The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Port Harcourt

  • Port Harcourt kingship dispute continues

    Worried by the controversial crowning of two contenders for the throne of Eze Apara Rebisi, also known as the monarch of Port Harcourt, another contender, Eze Emeka Anyagbulem, has returned to court over the disputed kingship.

    Speaking with The Nation yesterday in Port Harcourt, Anyagbulem said there could not be two kings for one stool, adding that the action of the duo, who were crowned as king, amounted to contempt of court as there was a subsisting suit challenging such actions.

    Said he: “Besides that there can’t be two kings for one throne, it is untenable that while a suit (NO PHC/1818/2013) is pending, two persons, namely Prince Victor Woluchem and Uche Isaac Elikwu of Oro-Olozu lineage, crowned themselves as Eze-Epara Rebisi and Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt.

     

  • Danger looms in Port Harcourt over Rebisi kingship

    •Two installed to rule over community.

    Tension is rising in Rebisi community in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State following the installation of two persons to fill the township’s vacant stool.

    The occupant is the paramount ruler of Port Harcourt.

    A third claimant has already emerged to compound the brewing tension.

    The stool became vacant upon the death of HRM Sunday Woluchem, after more than 10 years reign.

    Installed at two different ceremonies last Tuesday were a son of the late HRM Woluchem, Victor Nnana, and Uche Isaiah Elikwu, a lawyer.

    A few days later, another contender, Chief Emeka Anyabelem, the traditional ruler of Oro-Worukwo Community of Rebisi, emerged claiming to be the rightful occupant of the throne.

    The throne, according to him, is rotational among the seven legitimate sons of Apara, their grandfather.

    He dismissed as strange, the title of Eze Epara conferred on Victor Woluchem and Elikwu .

    According to him, the traditional title held by the late Eze S. Woluchem was Eze Apara of Rebisi, and not Eze Epara.

    Anyabelem told reporters yesterday that there is no traditional institution in Rebisi known as Eze Epara Rebisi but Eze Apara Rebisi of Port Harcourt, which the last occupant, HRM. Eze S. N. Woluchem vacated by death in 2011.

    He said the recent proclamation of Victor Woluchem and Uche Elikwu as Eze Epara Rebisi, Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt was fake and should be disregarded.

     

    He said he has already gone to court to give vent to his claim.

    He said: “The Paramount Rulership of Port Harcourt is Eze Apara Rebisi; Eze S.N. Woluchem when he was alive was Eze Apara Rebisi, and not Eze Epara Rebisi.

    “Those who recently installed themselves as Eze Epara Rebisi, should continue to parade themselves in that name but should not in any way mislead the members of the public, state government into believing that it is the same chieftaincy stool with that late Eze S. N. Woluchem held as Eze Apara Rebisi of Port Harcourt or that they are the Eze Apara Rebisi, paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt.

    “I am the heir apparent to the stool, being the paramount Ruler of Oroworukwo; I am the one entitled to the position of Eze Apara Rebisi, and no other one.

    “Let us not mix up issues ‘E’ and ‘A’ are important here. (Epara-1st son and Apara, father’s name), they are not the same thing.

    “Am the one representing Eze Apara Rebisi, as such I am calling on well-meaning members indigenes of Rivers state to disregard Woluchem and Elikwu and their chieftaincy stool, it does not exist.

     

  • SSS secures release of Rep’s mother in Port Harcourt

    SSS secures release of Rep’s mother in Port Harcourt

    •Three suspects arrested

    Operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in Rivers State, yesterday secured the release of the mother of the member of the House of Representatives from Obio/Akpor ,in Rivers State, Kingsley Ogundu Chinda.

    Chinda is in the camp of the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    The victim was kidnapped on August 19 and taken to an unknown destination, where she spent five days in the den of the kidnappers, before her rescue.

    Three suspects were also arrested during the rescue.

    They are now being interrogated.

    The top SSS official said: “Chinda’s mother was rescued from the kidnappers by SSS operatives from the Rivers command around 1 am today (yesterday) at Abuloma, Port Harcourt and moved to our office at old GRA at 3 am.

    “Three suspects were arrested. They are still with us. No ransom was paid before the elderly woman was rescued. The Rep’s mother has rejoined her family.”

    Immediately after the kidnap of Chinda’s mother, the Felix Obuah-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the Rivers State Government of orchestrating insecurity in the state, to justify the pressure for the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    The Rivers State government, through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, quickly described the Obuah-led PDP’s allegation as laughable and reckless.

     

  • Police deploy helicopters, APCs to stop Port Harcourt rally

    Police deploy helicopters, APCs to stop Port Harcourt rally

    Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and its environs were yesterday under police siege, with surveillance helicopters, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and patrol vehicles deployed to prevent the “Defending democracy rally” organised by a coalition of activists.

    There was heavy deployment of policemen in Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa – apparently to prevent pro-democracy and human rights activists invited from other parts of the country to get to the rally venue.

    Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) Chairman Anyakwee Nsirimovu and other members of the coalition who planned the rally, however, outsmarted the police by changing the venue.

    Nsirimovu, who described yesterday as a bad day for democracy, said that in the coalition’s letter to Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu to provide minimal security, Isaac Boro Park, Port Harcourt was indicated as the rally venue, but they converged on Liberation Stadium.

    The Police said they stopped the rally to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    As early as 6 am, battle-ready, riot and regular policemen, backed by APCs, sealed off the Isaac Boro Park while the coalition’s members were already gathering at the Liberation Stadium for the rally that would have taken off at 9 am.

    The policemen, having waited till 9 am without seeing any activist, rushed to the Liberation Stadium with two APCs and many patrol vehicles when they got the hint of the venue change.

    The main gate of the stadium was immediately sealed off by the policemen with the two APCs and many vans. Passers-by were made to frog-jump, having been mistaken for members of the coalition.

    The invited activists and members of the coalition from the nine states of the Niger Delta, who had gathered at the stadium, were dispersed. Nsirimovu and other leaders were asked to leave immediately.

    But the coalition members and activists regrouped at a nearby private multipurpose hall on Stadium Road where they addressed reporters.

    The policemen in APCs and vans continued to patrol the streets of Port Harcourt and its environs.

    Rivers police spokesperson Angela Agabe said dispersing the activists was to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    Speaking at the multipurpose hall, the chairman of the NDCSC said: “Impunity and abuse of the rule of law will not be allowed in Rivers State. Police are not neutral in Rivers crisis. Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu must be immediately redeployed – in line with the resolution of the National Assembly.

    “We planned a peaceful rally, but Mbu’s policemen took over the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt – in a show of force, intimidating law-abiding citizens, who fought for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. It is a bad day for democracy in Rivers State.

    “Freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly are guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but jettisoned by Mbu’s policemen. The need for peace, security and participatory democracy in Rivers State cannot be overemphasised.

    “Police permit is not needed before protesting or having a rally in a democracy. Mbu allowed Niger Delta militants to recently protest on the streets of Port Harcourt. Why did he ask his men to intimidate the members of the civil society coalition and law-abiding citizens?”

    Nsirimovu also described as “really unfortunate” a situation where people who denounced violence were intimidated by the police not to participate in a rally designed to be peaceful.

    The Executive Chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Debo Adeniran, who came in from Lagos, said he and other activists were supporting true democracy and human rights.

    Adeniran said allowing impunity would not be in the best interest of democracy, stressing that it could spread to other parts of Nigeria and that people’s will must be respected at all times.

    An activist from Jos, Plateau State, Nankin Bagudu of the League of Human Rights, said Nigerians were worried about the ugly development in Rivers State, especially with five of the 32 members attempting to impeach Speaker Otelemaba Dan Amachree.

    Bagudu added that politics must be on principle and not personal interests. He advised stakeholders to always give peace a chance.

    The General Secretary of the Alliance for Credible Elections, Emma Ezeazu, said the rule of law must reign.

  • Port Harcourt rally leader alleges plot to arrest him

    Port Harcourt rally leader alleges plot to arrest him

    Chairman of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC), Anyakwee Nsirimovu, yesterday alleged that the police were planning to arrest him.

    Nsirimovu said he had to relocate from Port Harcourt but declared that the rally would go on as planned. Nsirimovu spoke on the telephone yesterday from his hide out.

    Anarchy might also be looming as some Niger Delta militants said they would not allow the rally. They were poised for a showdown with the civil society coalition, urging the police to prevent the protest from holding.

    The NDCSC chairman said DSP Onengiye of the Rivers Police Command’s Intelligence Unit called him to attend a meeting with Mbu “unfailingly” yesterday, which Nsirimovu said was a ploy to arrest him and he decided to ignore the invitation.

    He said the coalition had written to the Rivers police to provide minimal security during the rally, which he said was normal in a democracy and would not need police permit, but that the policemen should do what was right.

    Nsirimovu said: “We are not bothered about the threats by Niger Delta militants and attempts by the police in Rivers state to frustrate the rally. We are going ahead. As free citizens, we should be able to express our displeasure on issues.

    “If Mbu could allow Niger Delta militants to protest on the streets of Port Harcourt, why does he want to intimidate the civil society coalition and law-abiding citizens? Mbu cannot stop the rally. They should not be jittery, because the rally will be very peaceful.”

    The group said the planned rally was to put an end to impunity and political violence in Rivers state and prevent anarchy, declaring that the internal political processes within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state was moving from bad to worse.

    The NDCSC also condemned the barbarism displayed in the hallowed chamber of the Rivers House of Assembly on July 9, when five of the 32 members attempted to impeach the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree. It also frowned on the continuing inaction of Rivers commissioner of police.

    A militant group, the Ijaw Freedom Fighters (IFF) and a non-governmental organisation, Ijaw People’s Development Initiative (IPDI), over the weekend, however, invited activists to steer clear of Port Harcourt.

     

  • Amaechi’s wife condoles with First Lady over mother’s death

    Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi ,has commiserated with the nation’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, over the death of her mother, Mrs. Charity Iwari Obah, who lost her life in an auto crash on Monday.

    Mrs. Amaechi in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday said that “the death of Mrs. Obah is indeed a great loss to Rivers State in particular, especially the Obah’s family and the nation at large.”

    The Rivers First lady stated that she was devastated by the news of Mrs. Obah’s death.

    She prayed God to grant Mrs. Jonathan and the Obah’s family in Rivers State the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

     

  • Diamond Bank, Rivers hold summit

    Diamond Bank, Rivers hold summit

    Diamond Bank Plc has partnered with the Rivers State Government to host the Wealth Creation and Poverty Reduction (WCPR) summit.

    It had as theme: Developing an effective comprehensive framework for wealth creation and poverty reduction in Rivers State.

    In a statement, the bank said the event, which held in Port Harcourt, was an initiative of the state government, through the Rivers State Office of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA).

    Diamond Bank said it is committed to supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow businesses through capacity building, under its BusinessExpress Enterprise Series.

    The bank said it is supporting the growth of SMEs because it recognise that the future of a nation lies in the hands of entrepreneurs, so any energy expended in building up that sector cannot be wasted. It is something that is going to benefit the economy in years to come.

    ‘’The seminar is a complete package of everything a bank could provide to a small business to enable it grow. The BusinessExpress Enterprise Series is an initiative of the Diamond BusinessXpress Account (DBXA). It is a current account designed to meet the needs of MSME such as hotels, supermarkets, businessmen, professionals, travel agencies, trading outfits, schools, churches, fast food outlets, restaurants, clubs and entertainment outfits,” the statement added.

     

  • That Port Harcourt mob attack

    An Ijaw friend of mine from Bayelsa state who has been living in Lagos for close to 30 years now shocked me recently when he made a strong albeit stupid case for a second term for his kinsman, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as Nigeria’s president post 2015 general elections.

    He pleaded that President Jonathan should be given another opportunity in 2015 to ‘wobble and fumble’ in the presidency again just like his predecessors did and were not denied a second term.

    And in case you think the man was joking, he wasn’t. He was dead serious. He listed former presidents Shehu Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo who didn’t do well in their first term in office and were still allowed to continue after four wasted years.

    He argued that since every  elected president before Jonathan messed up the opportunity given to them to rule this country and were still given another chance to continue, then Jonathan should be allowed to complete his own ‘messing up’, so to speak before we clean up their mess. As he puts it ‘let the messing up go round’.

    Don’t cry for him or Nigeria. That is the level to which our politics has fallen since we elected to promote ethnicity rather than competence in our choice of leaders in this country.

    If not to appease the Yoruba for denying their son, Chief MKO Abiola the presidency of Nigeria in 1993 through the criminal annulment of his election, why on earth would any right thinking leadership hand over the rein of government to an Olusegun Obasanjo after he bungled the first chance he had as military Head of State between 1976 and 1979?  But that was what the so called cabal then did in 1999, when Obasanjo was ‘elected’ president, even against the wise counsel of his Yoruba kinsmen.

    And to complete the appeasement he was given another four years even when his first tenure was a monumental failure

    Was it not because the north must be allowed to complete its eight years at the saddle that President Shagari was given a second term in 1983 in spite of his glaring inadequacies?  President Umaru Yar’Adua would have asked for and given another four years if death had not intervened to cut short his presidency, even when the signs were there that things weren’t getting better. You could argue that Yar’Adua could have done better were it not for death, but on the evidence of his performance as a two-term governor of Katsina state, even ten more years wouldn’t possibly have changed anything.

    So if you look around you, it’s been one mess up after another for our presidents (including the soldiers), and this was probably why my Ijaw friend was arguing that his Ijaw brother, our president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan be allowed to complete the South-south turn.

    If we are to go by his argument, then the entire 500 plus ethnic nationalities in Nigeria should be allowed their chance to mess Nigeria up for eight years each. Did I hear you scream madness? Yes madness! Because that is what it is, but don’t laugh at him, rather pity him and some of his fellow Ijaw and South-southerners who are rabidly rallying behind a Jonathan-for-second-term project without a thought for the wellbeing of Nigeria.

    By the way, my friend used to be a critic of the lack lustre Jonathan administration, until his recent 360 degrees turn. Why I wouldn’t know. But I know for certain that he didn’t change because he had been paid, but I suspect blind ethnic solidarity which had never been part of him before but which has now crept in and is distorting his sense of reasoning and perception, a malady that is gradually blowing across the Ijaw nation and to some extent, the South-south geo-political zone.

    This malady is playing itself out in Rivers State where the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party is in a state of civil war which has the tendency to derail not only this democracy but also the fabric of Nigeria’s existence as a united nation. The war has pitched Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his supporters on one side against forces loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, led by the Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike.

    The story of the unfolding war so far you know, but the whole story might not be known unless the key actors decide to open up. Governor Amaechi has promised to reveal all at a later date, sometime next year and he says Rivers people would be shocked. Wike in response says if the governor opens his mouth and says something, he too has a lot to reveal. But this is beside the point here.

    What is of greater concern here is the dangerous dimension the whole crisis has taken which portends danger for the country.

    Last week, four state governors from the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), decided to pay a solidarity visit to their colleague and Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who they believe is facing persecution from the federal government for standing up against a tyrannical presidency.

    The governors of Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa and Niger states who flew into Port Harcourt International Airport together with Amaechi were reportedly attacked by supporters of Wike (by extension supporters of Jonathan) and held hostage for hours at the airport by stone throwing thugs from the Wike backed Grassroots Democratic Initiatives (GDI), a group of political hoodlums that emerged from nowhere just as the Rivers crisis began.  Though unruffled, Amaechi and his guests had one of the vehicles in their convoy damaged by the thugs as they eventually made their way out of the airport for the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    But after spending some quality time with their host, the governors eventually left for home but not before having some harsh words for the Nigeria Police whose officers and men reportedly looked the other way as the hoodlums held sway at the airport. They reportedly expressed concern at the glaring partisanship of the police against the state government in the crisis and threatened that state governments could reconsider their funding of the police if the trend in Rivers continues. They also deplored the political crisis in the state urging their colleague to stand firm.

    The attack on the governors by Wike’s boys showed the level to which Jonathan and his band of supporters are prepared to go to achieve their 2015 objective. Thank God, at no time were the lives of these visiting governors put under serious threat. If all or one or two of them had been injured in the attack, only God knows what could have happened back home in their respective states. This is the kind of thing you get when thugs are allowed to walk the corridors of power.

    I recall in the run up to the governorship election in old Oyo state in 1979, the then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the party that later emerged victorious in the gubernatorial polls in what was then known as LOOBO states, comprising today’s south west, Edo and Delta states, had its primary and it was deadlocked. Chief Bola Ige locked horns with his former teacher at Ibadan Grammar School, Archdeacon Emmanuel Alayande (believed to be Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s preferred candidate for the position) and the deadlock was broken by a certain thuggish looking politician by name Chief Busari Adelakun. Governor Bola Ige was to later reward Adelakun with a seat in his cabinet as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, against the advice of Chief Awolowo who we were told, warned that Adelakun was a mere thug, not fit for any serious political appointment. Bola Ige did not listen.

    Those who know the story of the political crisis that engulfed Bola Ige’s Oyo state, or witnessed the mayhem that accompanied the National Party of Nigeria (NPN’s) determination to take over the state from the UPN would readily acknowledge, if they are still alive, the role the thug called Adelakun played in the blood bath. It might be necessary to add here that the crisis in Oyo state then was one of those crises that brought down the second republic.

    Another thug is walking the corridors of power now and at the national level. The trajectory of his rise and rise to prominence is probably the fault of his benefactors, including Governor Amaechi and now President Jonathan, who instead of rewarding Wike (for whatever good  he must done to them) with a position commensurate to his thuggish disposition promoted him beyond the level of his competence. And now he is causing all this trouble.

    Nigeria could have been on fire now if anything bad had happened to those governors. And nobody or only a few would remember that Wike’s ambition had a hand or even was the hand that ignited the fire, everything would be on Jonathan’s neck. The earlier the president knows this the better. He should call Wike and his band of thugs to order.

     

  • Chaos at Rivers Assembly

    Chaos at Rivers Assembly

    -Five lawmakers ‘impeach’ speaker

    -Amaechi moves in to restore order

    -Thugs attack Dep. Governor’s car

     

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi moved fast yesterday to stop a major constitutional crisis at the House of Assembly.

    Five lawmakers loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, claimed to have impeached the Speaker. It was all part of the crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    There was a rain of blows at the main chambers of the House of Assembly in Port Harcourt, between the pro and anti-Amaechi lawmakers.

    The five lawmakers loyal to Wike – Michael Okechukwu Chinda (Obio/Akpor II constituency), Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bapakaye Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) – attempted to impeach the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree.

    Bipi was humidly elected speaker, amid tight security provided by the police. He announced the suspension of 15 unnamed lawmakers – in a 32-member Assembly.

    As Bipi mounted the speaker’s seat to give his acceptance/maiden speech, Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), stormed the main chambers with Amachree, other lawmakers and security men. Then the fisticuffs began.

    The Speaker and the Leader of the House, Chidi Lloyd, a lawyer, who represents Emohua Constituency and loyal to Amaechi, were attacked. As at press time yesterday, Lloyd was still in the hospital.

    Also seriously injured were two anti-Amaechi lawmakers: Amaewhule and Chinda. They were also hospitalised.

    Amaechi ordered the arrest of Bipi, but the policemen and operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), who were with the Rivers governor, were resisted by the security personnel guarding the “new speaker”.

    A policeman cautioned another for bringing tear gas canister into the main chambers. The policemen were obviously divided in their support for Amaechi and Wike.

    When the punching subsided, the House sat amid very tight security, with 23 pro-Amaechi lawmakers in attendance. Amachree presided. Amaechi left immediately.

    Rivers Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru, an engineer, was ushered into the Assembly chambers at 11:42 pm to present amendments to the 2013 budget, on behalf of Amaechi. This lasted from 11:44 pm till 11:48 pm when it was laid on the table. Ikuru left the main chambers at 11:51 pm.

    The Speaker said the amendments would not affect the earlier figure of N490 billion. Shortly after Ikuru left, the House was adjourned sine die (indefinitely) at 12:01 pm.

    The deputy governor was attacked by thugs around 12:26 pm as he was leaving the Assembly complex on Moscow Road. His car was badly damaged.

    On his way out, after making the presentation, thugs who flooded the complex, chanting war songs and in support of the “new speaker”, descended on Ikuru, in spite of the heavy security presence.

    Other cars in his convoy were also damaged.

    Bipi assaulted a Channels Television cameraman, snatching his camera from him. The camera was released, following the intervention of top politicians.

    As Speaker Amachree was leaving the main chamber, after the sitting, Bipi also punched the representative of Abua/Odual Constituency in the Assembly, Augustine Ngo, near the parking lot. He fell and immediately got up.

    The representative of Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, described the attack on the speaker, the leader and other members of the Assembly loyal to Amaechi, “under the watchful eyes of the police”, as a shame and a slap on democracy.

    He urged lovers of democracy and Nigerians to not only condemn the dastardly and barbaric act, but to resist moves being orchestrated by those under democratic oath to make Rivers State ungovernable.

    Abe, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), wondered the kind of democracy being practised in Nigeria, if democratic institutions and those elected to make laws could not be protected.

    The senator, who is a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), declared that plans to throw the state into anarchy would not succeed. He admonished well-meaning Rivers people to stand by Amaechi, whom he said was being persecuted for defending the state.

    Chief Victor Tombari Giadom, the Commissioner for Works, described the action of the anti-Amaechi lawmakers as “pure rascality”.

    Speaker Amachree said: “As far as this House is concerned, the leadership of the House has not changed. I am the speaker of Rivers House of Assembly and all the other officers and the clerk are here with me. The leadership of the House is intact and what Evans Bipi told you is pure fallacy, lie.

    “For the House to impeach the speaker, two-thirds of the members must agree. Now, count how many members that are with me here. We are 23 members here; you can count us. No mace was brought into the House.

    “When we get to the bridge, we will know how to cross it. But every member knows that we have rules and regulations that guide us in our conduct. I will not say anything yet on attempt to impeach me, but the leadership and members of the House will meet and decide on that.

    “I do not know where the rumour of attempt to impeach Governor Amaechi is coming from. We have just finished our sitting. There was no attempt as far as we are concerned to impeach me or anybody. We are even shocked to hear that. It is not true. Look at us. Can five members sit to impeach the speaker?

    “We are about 27 members here. We do not know what their aims were, but today, in fact, we did not know there would be chaos in the House. So, we went to the House as usual and we were exchanging pleasantries before Evans Bipi attacked me and the leader of the House. Then Hon. Chinda joined him. But we quickly arrested the situation and started our deliberations.

    “It is not compulsory that every member must be present at our sitting everyday. Some obtained permission like the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tonye Harry, who is in Paris, France for a conference. Three others did not attend today’s sitting, but they also obtained permission. There was a kind of chaos before we sat today.”

    On the role of the police, Amachree said: “I am so surprised and shocked because yesterday, I officially directed the Clerk of the House to write the Commissioner of Police for security, because of what happened on May 6, when some hoodlums invaded the Assembly.

    “We did not want a repeat of that. So, I directed the Clerk to write to the commissioner of police and also the Brigade Commander, but to my greatest surprise, I did not see one single soldier in the Assembly.

    “The policemen I saw were acting funny. One of my colleagues was even beaten by the police. The computers in the hallowed chambers were all destroyed by the five honourable members (lawmakers).

    “In that hallowed chambers, honourable members can do anything there. It happens in every parliament. What we are concerned about is for a member to bring in hoodlums to attack his fellow members. As colleagues, we can fight in the chambers, but outside the chambers, it is unfortunate that the police will also be there and watch hoodlums attack members.

    “As a House, we will look into it, but we do not have right over the police. What we will do is that we will write to the National Assembly. We will do a presentation or we will send a formal complaint to the National Assembly. The House will continue to sit, but for now, we have adjourned sine die, but we can reconvene anytime.

    “The governor does not have the right to spend money or take money from one sub-head to another. He has to ask for approval and that was what he did today.”

    The five anti-Amaechi lawmakers started arriving the Assembly complex from 8 am and were complete around 9 am, with eight of the 27 pro-Amaechi legislators, led by the House Leader, arriving around 9:40 am.

    The 13 lawmakers were waiting for the speaker to arrive. They started sitting around 10 am. That angered Lloyd and seven other pro-Amaechi lawmakers, who staged a walkout. The anti-Amaechi lawmakers took over the main chambers.

    The representative of Port Harcourt III Constituency, Victor Ihunwo, sat on the speaker’s seat and conducted the affairs, with the members calling for the impeachment of the speaker (Amachree) and the entire leadership, after passing a vote of no confidence in them, with the impeachment immediately effected.

    The Obio/Akpor Constituency I representative, Martins Amaewhule, moved a motion on the election of a new speaker, which was seconded by Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma Constituency), Bipi was “elected” as the speaker.

    As soon as Bipi moved to the speaker’s seat, Ihunwo stepped out and the new speaker began the business of the day. Then, Amaechi, the legislators loyal to him, his supporters and security personnel stormed the main chambers, forcing the pro-Wike lawmakers to leave. They stayed around the premises with their supporters.

  • Wike: Jonathan didn’t shun me at Port Harcourt Airport

    Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike has denied reports that President Goodluck Jonathan shunned him at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

    Wike, in a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Simeon Nwakandu, accused the Rivers State government of masterminding the reports.

    The minister said Jonathan not only shook hands with him, they both walked round the airport and waved at the people.

    He said the architect of the reports were only out to achieve selfish end.

    “On Sunday, June 30, major national newspapers in the country published a planted report from the Rivers State Government House. Most of the papers replicated a story that was emailed to them by propaganda officials of the Rivers State Government.

    “The storyline which the propagandists wanted to shove down the throat of Nigerians was the falsehood that Chief Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and his loyalists were shunned by His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan whilst he arrived the Port Harcourt International Airport enroute Abuja. They copiously quoted from the same source.

    “A clearer insight into this deliberate falsehood aimed at misinforming Nigerians emerged in the similar paragraphs extracted by the different newspapers in a bid to create the false impression that there was a conflict between the President and the Honourable Minister of State for Education.

    “We have taken the pain to highlight the obvious pre-meditated falsehood of events at the Port Harcourt International Airport and sponsored by the Rivers State Government. In the last one month, Nigerians have been fed with one form of concocted report or the other by the same set of reporters, who refuse to rise to their professional calling and have chosen deliberately to mislead their editors and the Nigerian public.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Chief (Barr.) Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, was part of the official advance team of the President’s team to Bayelsa. It was on that basis that he was also at the airport to receive His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) on his way to Abuja from Bayelsa State. For those who were there at the airport, they saw as the Minister greeted him in line with the rules of state protocol before the President went ahead to greet other dignitaries. It was a simple airport ceremony.

    “The fact that the Rivers State Government House is bent on manipulating every simple event to achieve political milestone brings…. The release sent by the Government House, Port Harcourt aimed at spreading falsehood was unsigned and sent to selected reporters, who made no attempt to verify or cross-check the issues peddled in the said news releases.

    “We are not surprised at the unprincipled tactics of the Government House Port Harcourt. We are only shocked that some senior journalists and reputable newspapers have allowed themselves to be tricked into dumping time-honoured journalistic ethics in pursuit of political shadows. We are shocked that the editors have looked the other way whilst media professionalism is being brutally murdered. We are surprised that the so-called critics have looked the other way whilst the supposedly unbiased media is being blatantly compromised.

    “The emerging trend of claiming that false press releases from Government House Port Harcourt press releases are products of ‘investigations’ as in the extant case is worrisome. Now is the time for the editors of the newspapers that are being repeatedly used to promote a negative political agenda to ask questions. The reading public and other stakeholders deserve better service.”