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  • 2,210 PDP, Accord members defect to Oyo APC

    2,210 PDP, Accord members defect to Oyo APC

    Two thousand, two hundred and ten members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Accord in Ibadan North East Local Government Area of Oyo State defected yesterday to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The defectors from the PDP were 1,290 and the Accord 920. Those from the PDP were led by Mr. Ibrahim Arulogun. Alhaji Gani Sanusi led those from the Accord.

    They were received into the APC by the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan North East, Alhaji Abiodun Alatise; and party chieftains, including Dr. Busari Adebisi and Alhaji B.A.O. Oladeji, in Oja-Igbo, Ibadan.

    Alatise said the defection was proof that the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration was “performing.”

    He assured the defectors that they would not regret joining the APC.

    Alatise urged APC members to be united, adding that the defectors should be given a level-playing field.

    Urging the people to support Ajimobi, he said: “The governor has performed above expectation and we should support him next year to ensure continuity.”

    Adebisi and Oladeji warned members against forming factions, saying: “The party is one. There should be no splinter group because this will not promote unity. We should hold the party together so that it can be stronger.”

  • Abaribe: no defection letter before Senate

    Abaribe: no defection letter before Senate

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Enyinnaya Abaribe, yesterday denied the presentation of a defection letter by to the Senate.

    It was learnt that 22 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators are planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Abaribe told reporters in Abuja that the process for defection in the Senate was clear.

    He said any letter exchanged between the Senate president and any senator was considered a private affair.

    The senator said since lawmakers were elected on individual basis, any of them who wanted to defect writes to the Senate personally.

    Abaribe said: “The Senate, officially, is not aware of any letter about senators defecting because any letter that comes to the Senate will be read on the floor.

    “So, if some senators write personal letters to the Senate President, that is strictly personal between them and the Senate President. They have not written letters for reading on the floor of the Senate.

    “The same way you are aware of what is going on is the same manner we are aware of it through the newspapers. I have had cause to say this before that the process for anybody to move from one party to another is in the Constitution. The process is open and clear. It’s not something that can be misunderstood.

    “Don’t forget that every senator did an election on his own. There wasn’t a joint election.

    “Therefore, senators can’t write a joint letter to the Senate President about defection. It must be individual, and every person who has to leave, for whatever reason, will have to state his reason and do it personally. Until we see that, we assume that nobody is ready to go anywhere else.”

  • E don beg me

    E don beg me” or more appropriately, “I don beg am” or better still, “We don beg dem”, appears the grand strategy of Adamu Mu’azu, new national chairman of the embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “E don beg me” was inimitable Fela, the late Afro Beat king — one of his many indelible contributions to the running tragi-comedies of Nigerian politics and governance.

    The military had gaoled Fela for alleged currency offences. The fiery singer had maintained his innocence but was serving his term.

    But all that changed when Fela met Justice Okoro Idogu, the trial judge, in a hospital ward. Justice Idogu said the meeting was accidental. Fela countered it was deliberate: by the gaoler to “beg” the gaoled, for a rigged sentence.

    “E don beg me” had entered Nigeria’s popular lexicon!

    To Fela and his dismissive crowd, begging was laconic and sardonic humour. But to Alhaji Mu’azu, the man with the mission to save PDP from self-ruin, begging is serious business.

    That was why, it appears, the former Bauchi governor trumpeted it loud and clear, his first declaration as PDP national chairman: he begged all the defected PDP governors to come back. Tukur was gone. The problem was ended. The house is warm, friendly and inviting. The umbrella remains wide and solid!

    After that declaration, Alhaji Mu’azu has begun a begging sortie, with his first call at Abeokuta, where he privately, had gone to beg former President Olusegun Obasanjo; he, of the famous hyena laugh, the very angry godfather at a very naughty godson.

    Now, what might Mu’azu have told Obasanjo? That his presidential godson had turned a new leaf, renounced his right to run for second term because Baba, who savoured but did not get a third term, said so? Or that the now penitent godson had decided to sacrifice Buruji Kashamu, the way he sacrificed old man, Bamanga Tukur?

    Unfortunately, it was secret “begging”, so Baba’s reaction was not public. But for all you know, Baba, with his hyena laugh, could still dey laugh ooooo!

    But the duo of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso are not at all impressed; so, they are not in laughing mood.

    Alhaji Atiku declared flat: Mu’azu labours in vain. The stallion has escaped, so it is amusing folly securing the stable doors! Atiku should know: Baba could be so sardonically vengeful it would take more than begging — public or private — to placate him.

    Kwankwaso was no less dismissive. To him, PDP is a shell; or more appropriately, a mansion which pillars have crumbled. It is only a matter of time before the edifice comes crashing down. And from him, this golden advice: scram before you are buried under its rubble — and that includes the good, begging Mu’azu!

    But both Atiku and Kwankwaso could well suffer from sour grape complex. For all you know, the aggrieved — including the baleful Baba — could emerge and, like Fela, declare: E don beg me.

    PDP family, all is forgiven and forgotten.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Akpabio backs Jonathan for 2015

    Akpabio backs Jonathan for 2015

    •PDP ‘ll poach from APC, says Mu’azu

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday pledged his support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.

    He urged him to declare his intention to run.

    With the call, Akpabio, regarded in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) circle as one of the President’s die hard supporters, appeared to have belled the cat on Jonathan’s re-election bid.

    His call is coming on the heels of a resolve by the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, to poach prominent members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to counter the defections from the ruling party.

    The Akwa Ibom governor promised to deliver to the President all the delegate votes from his state, as he did during the party’s 2011 presidential nominations.

    “We did it in 2011 and I assure Mr. President that Akwa Ibom will do it again. We were the first set in 2010 to announce our support for him to go for his first tenure in 2011.

    “We did that and other states followed. We are again the first state to urge Mr. President to go back for a second term.

    “We are a monolithic group in Akwa Ibom, although you may have one or two people who want to test the political waters here and there”, he added.

    Although the President is yet to openly declare his interest in the race, his body language over time, has continued to reinforce the general belief and suspicion among party chieftains that he might be scheming for the 2015 presidential ticket of his party.

    The sustained scheming by the President’s close aides and loyalists ahead of the 2015 poll was one of the factors, which sparked the lingering crisis in the party.

    It has led to defections, with five governors and a number of federal lawmakers elected on the platform of the PDP crossing to the APC last November.

    The governors are Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

    Thirty-seven members of the PDP in the House of Representatives in December also defected to the APC.

    No fewer than 17 senators of the ruling party are also waiting to join APC.

    But Akpabio, who led a delegation of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the PDP to the party’s national secretariat, said the defections were no longer relevant in the emerging calculations.

    According to him, most of the defected governors are on the last lap of their second and final tenure, stressing they would all vacate their seats at the expiration of their tenure next year.

    Said he: “Most of us are outgoing governors. So whether the five governors, who defected to the APC come back or not, we must leave and others must take our places.

    “I think we should concentrate more on those ones who will take over from those governors and ensure that those states remain with PDP.

    “Elections are not done in offices, neither do we do elections in the Presidential Villa. So, those who have access to the Villa and who have access to the offices at the PDP secretariat are not necessarily those who will get the votes that will put PDP in power in 2015.

    “I owe nobody any apology over my loyalty to President Jonathan. One thing I know about party politics is loyalty. You cannot be disloyal to the leadership of the party and the system and then expect to come through the window to take power. It is impossible and this is what the National Working Committee (NWC) must help us to work against.

    “I am very loyal to the leader of the party at the national level, Mr. President and you can all attest to it. I don’t make pretences about it. So I will expect the same loyalty to be extended to me at the state level.

    “Whoever wants to stay in Abuja and jump through the office of the NWC to take power in Akwa Ibom, I say it is impossible”.

    Giving reasons for his support for Jonathan’s re-election project, Akpabio said he believed in the President’s transformation agenda, particularly in the areas of power, agriculture and other sectors.

    Mu’azu, however, expressed the party’s desire to woo back the governors and federal lawmakers, who defected to the APC.

    According to him, plans are afoot for a meeting of major stakeholders with a view to addressing Nigerians on what the PDP stands for.

    Mu’azu also hinted of plans to review the party’s manifesto to keep abreast of dynamics in contemporary party politics, stressing that the need to reposition the party ahead of the 2015 elections has become imperative.

     

    The PDP chairman challenged the opposition APC to what could be described as the poaching game, vowing to ensure that the ruling party beat APC.

    Mu’azu said: “The opposition politicians are master poachers, but we will soon show them that we are better at the game, because we are going to beat them.

    “If that is their game, then we are going to learn it because they are going to teach us how to poach.

     

    Apparently pained by the warm embrace given the PDP defectors by the APC, Mu’azu said: “When two members of your family fight, you should reconcile them and not pitch one against the other”.

    Among members of the Akwa Ibom delegation were two serving senators, some members of the House of Representatives, a ministerial nominee and several party chieftains from the state.

  • Mu’azu can’t end PDP crisis, says Atiku

    Mu’azu can’t end PDP crisis, says Atiku

    Proponents of peace in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got yesterday a damning message from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The crisis in the party is not about to end, he said, adding that National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu “can’t make anything out of his reconciliation tour”.

    Mu’azu visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta on Sunday.

    Speaking on Kaduna-based Liberty Radio, Atiku said Obasanjo pushed him out of the PDP.

    Atiku said since he returned to the party, he had been kept out of its activities, adding that he could only offer his assistance towards rebuilding the party if the leadership sought his help.

    “If I’m requested to, no problem. But let me say, first of all, that I did not leave the PDP. I was pushed out of the PDP by my former boss and ever since I returned four years ago, the PDP has not communicated to me and I have not communicated to PDP.

    “I have not attended any of their meetings and they have not invited me. I’m supposed to be a member of the Board of Trustees; I’ ve never attended. I’m supposed to be a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC); I have never attended one. I’m supposed to be a member of caucus, by convention, because when we were in office, we said the President should always nominate the Vice President. That was why Alex Ekwueme was nominated. But I ‘m not in the caucus.

    “I’m just looking at them. If you don’t participate in a process, how do you contribute with your experience and so on in resolving problems in the party?”

    He noted that the tour of the chairman to convince those who left the party to return would not make any difference, saying: “I told him it won’t make a difference. Before he took up the job, he (Mu’azu) came to me and told me he wanted the job, I told him, leave it because you are not going to do anything about it’.”

    On the 2015 elections, Atiku said he and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had shared their concerns and agreed that they had not seen the country in such a crisis since the civil war. He described the situation as “grim”.

    Atiku said: “It is no longer about ambition but about Nigeria. We have got to a stage when you have an ambition, if the environment permits. The environment does not even permit that. So, you have to restore normalcy to the environment first before you begin to think about ambition. This is because if you allow your ambition to override it, you will find that you don’t even exist. Buhari and I have never seen things as bad. It’s really serious.

    On the proposed national conference, the former Vice President said there was nothing wrong about Nigerians talking to one another.

    He pointed out, however, that the Jonathan administration does not have the capacity to conduct elections and the national conference in the same year.

    He said the government should have done the conference much earlier than now and ruled out the possibility of having a sovereign national conference (SNC). The nation cannot have the SNC when there is an existing constitutional arrangement, Atiku explained.

    He condemned the Rivers State crisis, saying there was absolutely no need for the Federal Government to use the police to undermine the state government in a democratic situation.

    Commenting on the directive by the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to its lawmakers in the National Assembly to block the passage of the 2014 budget, Atiku called for caution, saying that there were other legislative processes the party could use to bring the government to order.

    He lamented that the Jonathan administration had exhibited so much impunity to the extent that the opposition has nothing else to do when they have been pushed to the wall.

    Atiku said: “There is nothing new in clamping on the government; it happened in the United States and the government shut down for a couple of weeks. We saw that politicians can resolve their differences. Sometimes it may be necessary for that to happen.

    Atiku dismissed claims that the exit of former PDP Chairman Bamanga Tukur would end the crisis in the party, saying: “No; I don’t think so. The troubles in the PDP are still going on and more yet to come. I don’t think Bamanga Tukur is the issue.”

  • Fashola backs APC’s directive to Fed lawmakers

    Fashola backs APC’s directive to Fed lawmakers

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has said he supports the directive of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to its lawmakers in the National Assembly.

    The directive is to stall the passing of this year’s budget and other bills sent by the Executive until rule of law is reinstated in Rivers State.

    Addressing reporters after inaugurating the Ejigbo-Ajao Link Bridge yesterday, Fashola said the directive was in line with the principle of separation of powers in a democracy.

    The governor said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should stop raising unnecessary alarm over the directive.

    He said the ruling party’s reactions on the matter showed that “they still have a lot of learning to do as far as the democratic process is concerned”.

    Fashola said the APC lawmakers “have found as a legitimate weapon the withdrawal of cooperation from the Executive in order to bring a belligerent Executive back to the negotiation table because as they say themselves, nobody can claim ownership of Nigeria”.

    He added: “Therefore, where appeals and letters fail, the legitimate tool is the use of the power of cooperation or the withdrawal of cooperation.

    “Where the party in power has full legislative majority, this has been a weapon that the parliament has employed.”

    Fashola alluded to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which he said had been stalled at the National Assembly for over three years and the refusal to approve appropriation for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The governor said no voices had been raised in those situations.

    He said: “Have you asked yourselves why? That was an example of withdrawal of cooperation. The same party in the majority returned the budget and you know how the budget finally came back to the National Assembly. That was an example of withdrawal of legislative cooperation. The same party with the majority, last year, said it was not going to approve appropriation for the SEC, a constitutionally empowered body, because they disagreed with its leadership.

    “I did not hear this loud noise at that time from the PDP. So, how can the withdrawal of support suddenly amount now to truncating democracy?

    “Investors are withdrawing from our Oil sector because we haven’t passed the bill. That is the truth. Oil assets are being sold off by traditional investors who have been here for about 40 to 50 years.

    “Therefore, the capacity to fund the budget will become high questionability as we go forward. Who is really endangering the budget?”

    Fashola faulted the position of the PDP on the directive, which called it a threat to democracy.

    The governor wondered how parliamentary representatives’ withdrawal of support to the Executive could threaten democracy.

    “Instead of resorting to violence, they are resorting to a legitimate tool to direct the Executive to the table that ‘we must have a negotiated compromise in order to go forward’.

    “If you close that, then you are treading the expressway to anarchy. It is a legitimate tool. The Americans have used it; the British have used it when it suited them.

    “In the absence any evidence to the contrary, they told their government to invade Iraq, and when it did not suit them, in the spirit of non-cooperation to the government of the day – which was a coalition – they said: ‘You can’t go to Syria’.

    “So, we must open our minds and stop raising needless alarm.

    “Now, perhaps, the PDP is no longer able to stomach the medicine it has dished out over the years. But I have news for them. There is a stone for every Goliath and this is one stone we have found.”

  • PDP, APGA, LP, Accord gang up against APC

    PDP, APGA, LP, Accord gang up against APC

    A GROUP of lawmakers, under the aegis of the National Unity Group (NUG), has announced plans to block the moves by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shut down the Executive through legislative blockade, including the delay of this year’s budget.

    The group comprises members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Labour Party (LP) and Accord (A).

    It chided the APC for directing its members to block all bills from the Presidency.

    Addressing reporters yesterday at the National Assembly, the NUG described the APC’s call as unpatriotic, bad and anti-progress.

    It warned those in the House of Representatives to present its views instead of personal opinions.

    The NUG promised that the APC would be “robustly resisted” on all fronts in the House.

    Its erstwhile spokesman, Zakari Mohammed, is a member of APC, having defected from the PDP. The deputy, Victor Ogene, is a member of APGA.

    Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Platueau), who read the statement in company of other members, said the multi-party group was committed to good governance, national stability an Pan-Nigerian consensus-building.

    The statement said: “Any attempt to tamper with the 2014 budget and, hence, the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, would be met with robust resistance.

    “No Nigerian anywhere will stand by and watch an opposition, with mischief and power lust, to frustrate the hopes of tens of millions of Nigerians with regard to health care, schools, universities, agricultural grants and projects, foreign investment promotion, water supplies, road works, utilities and other infrastructure, including electricity, solar street lights and a dozen other necessities and obligations of Nigeria, as a responsible nation whose duties are enshrined in Chapter II of the 1999 Federal Constitution.

    “If this budget is not passed soon, there will be hunger in the land and the APC plan for anarchy will have succeeded.

    “We, in the NUG of the House of Representatives, wish to add our voice to those calling for peace over the tension in Rivers State, as mentioned above, and in Ogun State as well as Ekiti, where APC factions have violently engaged themselves as sitting APC governors try to foreclose challengers. We are also hoping the situation in Kwara, Borno and Kano, occasioned by APC thugs forcibly taking measures against the PDP.

    “Given the wrong premise upon which they are operating, we dispute the bogus claims of majority status by APC and call on our colleagues in the opposition to always strive to advise their colleagues to obey judicial pronouncements, no matter how unpalatable to their political dreams and ambitions…”

    Section 68 is clear about elected members and their parties – you don’t cross-carpet when and how you like.

    “That further, we call on those purporting to act as spokesmen of the House to always endeavour to wear the toga of nonpartisanship and to always be sure what they are feeding the public are based strictly on House resolutions rather than their partisan ends.

    “That we fully commend the leadership of the House for the skilful handling of a difficult set of circumstances and continue to urge them to continue to put the interests of the nation ahead at all times.

    “As a multiparty platform, the National Unity Group, NUG, stands ready always to defend the Nigerian constitution as a matter of priority no matter whose interests are offended”.

    On the issue of budget consideration and approval, Friday Itulah (PDP, Edo) responded saying the document would go through the normal legislative process.

    “The budget would go through the Committees and then presented to the Committee of the Whole where the majority would decide its fate. It is about a simple majority and we are ready to ensure that the majority will carry the day.

    “Since it is the budget, it will no longer require a simple majority, it is not an issue of two third. So, the possibility of somebody trying to block the decision of the House will not arise.

    “But if they attempt we will have to show them that it is the majority that decides what happens in the House”.

    When asked about the numerical strength of the group made of four Parties, Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP, Kogi) refused to give specific figure, saying PDP remains in the majority.

    He also said that there was no defection and that those that felt that they have defected were only on ‘astral travel’.

    He said: “The constitution is clear on cross-carpeting, you don’t cross carpet the way you want it, there are guidelines. Moreover, we only have colleagues that have expressed interest to join other Parties, so the PDP is still intact.

    “Talking about the Party in the majority, even without adding members from Labour, Accord and APGA, the PDP is way above two-third. We are in clear majority, we just don’t brandish numbers.

    “We are challenging APC to publish the names of its members

    The PDP number, Accord, APGA and Labour in the House is way above two-third.

    “There is no merger between the PDP and the other three Parties, we are just united for national development”.

    Kaze, in conclusion said the commitment of the group to the Nigerian Project is irrevocable, “We accordingly invite House APC members, our colleagues – and by extension the other Parties in the House – to always strictly seek to add value to our national quest for democracy and development.

    “We, therefore, call on our colleagues whose sense of duty and patriotism remains unquestioned to reject the latest APC “directives” as unpatriotic and bad anti-progressive. They must reject all efforts to destroy the Nigerian economy,” he added.

  • PDP’s defected governors: Court orders fresh service of processes

    PDP’s defected governors: Court orders fresh service of processes

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered fresh service of court processes on five former governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The processes are on a case filed by the PDP seeking the governors’ sack following their defection to the opposition party.

    The governors are: Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara).

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave the order yesterday following the complaint by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon (SAN), that despite being served, the defendants were not only absent in court but also failed to file any response to the processes served on them.

    The judge ordered that the governors be served through the national office of the APC in Abuja.

    Justice Kolawole also granted the plaintiff the permission to publish the court processes in two specified newspapers.

    He adjourned till February 6 for hearing of the plaintiff’s originating summons.

    Sued with the governors is the Independent National Electoral Commission (first defendant).

    The PDP argued that the governors should be sacked from office because, by their defection, they had forfeited their offices which the party said should revert to it.

    Should the five governors be sacked from office, the PDP urged the court to order their deputies or speakers of the Houses of Assembly of the affected states, or any officer next in rank, who is still its member, to assume their positions.

    The PDP urged the court to declare that by the combined provisions of Sections 177 (c), 221 and 222 (c) of the 1999 Constitution, the five governors, who were elected on its platform, cannot continue to enjoy the mandate given to them by the people/electorate of the affected states as they (governors) have defected to another party.

    It prayed for a declaration that in the absence of any division in the PDP, the five governors have vacated or forfeited their seats following their defection to the APC.

    The party sought a declaration that by the combined provisions of Sections 87 of the Electoral Act 2011 (as amended), and sections 177 (c), 221 and 222 (c) of the 1999 Constitution, the offices of the defected governors have reverted to the PDP.

    The PDP also urged the court to declare that by the combined provisions of Sections 177 (c), 221 and 222 (c) of the 1999 Constitution, following the defection of the five governors, their mandate has reverted to the deputy governors or Speakers of the Houses of Assembly or any other officer next in rank who is still a member of the PDP.

     

  • 2,000 PDP members join APC

    2,000 PDP members join APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has welcomed 2,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Mbangur, Mbadede ward of Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.

    The Interim State Chairman, Targema Takema, described APC as a party, which cares for Nigerians.

    He said PDP was in the hands of Tiv leaders but it was hijacked by some people, who denied Tiv people employment.

    According to the chairman, President Goodluck Jonathan joined others in marginalising the Tiv people. He said of the 29-member National Conference Committee, no Tiv man was appointed.

    “Four Idoma natives are serving in that committee. Any true Tiv man who wants to ‘eat and die’ should remain in the PDP.”

    He praised a House of Assembly member, Mrs. Dorothy Mato, for ensuring the defection of the PDP members from her constituency.

  • Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

    Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

    Getting to know the truth is becoming more difficult nowadays especially if you listen to the spin doctors of the main political parties.

    Last weekend rally by the Save Rivers Movement at Bori in the heart of Ogoni land in Rivers State was a huge success if you are getting your information from the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze.

    But if you have been listening to Jerry Needam, spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Ogoni people boycotted the rally and Governor Rotimi Amaechi was only addressing himself at the event. But as they say pictures don’t lie and the truth stands somewhere between their statements.

    Attempting to call white black would only damage the reputation of whoever was peddling lies and whatever he stands for or represents as the people of Rivers State certainly know the truth and who is fighting their cause.

    The size of the crowd at the rally is not even the issue here; the fact that it went well without any of the mayhems that had attended two previous rallies of the SRM, one in Port Harcourt and the second in the same Bori showed that whoever was behind the violent disruptions of the two previous rallies of the Movement loyal to Governor Amaechi had the support of the Nigeria Police.

    At the Port Harcourt rally where a serving Senator, Magnus Abe an Ogoni man and ally of Amaechi was hit by a rubber bullet shot at him by the police, it was glaring that the State’s commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu and his men were at work. Though the CP denied any bullet, rubber or live was used in dispersing the SRM rally, the public condemnation of the brutality of the police in Rivers State under Mbu and the partisanship of his men in the political crisis that has pitched the governor against the coordinating Minister of Education Nyesom Wike,(acting on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Patience) had forced the police to retreat from their onslaught on Amaechi and his supporters ahead of the second SRM rally at Bori.

    When the Movement gathered for what was essentially a pro-Amaechi rally, hoodlums and armed militants, allegedly paid by Wike and his group violently disrupted the gathering, injuring many and destroying cars and other property in the process. While all this lasted the police folded their arms. And while those behind the mayhem had not been arrested by the Rivers State police command, two local government chairmen from Ogoni land loyal to Governor Amaechi were picked up by the police for no other offence than being supporters of the governor.

    Of course the public condemnation of the police grew louder and finally the noise got to the ears of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and the country’s chief police officer had to order his Commissioner of Police in Rivers to allow another rally of the SRM planned for Bori to go ahead and also provide protection. And the rally went peacefully. Now do we need any soothsayer again to tell us who has been behind the violence that has recently engulfed Rivers State?

    When people point accusing fingers at CP Mbu for being partisan they get accused as being Amaechi supporters. But just for once that the IGP and his CP decided to act as impartial officers of the law, there was law and order. So, what this means is that if the police in Rivers State act in accordance with the law and in the overall interest of the state and the country, the crisis in the state would not be and would not have been.

    As his tenures draws to a close, IGP Abubakar would do well to leave a legacy of a disciplined, well trained and apolitical police force that would only do the biddings of Nigerians and not the powers that be. Abubakar started well and the only blot on his score sheet so far is the police in Rivers State under Mbu. Wherever the courage to stop Mbu came from, he should continue with it.

    Since the Rivers crisis began, so many stories have been flying around that CP Mbu rather than take orders from Force Headquarters in Abuja, go to the presidential villa for his briefs. It was even rumoured that he doesn’t take the calls of his IGP any longer preferring either Wike or even Madam Jonathan to give him directives.

    For the purpose of this argument, I want to believe this as one of those beer parlour rumours and the fact that when the IGP gave his orders to Mbu publicly, they were obeyed should be enough to put the matter of where Mbu takes his briefs to rest. But to further reassure us that he is in charge of the entire Nigeria Police, including the Rivers State Command, IGP Abubakar should henceforth be giving his orders to CP Mbu in particular publicly, so that if he refused to obey his IGP, then Nigerians would know who truly he is.

    But could the threat by the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress to all its Senators and House of Representatives members to shun discussions and debates on the 2014 federal appropriation bill and all other executive bills including confirmation of Service Chiefs until the Rivers crisis is resolved have anything to do with the thaw in the crisis rocking the state?

    Those who are blaming the APC for this directive and labeling the party and its leaders as unpatriotic should rather see the Rivers u-turn by the Federal Government and its agencies (security) as a positive fall out of the APC’s threat.

    It shows that a virile opposition is needed to put the ruling party in check and on the path of sound democracy and the rule of law. With the balance of power shifting in favour of the opposition in the National Assembly, the PDP Federal Government and in particular President Goodluck Jonathan no longer has room to maneuver and take Nigerians for a ride again.

    Nigerians have tolerated the PDP for so long and the party has proved itself unworthy of our trust and support. If it would require threats from the APC to make the government to do the right thing, so be it. Nothing bad in that! And by the way, what is the business of the opposition if not to bring down the government in power to pave way for it to form the next government. As long as it was done within the ambit of the law and in accordance with democratic tenets let it continue. Nigeria does not belong exclusively to PDP and its leaders alone. All the parties and indeed all Nigerians have equal stake in the destiny of this country. Enough of this PDP noise.