.

    “We are unable to establish by who, but we can establish that they were arson. We cannot say what their intention was at this point because we do not have that as at now, but it could be possible that there was an attempt at governance.

    “Knowing things that have happened at Okehi in respect of the political cases going on, as a government we are mindful that this may not be totally unrelated to matters affecting the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA).

    The state government’s image maker explained why the government thinks it was Bipi and Wike’s GDI members/supporters that carried out the acts.

    “The reasons we say that is because again of the things that have happened in both Etche and Omuma, when GDI attempted to do their launching they broke into the secretariat and there was violence, and because we have seen these spate of violence by GDI member we are certain that this violence that are occurring have the signature of members of the GDI and the PDPas currently known.

    “We will like the security agencies to take these matters seriously because it concerns the lives of Rivers people.

    “This is not the first explosion as you (the media) are aware of in the recent time. You are aware that there was a mild one at the office of the Deputy Governor. We are still awaiting the security agencies’ report on that matter

    “Your also aware of series of explosion going on around the Abonnema Wharf area of Mile One last December. We are also waiting for the reports from the security agencies.

    “Since these occurred, we have been silent as a government to let the security agencies take the lead. They have failed to take the lead and also failed to tell Rivers people what all of these are about.

    “As people who have the responsibility of protecting lives and property, Rivers State government frowns at this, and we are calling on the security agency(Police), to please keep politics out of the way , protect the lives and property of the people.”

    Boms urged Mbu to protect people’s lives and property.

  • Amaechi: Wike, Opara betrayed me

    Amaechi: Wike, Opara betrayed me

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi said at the weekend that Supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opara, betrayed him.

    He said having made them to get to top positions, they connived with others to fight him for personal and selfish interests.

    All of them are of Ikwere, the largest ethnic stock in the state.

    Wike was Amaechi’s Chief of Staff.

    Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), spoke on Sunday night at the 199th Convention of the Ikwerre Cultural Organisation, Wat Ahai Ogbakiri in Emohua Local Government Area.

    The Rivers governor told the Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention, the socio-cultural body of Ikwerre people in Rivers state, that both Wike and Opara were now leading the fight against him in the state.

    The NGF chairman lamented that in spite of his contributions to give the Ikwerre ethnic nationality a face-lift and a pride of place in Rivers state and on the national stage, he had been betrayed by his brothers.

    He said: “Gradually, we are beginning to wind up in government and I have started counting either my blessings or losses one by one as governor of Rivers State.

    “I have started asking what have I done for Ikwerre people and I’m convinced that the Ikwerre history cannot be complete if my name is not mentioned.

    “I am not saying this because I am the governor. As the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I ensured that most parts of Ikwerre have roads. The ones that did not get then, when I became governor they got roads.

    “Only a few communities may not have roads in Ikwerre now, and before we go, I will make sure they have roads like most parts of the state. We will ensure that those communities have roads. As Speaker, I asked for the grading of this Ogbakiri road.”

    The Rivers governor also stated that he was aware that the basic thing needed in Ikwerre was basic empowerment.

    He said: “You will not recognise it, until you take the list of our scholarship programme in the state and know how many of our children are overseas studying. They are quite many and I have met them at different airports.

    “How I know them is because they greet me in Ikwerre when they see me. I have asked myself apart from those who are fighting me, many Ikwerre sons and daughters have one way or the other benefitted from me.

    “When you see Nyesom Wike, tell him I nominated him to be Minister. And I have one witness sitting here today. Chief Sampson Agbaru is my witness. He led other prominent sons and daughters of Ikwerre to see President (Goodluck) Jonathan and the President told them that he had not known Nyesom Wike from Adam, that when Amaechi brought Wike’s name, he (Jonathan) opposed it. The President opposed the appointment of my former Chief of Staff as Minister.

    “He (President Jonathan) opposed him (Wike) and I begged President Jonathan severally and consistently because I wanted Wike to be minister. But today, Nyesom Wike has betrayed me for selfish reasons.

    “Also, by the grace of God, I made Chief Austin Opara, Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives. God used me. Prominent politicians met me and told me that there could not be two captains in a boat, that if I made Austin Opara Deputy Speaker, I might not be the political leader in Ikwerre. But I said I wanted my people to benefit and I picked Austin’s name and we battled to make him Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2003.”

    The NGF chairman also revealed how the ex-deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (Opara) allegedly masterminded his arrest and detention in 2006.

    Amaechi said: “In 2006, I was arrested through the machinery of Austin Opara and was detained for one day. Meanwhile, he was supposedly one of my supporters to be governor. Among those, I have also helped who are now fighting me is also Prof. Achinewhu, as Vice-Chancellor of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

    “Achinewhu was sick and at the point of death. I flew him out of the country for medical treatment, but he is now one of those accusing me and writing against me in the papers. For those I gave contracts, they are so many for me to mention.

    “If they deny, call the Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention and summon them, I will come here and mention them one by one. For instance, Paul Nwonodi is one of them. He is now fighting me and writing and signing all sorts against me.

    He said: “We will survive the federal might and the way to survive it is to mobilise our people. We must prepare now to chase away those against our people. The President says he is an Ijaw man, he should not take the oil wells from the Kalabari people.”

    Amaechi also promised that he would remain a detribalised leader, until the expiration of his tenure in 2015.

    The President-General of Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention, Prof. Augustine Ahiazu, described the current wave of politicking in Rivers State as alarming, stating that it could cause permanent injury to individuals and the various communities.

    Ahiazu said: “Bitterness in politics can result in undue hatred among friends and relations. It can breed division and polarisation. It can also bring conflict and destruction.

    “Ikwerre sons and daughters should come together to fight any plans for violence in Port Harcourt, because any violence in Port Harcourt is violence in Ikwerre land.”

    The minister of state for education, in an interview in Port Harcourt, insisted that he never betrayed Amaechi, whom he supported to be governor in 2007.

    Wike, maintained that the NGF chairman did not recommend him to President Jonathan to be appointed minister. Opara also stated that change was needed in Rivers state, with the people and others in the crude oil and gas-rich Southsouth zone preferring President Jonathan’s re-election in 2015 to Amaechi’s alleged interest in being the vice-president during the next general election.

  • Wike dares Amaechi over quit order on PDP

    Wike dares Amaechi over quit order on PDP

    •Minister is acting with impunity, says PDP faction

    The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State are locked in a fresh battle over the order issued by the state government to the local chapter of the PDP to quit its Port Harcourt secretariat, forthwith.

    Wike, who is the arrowhead of the PDP opposition to the governor vowed on Friday night that the party would not obey the order to quit the Aba Road building, in Port Harcourt.

    The Governor recently defected from the PDP to the APC along with his supporters, citing undemocratic practices in his former party.

    The property belongs to the state government.

    Speaking in Port Harcourt, Wike said the governor’s directive was in vain as the PDP would not obey it.

    The PDP, he added, would continue to occupy the building until the 2015 election and even beyond.

    He said the order was another evidence of the governor’s arbitrariness.

    This attitude, he claimed, has made it difficult for the state legislature and judiciary to function.

    The minister spoke on the occasion of the conferment of the award of Man of the Year on him by National Network newspaper.

    The media outfit’s anniversary, which had as theme: “X-Raying the Nigerian Democratic Process: The Rivers State Experience,” was chaired by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs and attended by a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opara and the new Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Henry Ogiri, among other eminent personalities.

    However, an ally of the governor, George Ukwuoma-Nwogba, dismissed Wike as the real dictator, who has been acting with impunity.

    The minister, he said, schemed out Chief Godspower Ake from his position as PDP chairman in Rivers State, using the instrumentality of the court.

    Ukwuoma-Nwogba, who is the Publicity Secretary of the Ake-led faction of the PDP, said the truth would prevail and the NGF chairman would soon be vindicated, not minding the gang-up against him.

  • Wike’s group, Rivers PDP dismiss ruling against Bipi

    Wike’s group, Rivers PDP dismiss ruling against Bipi

    A socio-political organisation, the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), which has the Supervising Minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, as the grand patron and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State chapter, have said the court order on the Speaker of the House of Assembly will cause anarchy.

    The GDI yesterday at a news conference in Port Harcourt by its President-General, Bright Amewhule with the group’s Secretary-General, Samuel Nwanosike, declared that Evans Bipi, who represents Ogu/Bolo, remained the “authentic” Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    The socio-political organisation alleged that the Monday’s order by Justice C. N. Wali of the Rivers High Court, Ahoada, restraining Bipi from parading himself as speaker, was got through fraudulent means and would not stand.

    GDI said: “We are not surprised that the purported order came from Hon. Justice Wali, who was recently appointed by Governor Rotimi Amaechi, because he who pays the piper calls the tune.

    “It remains doubtful that a High Court judge will make such an anarchical order. The good people of Rivers State are desirous of knowing which Chief Judge assigned the said ex-parte motion to Hon. Justice Wali. It is public knowledge that the office of the CJ of Rivers State has remained vacant to date.”

     

    The socio-political organisation also expressed optimism that Rivers would continue to be a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state, while accusing the leaders of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) of mischief making.

    The Rivers chapter of the PDP, through the Special Adviser to the Chairman on Media, Jerry Needam, also described Wali’s order as a gimmick and the ruling premeditated.

    PDP said: “We believe that due legal process was not followed in the determination of the matter, as a case that was instituted at the Ahoada High Court Registry on December 13, would on December 16 be discharged in favour of the claimants.

    “We will drag Justice Wali to the National Judicial Council’s (NJC’s) Disciplinary Committee on reckless interim orders.”

    The PDP also called on its supporters to always strive to remain calm, while condemning Wali’s propensity of giving orders in favour of Amaechi, without recourse to the rule of law and due process.

  • Wike: I never betrayed Amaechi

    Wike: I never betrayed Amaechi

    The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, spoke with reporters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on the protracted feud between him and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis and his 2015 governorship ambition. BISI OLANIYI was there.

    You and Governor Amaechi were very good friends. What went wrong?

    The Rivers State governor and I were not good friends. We worked together. Working together does not make you to be friends. I worked for him seriously.

    I cannot leave my party (the PDP). It is not done anywhere. If I quarreled with the governor, would that have been enough to make him to leave the same party that produced him? The Supreme Court said on October 25, 2007 that it was the party that won the election.

    I am not the issue. Am I trying to be President of Nigeria? Am I trying to be the Vice-President?

    What of your 2015 governorship ambition?

    So what? Who told you I would not want to be the President of Nigeria? You are a Christian and you want to go to heaven. Does it mean that you will go to heaven? If I say I want to be the Secretary-General of the United Nations, does it mean that I will be?

    When has ambition become a criminal offence? Assuming I want to be Rivers governor in 2015, so what? Is it because I want to be governor, that is why Amaechi is quarrelling with President Goodluck Jonathan? Governorship is an ambition.

    If you are working hard, people will suspect you. You are working hard because you want to be somewhere. If you do not want to work hard, they will say he is not intelligent. Is there anybody that was born to be governor? Are we running emirate system, where when the emir dies, they know who will be the next emir?

    Governor Amaechi and you are from Ikwerre. He wants his successor to come from another ethnic group or senatorial district. Don’t you believe in the zoning agreement?

    Zoning in which of the political parties? Amaechi ran on the PDP platform, while Dr. Abiye Sekibo, the former Transport Minister, ran on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). So, the PDP zoned it to where? The ACN zoned it to where? If it was the turn of Ikwerre people to run, why did the ACN produce a governorship candidate outside Ikwerre?

    Since Amaechi’s friend wants to be governor, then it is Ogoni turn. If I want to be the governor, it is Ikwerre turn. If Okrika person wants to be governor, it is Okrika turn. If you are from Opobo, it is Opobo turn. Such things do not intimidate me. If I want to run for the governorship of Rivers state, nothing will stop me.

     

    The situation is tense in Rivers State. Can the House of Assembly resume now?

    The police is also in a dilemma. Who presides between Bipi and Amachree/Kwanee? Is it for the police to decide who will preside? If the police envisage that there will be breakdown of law and order, they know what to do. The business of the police is to ensure that there is law and order.

    I watched on television, where Dakuku Peterside, a member of the House of Representatives from Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Constituency, decided to join the so-called lawmakers to sit on bare ground at the centre of Moscow Road (opposite the Rivers House of Assembly) in Port Harcourt. It is clear that he has taken sides and you want the members of the National Assembly to again take over the functions of the Rivers House of Assembly.

    If Bipi says he is the speaker, you will challenge him in court. All they are doing now by sitting on the road is to go back to the National Assembly and say they are unable to sit, for their functions to still be taken over. Rivers people will resist it. We have resisted it before and we will continue to resist it.

    Amaechi has defected from the PDP to the APC. Are you not worried?

    For you to survive in life, you must take risk and overcome fear. I will never disappoint my supporters. Let nobody worry about what is happening. The PDP is one. Let us keep ourselves together. We will achieve what we intend to achieve.

    In the House of Assembly, there are pro and anti-Amaechi lawmakers. What do you have to say about the face-off?

    The truth of the matter is that the Federal High Court, Abuja, on December 11, gave a judgment. Prior to the judgment, there were issues in contention. Those who went to court, why did they go to court? What issues were raised?

    Those who went to court sued the National Assembly, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation. The National Assembly took over the functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly and they went to court to challenge it. I do know that, even when the members of the House of Representatives met on July 10, after the July 9 fracas, there was already a pending matter at the Federal High Court, even before the National Assembly took the decision.

    Nobody can stop the members of the National Assembly from performing their functions, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, but the way and manner the members of the National Assembly took over the functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly, were they right?

    The Rivers State Government and the Rivers State House of Assembly were never sued. While the matter was going on, the Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice (Worgu Boms) filed and joined. The so-called Speaker (Otelemaba Dan Amachree) and lawmakers supporting him, filed to join in the suit, led by Mr. Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). They were never sued. The Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly were sued.

    When they joined, what did they do? For the first time in the history of this country, that the Attorney-General of a state said it was proper for the National Assembly to take over the functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The so-called Speaker said the National Assembly should take over the functions of the Rivers House of Assembly.

    The same people who said they were unable to sit passed the supplementary budget that same day. If they passed the supplementary budget on July 9, how were they unable to sit?

    The House of Representatives immediately took over. The court said the way and manner you took over the functions were not in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. We know the National Assembly members have the right to take over the functions of the Rivers House of Assembly, but there are processes or procedures to follow, which they did not follow.

    What the Rivers governor wants to achieve now is that even if it means to sit at the gate of the House of Assembly, the lawmakers supporting him must sit and pass the budget.

    Is it not true that your group wants to impeach Amaechi at all costs?

    If you want to impeach, where is the Chief Judge? Will you not serve the governor a notice? Will the governor not reply you? If they raise allegations against the governor, he will respond within a specified time. If he responds and you feel that the response is not enough, the Chief Judge must set up a panel. Where is the Chief Judge to set up a panel? People are telling lies.

    Don’t you know how ex-Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye was impeached?

    In the case of Dariye, there was a chief judge. When the impeachment notice is served, a panel will be set up by the chief judge. If there is no chief judge, who will set up the panel? In Dariye’s case, the day the House of Assembly members met, was it the day he was impeached?

    We must face the reality. The court judgment was given on December 11. Have you seen the order? On December 12, they said they wanted to sit, but police did not allow them to sit. On December 12, were police served with the order? So, police would hear on radio or television.

    Even if police receive the order, there are contending factions. Evans Bipi (who represents Ogu/Bolo constituency) is the speaker. Amachree, who was impeached on July 9, following due process, is still claiming to be the speaker. Amachree is overseas, but his deputy (Leyii Kwanee) is saying he is the acting speaker and he and the so called lawmakers want to sit. What do you want the police to do? What is the business of the police to interpret the law on impeachment of a House officer?

    Is it possible for anybody to have sat? Bipi is speaker. Amaechree and Kwanee are saying they are the Speaker. What do you want police to do? What Amaechi wants is for the 2014 budget to be passed today and that is the end of the matter. He needs the money to spend by 2014.

    You and the six anti-Amaechi lawmakers, how do you intend to stop Governor Amaechi?

    Who tells you that Amaechi has 25 lawmakers on his side? We are talking about politics. Some people do not know how politics works. Who tells you that everybody who appears with you is with you? It is clear that what Amaechi wants is for the so-called lawmakers to pass the budget for him. That is why he asked them to go and sit inside Government House, Port Harcourt.

    How can the crisis in the Obio/Akpor Council be resolved?

    The Rivers State High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt and presided over by Justice Adama Iyayi-Lamikanra, declared the Chikordi Dike-led Caretaker Committee illegal and that nothing should be done again. That will affect the tenure of the Timothy Nsirim-led executive. Amaechi declared a one week holiday, claiming they were for Port Harcourt City Centenary Celebration, just to prevent the Obio/Akpor judgment from being delivered.

    Nigeria will do well, if we stand by the truth. Amaechi is a tyrant and he can be likened to Adolf Hitler. Amaechi is the worst tyrant I have ever known. If you do not know, know it now. I worked there at the Government House, Port Harcourt, as Chief of Staff. So, I can tell you. Amaechi is the only one that God wants to have an ambition. No other person can have an ambition. It is a criminal offence for you to have an ambition, but it is constitutional for Amaechi to have an ambition.

    The man the Supreme Court brought to power has refused to obey the court judgment.

    Let Amaechi go and remove Nsirim. What he is doing is because he wants to seize the money. They are signing Obio/Akpor cheques outside the council secretariat. Those who are doing that should be ready to sew their prison uniforms. Where are they sitting to work to sign cheques? They will go somewhere to sign cheques and say that the governor told them. No problem, go ahead, because that same governor will not be there.

    Amaechi feels he can buy over everybody. He has seen it now.

    You have just said that Governor Amaechi is a tyrant. But people say you have betrayed the governor who recommended you to President Goodluck Jonathan for a ministerial appointment. Can you be trusted?

    When Amaechi was in Ghana, I had everything in my hands to betray him. Go and ask Celestine Omehia what he offered me. How many commissioners I was asked to bring? I said no.

    Go and ask Amaechi what he said at the St. Peters Anglican Church, Rumueprikom, Port Harcourt, when he said Nyesom Wike is a man of character; you can go home and sleep, if he is with you. When did betrayal come in? My local government got the highest votes. What vote did he get in during governorship poll? Everybody, including Magnus Abe, also a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, was always in my house, asking me how it would be. It is not in my character to betray people.

    There is nobody who is working with Amaechi that I do not know. There is none of them that can talk face to face with me. Tony Okocha was the Obio/Akpor LG chairman. He was in the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), when I became the chairman. Because he is from my ethnic clan, I decided to play politics of inclusion and I brought everybody together to work as a team after my election. Okocha worked with the late Eric Asoh.

    That Amaechi made me the Chief of Staff, no. I had choice, to choose where and what. I was the man whom God used. I will not take the glory of God. Amaechi was in Ghana. I had the choice to be the commissioner of finance. I said I would not take. All those who are now talking as commissioners were coming around me and asking of what to do to be made commissioners.

    When Amaechi was in Ghana, ask him what he was calling me. I was taking final decisions. When he won the case, he felt he had become God, no problem. How did Amaechi make me minister? Which recommendation? Your Chief of Staff and Director-General of your campaign organisation was made a minister of state. People forget that there is tomorrow. The problem is that Amaechi underrated me. That is what he is suffering now.

    Amaechi is the former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). He has power. If Amaechi had the party structure, would he have run away from the PDP? Let us go to the field for elections.

    Since I left their government, what has happened? Who is the person who is thinking now? If I was there, would anybody have challenged Amaechi? Will he be having this type of problem? He is now asking lawmakers to go and sit on the road.

    Amaechi will say he has built roads for N100 billion and that the Federal Government has not paid him. Ask Amaechi, if you oppose him in Rivers state, does he pay your money? All those who are opposing Amaechi, ask them, if he has paid them their monies. He said he would not pay them stating that they would use the funds to fight him. After Amaechi abuses President Jonathan from morning till night, he should now sign for you. Nobody has even audited what he (Amaechi) claimed to have spent on the Federal Government projects in Rivers State.

    What you are seeing in Rivers State is that Amaechi has lost touch. APC cannot win Rivers state.

    In 2015, let us go for elections. Let Amaechi perform his magic. Whether they like it or not, Rivers will be a PDP state.

  • Dawn ‘impeachment’ drama in Rivers

    Dawn ‘impeachment’ drama in Rivers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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