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Tag: Obio/Akpor

  • Obio/Akpor community tells Wike: our roads are begging for attention

    Obio/Akpor community tells Wike: our roads are begging for attention

    Rumuaghorlu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State has called on Governor Nyesom Wike to give attention to its internal roads.

    The  elders of the community made this call yesterday while renaming a popular road in the area as Wike  Link Road.

    Elder Lord Wosu, who commended the governor for constructing the major road that leads into the community, asked Wike to consider the internal roads in Rumuaghorlu, which, he said, are  in deplorable condition.

    Wosu is worried that the condition of the roads are affecting the economic life of the residents of the area, adding that shops owners no longer open because of flooding.

    Wosu said: “The Governor did well in making our community road passable, we all know the condition of the road before but now. But I feel there are still internal roads in the community where people use that are begging for attention.

    “Governor Wike should come and see that the area is affected so that we feel the impact of his administration very well. Those roads are affecting the economic life the people there. It is causing hardship and sickness and diseases.

    “Anytime it rains those areas are always flooded because there is no drainage and it leads to mosquito infestation.”

    Meanwhile, Apostle Bartholomew Egeonu, who is one of the most elderly persons in Rumuaghorlu said they decided to rename the road which was formerly called Okemini road to Wike-link road because of the impact the road has created in the area.

    Egeonu said, “We are here today is in line with our promise during the opening of new road that the road will be named after the governor. The road was too bad before now it was called borrow-pit or Okemini road, before the governor reconstructed it.

    Egeonu said the chairman of the Community Development Committee Mr. Omunakwe Amadi, has been appointed by the community elders to be the acting paramount ruler to manage the affairs of the community.

    This is following the alleged vacancy on the throne of the community because of an order of State High Court that has restrained two contenders laying claims to the stool to refrain from such.

    Egeonu urged the people of the community to be united and work in the interest of peace and development of the community irrespective of party affiliations.

  • Day Obio/Akpor APC rededicates party to God

    The gathering of members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) from the 17 wards in  Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State was to rededicate the party to God.

    The event, which was held at the premises Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Port Harcourt, started with exhortation of the name of God. There was also praise and worship session. Party members danced round the open field to celebrate God.

    Political chieftains across the 23 local government areas, including the APC chairman in the state, also attended the thanksgiving service.

    The General Overseer, Adullam Praise Embassy, Pastor Oyewole Ayo,  in a short sermon, said the only way APC members in Obio/Akpor can move on is to forgive one another and forget about the past. The man of God said if the party continues to look back it would be very difficult for them to forge ahead.

    Pastor Ayo, who prayed for the leaders in the 17 wards in Obio/Akpor, said for the party to win any future election in the area they must be under God. “Members of this party must learn to obey God and to obey your party leaders. Your leader cannot be speaking or thinking for an issue and the followers are reasoning differently. Then, they party will not move forward. You must strategize, be united with one voice then leave the rest to God. But you cannot move forward when you cannot forgive one another.”

    A chieftain of the party, Dr. Gift Worlu, who delivered a lecture at the event, asked party members to forgive him in anyway he had wrong them.

    He said APC is God-fearing party and challenged the party to rise above where they are at the moment. He said they must be ready to play the role of opposition and forget the bitterness of yesterday especially among themselves.

    Worluh said: “We must learn from the failure, at the last election we cannot say we totally failed because we won at the national level. That’s alone should encourage us to move ahead and play the role of an opposition party. We must also reflect on those things that made us to fail because failure is not final, so that we can learn from it.  People say both APC and PDP are the same that means it is time to exhibit character that will describe us differently from PDP. Nigerian must see the difference in us.”

    The leader of APC in the area, Chief Tony Okocha,  who called for the observation of one- minute silence for the death of APC ward leader,  alleged that  the government committed sacrilege in politicising their cultural norms and values as well as desecrating traditional institution with the dethronement of Royal fathers who are not supportive of his policies.

    Okocha  who took over from Governor Nyesom Wike as Chief of Staff, Government House, in the second term of former Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi also accused PDP led government in the state of recording high rate of kidnapping and hostage taking in the state especially in Obio/Akpor area.

    He called on the APC members to always pray and support Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi.

    “ We are solidly behind our leader, the performing Minster of Transportation, Rt. Hon.  Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. APC in Obio/Akpor is united as a family and gives her total support, loyalty and followership to him. We therefore appeal to the party at the state to support us in our quest to battle the abnormality meted on our members in Obio/Akpor and beyond.

    “Please let our party at the local government enjoy its pride of place at the state. Our utmost desire is for the leadership to support us as we strive to translate our challenges to victory in 2019. We have 460 registered voters in Obio/Akpor. We wish to extend our gratitude to the President Muhammadu Buhari, we appreciate his fatherly support for Rivers State. We see in the President the qualities of a true friend, one who never forgets his friends.”

  • Rivers’ lawmakers to Evans Bipi: You are an impostor

    Rivers’ lawmakers to Evans Bipi: You are an impostor

    The 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Governor Rotimi Amaechi have warned a member of the House and “Speaker” of the five lawmakers, Hon. Evans Bapakaye Bipi to desist from impersonating the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Amachree.

    It would be recalled that Hon. Bipi, a protégé of First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, was controversially elected Speaker by five of the 32-member House last week, who had earlier “impeached the Speaker.” His election later led to a bloody clash between the two sides.

    Bipi and his group insisted on the legality of his election maintaining that Amachree remains impeached.

    However, in a statement titled: “Our Position, “on Friday morning, the lawmakers explained their roles in the recent crisis and described Bipi as an impostor.

    The statement chronicled the events leading to the purported impeachment claim by five members of the House and urged the public to disregard the false claims.

    “The attention of the Rivers State House of Assembly has been drawn to the plethora of stories and conjectures that have constituted the bulk analysis at the public domain on the crisis of Tuesday 9th of July, 2013… the House leadership received a communication from the Executive to amend the Rivers State Appropriation Law 2013. Sequel to this, the House reconvened on the 9th of July, 2013.”

    “Following the reconvening of the House on 9th of July, 2013, five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly (Evans Bipi, Okechukwu Michael Chinda, Kelechi Nwogu, Victor Ihunwo and Martins Amaewhule) in alliance with the Rivers State Police Command and their thugs, carried out unprovoked attack and assault on members including the Speaker (Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree), the Leader of the House (Hon. Chidi Lloyd) and Hon. Wanjoku Chikere Azubuike.

    “Thereafter they made a spirited but unsuccessful attempt to impeach the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly in obvious disregard of the amplifying procedures set out in section 92 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Order 12 and Order 28 of the standing orders of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”

    “Since the botched impeachment attempt, one Hon. Evans Bipi has rather surreptitiously impersonated the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly in Defiance and gross violation of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has gone ahead to make publications in the national media. We hereby call on the public to disregard the impostor (Hon. Evans Bapakaye Bipi) and his fabricated fallacies which are targeted at misinforming the general public,” the statement read.

    The lawmakers explained that the state Assembly acted within its powers when it suspended the Obio/Akpor Local Governmet Council which is believed to be one of the underlying issues fueling the crisis.

     

  • PDP crisis: Obio/Akpor Council case suffers a setback

    PDP crisis: Obio/Akpor Council case suffers a setback

    The suit by the Caretaker Committee (CTC) chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area(LGA), of Rivers state, Chikordi Dike, over the blockade of the council premises yesterday suffered a setback.

    The matter fixed for motion on notice could not go on following the withdrawal of Justice Nganjiwa from the case.

    The judge disqualified himself after being accused of ‘already forming a decision’ against them by the defendants.

    The CTC chair had sued the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Commissioner of Police (CP) and others over the blockade at the council premises.

    The Judge expressed his decision to return the case file to the administrative judge for re-assignment.

    In an application for a re-assignment by the defence Lawyer Donald C. DENwigwe, (SAN) supported by a motion, the defence accused the judge of being bias in his earlier ruling on the joiner motion by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the case.

    DENwigwe said the defendants had declared the Judge Functtuf Officio and as a result he was no longer relevant in their case.

    DENwigwe said “we earlier wrote a letter to the Judge asking him to disqualify himself from the case.

    “The reason being that he has already drawn a conclusion against us (the defence), when he threw out the motion filed by the People Democratic Party (PDP), to join in the case he used our grounds of defence against us.

    “Having already drawn conclusion against our defence, there is nothing again left for him to hear about us, hence he has become functuf officio, and can no longer hear our matter unbiased.

    Asked if they would recall the already dismissed case (PDP joiner motion), before the new Judge he said no.”

    At the sitting yesterday, the Judge after taking appearances from the parties wrote and declared “this matter was slated for hearing today (yesterday), but I’m aware that the defendants have filed petitions asking that the matter be re-assigned to another court; in view of this, there is no need for me to continue with the matter.

    “I therefore withdraw from further hearing of the case. I will return the case file to the Administrative Judge for re-assignment.”

    The House of Assembly on April 22 suspended Chairman of the council Timothy Nsirim, his deputy and 17 councillors on alleged financial recklessness.

    They were replaced the following day by a Seven-man CTC led by Dike. The development created tension in the area, resulting in the takeover of the premises by the Police, on May 3.

    The CTC group approached the court for intervention, asking that the Police be ordered out of the premises to allow them and workers of the council access to their offices, to enable them pay workers’ salaries for the April and May.

    Dike told the court that the Police presence at the council gate was illegal and should be ordered out.

    The Court urged the applicant to put the AGF and the Police on notice. At the next sitting the defendants appeared in court defending their actions as right, insisting that they were securing government property.

    Represented by DENwigwe, AGF, Police challenged the jurisdiction of a Federal High court in a state matter.

    The ousted chairman Nsirim filed an application for joiner, saying that his was relevant to the suit, being the rightful elected chairman of the council. His application was dismissed by the court.

    The court later ordered the police to vacate their barricade at the premises to allow movement of genuine persons including workers and CTC members access to carry out their legitimate functions at the premises.

    Shortly after police pulled out their men from the premises, tension returned leading to the burning of the council generation house, by suspected youths loyal to Nsirim. The Police repossessed the premises and have been there as at press time.

    Cases related on the Obio/Akpor issues are scattered in both the Federal and State High courts.

    The matter to be re-assigned was however not adjourned to any date.

  • Court orders police out of Obio/Akpor Premises

    Court orders police out of Obio/Akpor Premises

    A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has ordered Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar, to withdraw his officers from the Obio/Akpor council secretariat and dismantle the blockade at the gate.

    Justice H.A Njiangiwa gave the order yesterday while ruling on the application by the chairman of the seven-man Caretaker Committee (CTC), Chikaodi Dike, seeking an interim injunction on the police to vacate the premises.

    Policemen barricaded the council gate on May 3, shutting it off from all workers and political appointees.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mbu J. Mbu, said at a news conference in Port Harcourt that the takeover of the premises by the police was informed by a tip-off on a likely bomb attack.

    Dike urged the court to restrain the police from intimidating either the applicants or the workers in performing their duties.

    Besides, they (the police) should not prevent any person going into the compound for his/her lawful businesses.

    The court granted one of the six prayers. One of the appellant’s counsel, Emenike Ebete, said the other prayers, which were not granted, are inter-related with the first prayer (order to vacate and dismantle blockade at the gate), which according to him was the major request.

    Justice Njiangiwa condemned the invasion of the council premises by the police, saying that it had posed irreparable injuries to the workers and those appointed by the government to run the place.

    He said if the court refused to grant the prayers of the plaintiffs, it would continue to inflict injuries that could not be compensated on the people. He regretted that the development affected the April salaries of workers.

    According to him, the purpose of the interlocutory injunction is to protect the applicants from further injuries from the defendants.

    Said Justice Njiangiwa: “After careful consideration of the facts before the court and going through the submissions of the councils I came to the conclusion that the former council chairman Timothy Nsirim and his group were suspended by the Rivers State House of Assembly on alleged financial recklessness, which is being investigated.

    “The state governor inaugurated the applicants to run the affairs of the LGA, pending the resolution of the investigation.

    “The CTC has since their inauguration been performing their duties and maintaining law and order in the council.

    “The purpose of interlocutory injunction is to protect the applicants from injuries by the first and second defendants (IGP) and (Attorney-General of the Federation), respectively which cannot be fully compensated.

    “The action of the police has posed serious suffering on the applicants and a worker since the premises was shut, over one week ago, among others.”

    The judge urged the government to resort to the rule of law in addressing these problems.

    Earlier, the court had overruled the submission of the defence counsel Donald Denwigwe (SAN) on the court’s jurisdiction to hear local government matters, saying that the issue has nothing to do with the application.

    DENwigwe said political appointees had no right to ask for any form of injunction, insisting that the application was an invitation to the court to dabble in matters it has no powers over.

    He was overruled. The judge said: “I disagree that the application to ask the police to vacate the premises is an invitation to dabble in Local Government Law.”

    The judge noted that should the court refuse to grant the application, the people would continue to suffer.

    The CTC chairman described the ruling as justice to the people of the local government and pledged the people’s continued respect for the law.

    Earlier, the applicant lawyer, Patrick Ikwueto (SAN), had submitted that the injury they suffered and would continue to suffer should the order not be granted could not be quantified or fully compensated.

    He noted that workers and their dependants had been subjected to hardship in that their salaries and allowances had not been paid.

    “I urge the court to make a preservative order to maintain the status quo at the council, pending the determination of the substantive suit,” Ikwueto pleaded.

    The court had earlier struck out the application for joinder by the former council chairman, Timothy Nsirim, his deputy and 17 councillors that were suspended by the House of Assembly for lack of merits.

    The case was later adjourned for hearing on the substantive case on right of occupancy.