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Tag: Richard Kpodo

  • Former Bayelsa governor’s aide docked over alleged rape

    Chief Richard Kpodo, a former Security Adviser to the former governor of Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva, was on Friday docked before a Magistrates’ Court in Yenagoa, for alleged rape.

    The accused was charged with unlawfully detaining one Teke Blessing on June 20 at Etegwe, Yenagoa,with an intention to defile her.

    He was also charged with raping the said Blessing on the same day.

    However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge.

    His counsel, Funilaifa Seibokuro, urged the court to grant the accused bail, which was opposed by the prosecuting counsel, Ayibatonye Jumbo.

    Seibokuro said that the offence for which Kpodo was arraigned was a bailable one, and assured that his client, a well-known politician, would be available to face trial.

    He also said that Kpodo had medical challenges and pleaded that he should be granted bail on self recognition.

    The prosecuting counsel, in opposing, said that if granted bail, the accused would interfere and influence the prosecution witness and, hence, jeopardise his trial.

    He also faulted the claim by the defence counsel that the accused had medical challenge as there was no medical report to support it.

    The court, presided over by Mrs E.T.M. Ere, adjourned the case until Aug. 10. for ruling on the bail application and ordered that the accused to be remanded in prison custody.

  • Kinsman to Jonathan: Declare or …

    Kinsman to Jonathan: Declare or …

    Prominent kinsman of President Goodluck Jonathan and erstwhile Security Adviser in Bayelsa State, Mr. Richard Kpodo, has asked the president to declare for reelection in 2015 or his kinsmen will be forced to do it for him.

    Kpodo also alleged that the spate of bombings and increased violence by Boko Haram were intended to stop the president from seeking reelection.

    Kpodo, who served under Jonathan’s administration in Bayelsa State, as Senior Special Assistant on Strategy and Policy Monitoring, said: “There is no better time for the president to declare than now.

    “We have studied elected presidents from the time of the Second Republic to the military and discovered that the style of administration of Goodluck Jonathan is unique. He has remained calm despite provocation and temptation.”

    He wondered why northern leaders have been at the forefront of attacking Jonathan’s administration after bungling many opportunities to develop the north in the past.

    Kpodo called on Jonathan to shun the antics of Boko Haram and its sponsors and declare his intention to run in 2015 without further delay.

  • Kinsman to Jonathan: Declare your re-election bid now

    Prominent kinsman to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Richard Kpodo, has asked the President to declare for reelection in 2015 or his kinsmen will be forced to do it for him.

    He said the spate of bombings and increased violence by Boko Haram were intended to stop the President from seeking reelection.

    Kpodo, who served during Jonathan’s administration in Bayelsa State as Senior Special Assistant on Strategy and Policy Monitoring, described Boko Haram activities as dangerous politics.

    He, however, said Nigerians will soon begin to mount pressure on Jonathan to return in 2015.

    He told Jonathan that persons opposed to his administration were bent in using insecurity to cow him from seeking reelection.

    He said: “There is no better time for the President to declare than now. We have studied elected presidents from the time of the Second Republic to the military and discovered that the style of administration of Goodluck Jonathan is unique. He has remained calm despite provocation and temptation.”

    He said Jonathan’s demeanour has deepened democracy, adding that he had not victimized anybody despite tantrums thrown to him by the opposition.

    He said the likes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and past leaders would have been intolerant of the kind of criticisms faced by President Jonathan.

    “Some of us embarked on criticisms against Jonathan’s administration but nothing evil happened to us. The kind of utterances against Jonathan had never been accommodated by any administration in this country.

    “It is not weakness but an administration style that has human feelings and the one that believes in the unity of the country,” he said.

     

  • APC directs Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa crisis

    APC directs Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa crisis

    The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has directed Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and former Minister of External Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, to resolve the crisis in the Bayelsa State chapter of the party.

    It was learnt that Amaechi and Ikimi were asked to meet the warring factions and end the crisis.

    Loyalists of former Governor Timipre Sylva, who joined the party from the dissolved new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), have been at loggerheads with the founding members of the APC.

    Following the crisis, Governor Seriake Dickson appealed to the national leadership of the party to intervene.

    It was learnt that the interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, asked Ikimi and Amaechi, leaders of the party in the Southsouth, to intervene.

    Sylva’s former security adviser, Chief Richard Kpodo, who has been laying claims to the chairmanship of the party, confirmed the development.

    He said: “Amaechi and Ikimi are leaders in this zone and they have been mandated by our national leadership to intervene.”

    Kpodo urged them to prevent the escalation of the crisis.

    Former youth leader of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr. Miriki Ebikibina, also confirmed the development, saying APC was committed to internal democracy.

    “What the party is doing is to ensure that there is internal democracy at the state and national levels,” he added.

     

  • Tackle your leadership crisis, Bayelsa PDP urges APC

    Tackle your leadership crisis, Bayelsa PDP urges APC

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State chapter, has urged the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to resolve the crisis rocking the state’s branch of the party.

    PDP, in a statement by its Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), said it noted with concern, the tension among the three factions of the APC, led by a former defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain, Ebikibina Miriki, Richard Kpodo and Tiwei Orunimighe, all claiming leadership of the party.

    Hailing the state government’s statement on its commitment to the protection of life and property of law-abiding citizens, including APC members, PDP enjoined the national leadership of APC to resolve the crisis and announce the leader in the state, stressing that it cannot afford to be thrown into chaos.