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Tag: Rivers

  • Rivers crisis: Lagos Assembly cautions PDP

    Rivers crisis: Lagos Assembly cautions PDP

    The Lagos State House of Assembly has cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop looking for scapegoats as a result of its failure to manage the lingering crisis in Rivers State as well as the internal bickering within the party in many other states of the federation.

    Reacting to a statement made by the Lagos PDP on Friday where it accused the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) of being responsible for the political crisis in Rivers State, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Hon. Segun Olulade, described the allegation as a distortion of the truth and a cheap ploy to blackmail the ACN.

    Buttressing his position, Olulade stressed that the PDP should affirm if it was ACN that ignited the crisis in Plateau, Kano, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Nasarawa and other PDP-controlled states.

    He also asked the PDP if ACN was responsible for the bombing of churches, mosques, schools and other public institutions, as well as the kidnapping of innocent citizens in the country.

    He also denied PDP’s allegation about an incidence of a free-for-all fight at the Lagos State House of Assembly where Hon. Risikat Adegeye was physically attacked on the floor of the House.

    The lawmaker added that there has never been any time in the history of the Lagos State House of Assembly when members engaged in physical combat.

    Olulade advised the PDP leadership to warn President Goodluck Jonathan to desist from the use of divide and rule tactics, adding that the crude approaches of Jonathan and some other PDP leaders and their controversial meddling in issues of local and national pedigree have worsened the crisis in many states across the country.

  • Rivers’ lawless five

    Rivers’ lawless five

    The President should call his goons to order instead of denying things that even angels cannot convince Nigerians about 

    How will former President Olusegun Obasanjo be feeling now, seeing the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency struggling to surpass his (Obasanjo’s) record in infamy? That is the question on the lips of many Nigerians who have been watching the nauseating developments in Rivers State. At the speed the presidency of his estranged political godson is travelling on the highway of impunity, it may beat his (Obasanjo’s) record before the 2015 election. President Jonathan has told us he is not Pharaoh; he said he is not Nebuchadnezzar either; but what he has not told us is who the son of man is. Perhaps he wants us to find out.

    Many of us are yet to know him; the best we can say of him is that he is a president who does not give a damn! At least that came, as they say, from the horse’s mouth. We also know him as a president who exalts figure 16 over and above figure 19. That is also a statement of fact. Till tomorrow, many of the our primary school pupils keep asking their parents and teachers about this jigsaw puzzle because, in their innocence, they want to take anything and everything coming from the president as the gospel truth. Poor kids! They are learning fast; even if it is the wrong values that they are being taught by those who should be transforming the country.

    By now, it is clear that the enemies of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State will stop at nothing to remove him. Many times they had missed the ball and went for the leg. Such was the situation on Tuesday when the state house of assembly was thrown into chaos when five members of the house wanted to impeach the Speaker, Otelemaba Amachree, and 26 others who are Amaechi’s loyalists. The personal intervention of the governor prevented the ‘lawless five’ from concluding their illegal mission.

    One might then ask: why didn’t Amaechi and the majority other lawmakers in the House allow the five members to luxuriate in their illegality and then go to court after to challenge their action? The answer is simple: we must have lost our sense of history to do that. Rashidi Ladoja did that and he regretted it; ditto Ayo Fayose, among others. I guess that must have been the reckoning of the five and their sponsors; unfortunately, again, they miscalculated. By now, the authentic speaker would have become history if they had trod that path; perhaps Amaechi too would have ceased to be governor. He would now be busy assembling a retinue of senior advocates that would fight the matter in court; mind you, not in his capacity as governor again but as ‘Simply Mr’. By the time the case is over, elections would have fallen due. Of course, if you remember the case of the two women that threw up King Solomon as a very wise king, you will also see that Amaechi’s opponents have nothing to lose if the five law breakers had been allowed to have their way; as a matter of fact, they would be profiting from their illegality now. And, you know what? They would have gone to church today to celebrate the ‘impeachment’, with some men of God blessing them too, apparently after being ‘blessed’ to conduct the thanksgiving service. The PDP is notorious for such celebrations and thanksgivings.

    That is what the Obasanjo presidency has taught us; and it is what the Jonathan presidency too wants to bequeath to us as legacy. A chip off the old block, you would say? But when a child has learnt the art of dying, the parents too must master the art of burial. That was what has happened in this case. Both Obasanjo and Jonathan have taught governors whose guts they do not like that they (governors) must get wise before and not after the illegal act. So, we are now having a culture of impunity begetting impunity.

    This is rather unfortunate. And to think that the presidency is being (even if remotely) associated with this makes it the more disheartening. The office of the president is an exalted one. But that office cannot be dignified more than the occupier wants it to be. It is sad that everything happening in the state now had been predicted; that is people want to cause enough chaos to warrant the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers. This is a reflection of the desperation of people who truly do not give a damn. What is most annoying is the Presidency’s serial denial of involvement in the developments. Perhaps it is apt to let the presidency know that Nigerians feel more and more insulted when such denials are made; and this in turn diminishes the prestige of the presidency.

    Those who have ears and know that they hear with them should listen to the voice of wisdom. The crisis in Rivers State is one (as I have always said since it became a public issue) no one can predict its end. Those who are after the state governor and think they can remove him by hook or crook might all end up rendering themselves jobless and throwing the entire country into crisis, if history is to be our guide. We all know how governors can be removed because it is stated expressly in our constitution, which is the grund norm. Jonathan’s presidency is culpable in this matter because it provided the impetus for the ‘lawless five’ who wanted to impeach a lawful speaker and replace him illegally. They would not have been that emboldened to embark on such a shameful voyage if the president himself had not given his failed candidate in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election, Jonah Jang, a heroic welcome after the defeat. If the president said 16 is greater than 19, how come those who see themselves as doing his bidding will not take the joke too far by wanting to impeach their speaker with only five in a 32-member house of assembly?

    This Rivers matter is particularly distressing because the common man cannot reap any tangible benefit from all the troubles being caused in the state. Here was a state where all manner of hoodlums once held sway but Amaechi reined them in. Now, in Port Harcourt, the ancien regime has returned, with people now having to raise their hands on the streets to show they are no criminals. If lives have not been lost yet, it is certain lives will still be lost in the course of this crisis with the audacity of the desperadoes to have their way, backed by the ‘federal might’. How then are they and their sponsors different from the ‘political’ Boko Haram that the government is fighting, because the fight in Rivers is all about political power just like that of the ‘political’ Boko Haram?

    Rivers State is sitting majestically atop enormous resources. The PDP, because of the way it has mishandled the crisis is probably afraid Amaechi might dump the party and is therefore bent on being in charge of the resources, with the 2015 election in view. Whatever PDP spent to prosecute the 2011 election is going to be a child’s play with what it would require to prosecute the 2015 polls. The election that brought President Jonathan in in 2011 was a walk-over; for sure, the next won’t be. That much is clear with the handwriting on the wall.

    But the president must be careful. It is a powerful statement that his side could not muster the simple majority required to win the 36-member NGF election, even though that was none of its business until he joined the fray. How then can a presidential side which lost at the national level hope to make it at the state level? The president should resist the temptation to use brawn where brain would have been sufficient because the result may be catastrophic. The fact that Obasanjo got away with that is no guarantee that President Jonathan will.

  • Rivers crisis: Impeach Jonathan now, Accord Party tells NASS

    The national leadership of the Accord Party (AP) has urged the National Assembly to immediately commence impeachment process against President Goodluck Jonathan over his perceived role in the political crisis rocking Rivers State.

    National Secretary of the party, Dr Samsom Isibor, in a stern statement issued to newsmen in Benin yesterday, alleged that the intolerance of President Jonathan and his wife to opposition voices spelt danger for the nation’s nascent democracy and called on all lovers of democracy to rise against arm-twisting by the Presidency to secure a second -term ticket.

    The party also alleges that the refusal of the president to accept the outcome of the Nigeria Governors Forum which Governor Rotimi Amaechi won with 19 votes to defeat Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, is not unconnected with the crisis.

  • Growing up was tough but it made me even tougher —Funmi Fiberesima

    Growing up was tough but it made me even tougher —Funmi Fiberesima

    Actress and one-time on-air-personality, Funmi Fiberesima, has joined the league of Nollywood producers and is gearing up to premiere her debut movie titled Onikola. Funmi started her foray into the world of make-believe on stage with the Rivers State Art and Culture group. She went on to star in soaps before she moved on to radio and TV production. The lead character in Dotun Taylor’s Egberun Maili, in this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, opens up on her endeavours in the arts. She also speaks on family, growing up and her relationship.

    YOU came into the industry, and after sometime you left. Your foray into the industry was quite short. Why?

    I don’t think it was short-lived. Like you know, I started from the stage. I was on stage from 1991-2003. And from 2003, I was the Assistant Coordinator of the Guild of Nigerian Actors, Enugu State Chapter. But I went back to school to do communication. But I never really left acting because every now and then I still got to help out students in the Theatre Art class with their costume work, worked behind the stage and all. But it’s just that communication helped me to make a transition from acting into producing. When I started working in the communications industry, I was more of a producer. I got a job in 2009 or 2010 there about with TVC.

    They just started at that time. I was a producer. It was in TVC I got trained to be a producer. I was a producer on TV and I was also a producer on radio, Radio Continental 102.3. I kind of find my work on radio the nitty-gritty of the job. And so things just developed. I still am a consultant for African Radio Drama Association. So it’s not like I left the industry, but the industry is very, very divided, divided in the sense that the industry has pockets of other components that come together to make it one big tree. It’s not just acting, it’s not just producing, it’s not just directing; it’s a whole lot that comes together to make one big tree.

    Can you refresh our minds on the soaps you featured in before you took some sort of break?

    I’ve done a couple of soaps on TV. Before I took the break, I began to write programmes. I met Sam Dede who was directing the soap House of Abraham, here in Port-Harcourt. And because I was on the soap and he was the director, I had a relationship with him, just like a mentor-mentee kind of relationship.

    He introduced me to the producer and the producer was like let’s see how we can work together. So when I’m not on set and the producer has other things to do I go to the location with him, just to watch and generally assimilate by association. So it was more like Sam Dede taught me. After that, in Lagos, while I was working with TVC, I was doing a soap, No Where to be Found. Yes, I think it was No Where to be found. I’ve always been acting but I never was really pursuing it, but it was while I was at TVC that I also did this Dotun Taylor’s movie, Egberun Maili.

    Really?

    Yes, I starred in Egberun Maili. I was the lead character in the movie.

    Was that your first Nollywood movie, so to speak?

    Let me say that was my first time to star in a movie.

    And was that the movie that gave you your break?

    Acting wise? I wouldn’t say it gave me much of the break. It’s more than one role that gives you a break. You have to keep at it, but I wasn’t willing to keep at it.

    Why?

    Yes, because there are pretty much so many things that I could do, and like I said, acting was not the only thing that was intriguing to me anymore. There was just something that I was looking for and I think it was to be able to make my own film, berth my own ideas.

    So, if anything, I did Onikola, my film that I just recently produced. I hope this one will give me the break I’m looking for because in this one I was able to be a producer and I was also able to act in it. I tried to like find a balance for myself. I was not just wearing a producer’s hat, I was also wearing an actor’s hat. I don’t think I want to direct because that is a talent that I think you have to be born with.

    So I don’t think I want to direct. But someday I may direct .There’re just so many things in the art I want do. The art is like a river. You cannot tell it where to flow. You just find fulfillment in expressing everything that’s in you. So, with Onikola, I was able to express more than one talent that I find in me. I feel it’s easier for people who know they can act, they know they are fantastic actors and are not interested in anything else. For me, I see myself as one with multiple talents.

    I’m interested in a whole lot of other things. I see myself as somebody with so much more talent so I don’t get satisfied just doing one thing. If in one project I’m able to wear more than one hat and I’m able to wear it well, it is fantastic. In Onikola, I loved the experience of wearing all the hats together. And I think it’s something I want to do all over and over again. That is why my publicist says that, I’m a little Tyler Perry in the making because he’s able to, like, do everything at one time. I’m hoping I would be able to get to that level.

    Do you think that you will get a favourable feedback with Onikola, being your first?

    I hope it will be able to give me the feedback that I need because ultimately you are producing for the audience hoping that they will be able to find their meaning in the expression of art that you have chosen. This is just me growing.

    Right now, virtually everyone in Nollywood is an actor, producer, and this, in a way, has fostered competition in the industry. What do you intend to bring to the table?

    First and foremost I would like to say, a lot of the actors that are producers now, it has been like a natural progression for them. They’ve been in the entertainment industry long enough. I think it takes a lot of guts. It’s takes a lot of courage. Haven said that, you will agree with me that Nollywood won’t have been where it is today if people like Uche Jombo and the rest did not take the bull by the horns.

    How can I forget Kunle Afolayan? If people like him did not take the bull by the horns we still would have been doing those wishy-washy films. You understand what I’m saying. So they began to bring the spark and the quality that was not there before. They have moved Nollywood further and that in itself is something commendable. Then, speaking on what I am bringing to the table. I am hoping to be able to tell stories that will appeal to probably the international audience, doing quality stories, something better or as good as what actors that have now become producers are doing because what they are doing is something worthy of emulation if you ask me.

    I’m hoping that I will be able to mirror the traditional Nigerian spirit, to showcase the indomitable spirit of the Nigerian woman and child. To tell stories that can probably change or influence policies, stories that touch on the fabric of the Nigerian society. If I’m able to do that I will be very grateful to God.

    So this is me saying that I want to be creative. I want to tell stories that are part of our everyday life. I’m going to be telling a lot of stories that have to do with my life because I’ve had quite a journey myself. I’m not going to limit myself. I’m going to be very creative.

    Would it be right to say your come-back is going to be more of producing than acting?

    It’s going to be a lot of me doing everything. Don’t be surprised if you see a film production, Funmilayo Cameraman. It’s going to be me doing everything but producing is something that has been in my heart. I didn’t know it at a time, but doing it I know it’s something that my heart has longed for, for a long time. When I was unsatisfied with acting that was probably what I was looking for but I didn’t know it at the time.

    Can you describe the mind of a producer?

    The mind of a producer is eternally creative. The mind of the producer is like the womb of a mother. The child now is your story and then the process of writing it and producing it could be likened to the process of delivery the mother goes through. And when you now produce and you premiere it it’s like naming ceremony. It’s like the womb of a mother; and the mind of the producer knows what is best for the production.

    It is intriguing to me that you would decide to produce your first movie in Yoruba language. What informed that?

    My mother is Yoruba and I was born in Lagos. Yoruba is my first language. My mother is from Ogun State. She’s from Okunola, less than two hours’ drive from Abeokuta. But my father is Rivers. Now that I’ve done something from my mother side you should be expecting something from my father’s side soon. But one thing that I think influences the way I see life is that I had an identity crisis.

    To my mother’s side, we were those Igbo children and to the father’s side we were those Yoruba children. You are never really, really accepted so much. I felt a lot of acceptance among strangers than I did at home, among my extended families. To my aunties and uncles I’m just always a Rivers girl, in fact they call me Omo Ajeokuta ma mumi, and to my Rivers’ aunties and uncle I’m just always a Yoruba girl. My father’s title is that man with Yoruba children because my mum passed on a long time. We are just Yoruba to them. Yoruba people don’t accept us, River people don’t accept us.

    Somehow it kind of allowed me the luxury of being attached to both cultures from an outsider point. I like to see myself as a blessed Yoruba girl that was blessed to have an extremely close relationship with the Rivers people. And then, I’m a blessed Rivers girl that was blessed to have extremely close relationship with the Yoruba people. So like Jesus would say, I’m neither Yoruba nor Rivers but I am Yoruba and Rivers.

    How old were you when your mother passed on?

    I was 15 going on 16. She had breast cancer.

    What was it like learning to be a woman by yourself and not from your mother?

    It made me value her presence more. My relationship with my mum was the type that you didn’t know her value until she was gone because I was always feeling like why won’t this woman just get off my case? And all of sudden there is nobody on your case and it was like where do I go? What do I do? When she passed on we relocated finally to Port-Harcourt. There, I was as free as a bird. I pretty much learnt everything I know by the grace of God.

    You must have made a lot of mistakes in your teens?

    Yes, I did. I made loads and loads of mistakes but let me say God found me. It could have been worse but it wasn’t. And I thank God am still alive today. But even in that freedom it wasn’t like there was no one to tell me anything but it was more like with the Yoruba, when they give you instruction and you say no, they will beat you until you say yes, but with the Rivers people it’s not like that.

    They give you instruction and you say no, they are like’ you are on your own’. Do your thing, no problem. It was more like I experimented with not having any kind of authority, later my father put his foot down, shipped me to my grandma place to go and stay. Imagine me, I don’t understand Okrika, my grandma doesn’t understand English; she only understands Okrika, so there was communication crisis and once I say anything she doesn’t understand, she starts to cry, accusing me of abusing her. It wasn’t funny. Every night when my dad comes back she reports me and he beats me, but one day my dad witnessed that scenario, that was when he now believed me. I pretty much had to learn my language.

    How did your childhood prepare you for this path, your endeavours?

    Not having real acceptance at home, I think that translated to my social life as a child because I never felt like I was in with the crowd. I was more of a tomboyish, trouble maker type. And all that made me like my own company more. But I didn’t like my own company when I was small because everybody had best friends and cool girls that the guys wanted to be with but I was just this ‘type’ of person. I wanted to fit in. I tried to fit in but I never did fit in. I began to like myself the day I stopped trying to fit in, and then I accepted that maybe you’ll never fit in. It kind of like made me to watch people from the outside.

    Your first relationship and not having your mother there to share with…

    It wasn’t so much fun. It happened when I came to Port-Harcourt. Everyone just thought I would be a bad girl for one reason because I had gotten to the point that I wasn’t interested in mixing. So they just generally felt I must be a very bad girl. I chose my friend by myself. Having a relationship, I didn’t learn so much from people’s experiences because I didn’t have people who would share theirs with me. I kind of like made my mistakes and then learnt from them.

    I would say that the situation made me kind of prayerful because God became my friend and the person I can talk to. Like the Bible says, everything kind of worked together for my good at the end. Growing up was tough but it made me tougher.

    Have you experienced battering in your relationship before?

    Yeah, I still have a broken shoulder to show for it. But the way I got back was that I stayed in the relationship and worked on myself until I didn’t love him again. It was a decision that I’m not going to love this person anymore.

    When I would say I got my revenge was when I woke up one morning and decided the relationship was over. The guy was like what! He begged for one year but I didn’t feel sorry for him. Every now and again, I get long ‘am sorry’ text messages. I don’t even read it.

    Do you believe in love?

    I believe in love but I believe that love is good when you find somebody that loves himself. Any man that loves himself is capable of being a good man to love.

    Why did you do a film on circumcision?

    Onikola is a film about female circumcision and it’s a film everybody should know about, watch and do something about. We took it seriously for a while and a lot of communities stopped it, but until no child is being circumcised I don’t think we should rest.

  • Rivers crisis: Politicians setting bad precedent for youths – ACN youths

    Political gladiators behind the crisis rocking Rivers State are bad examples to future leaders, the youth wing of the Action Congress of Nigeria has said. The ACN National Youth Leader, Mr. Miriki Ebikibina, said in Yenagoa yesterday that posterity would judge all the seen and unseen hands behind the plot to destabilise the state.

    He insisted that politicians had betrayed the trust reposed in them by the youths saying “there is nothing to learn from this crop of politicians”. He said it was shocking that lawmakers would engage the services of thugs to breach the peace of the state and terrorise people believed to have elected them.

    Having reviewed the imbroglio, he said persons who scripted the tragedy and their actors had, through their actions, stripped themselves of the obligations to advise the youths on leadership.

    Ebikibina frowned at the impunity with which security operatives, especially the police, took sides with the law breakers to disrupt the peace they vowed to protect. He, however, commended the House of Representatives for its resolution to take over the functions of the state House of Assembly. He asked the Force Headquarters to redeploy the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Mbu John Mbu, over his role in the saga.

    According to the CAN Youth Leader, “It is disheartening that politicians desperately engaged the services of thugs to disrupt and threaten the peace in Rivers State.”This is a wrong signal not only to Rivers State but also to the country. The controversial impeachment in the state is shameful and monumental embarrassment to the country.

    “It is also a blow on democracy. It should be strongly condemned. If what is happening in Rivers is not checked, it will portend danger to our preparation for the 2015 elections.”

  • 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.

  • How I was battered, by Rivers House Leader

    How I was battered, by Rivers House Leader

    The House Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, in a statement yesterday, detailed how he was battered by two of his colleagues.

    The statement reads: “Well, yesterday, the Speaker of the House, the Rt. Hon. Otelema Dan Amachree, directed that the House be reconvened to consider an amendment to the 2013 appropriation law, which the Governor had communicated to him via a letter and as if Mr. Speaker saw what was going to happen today, he wrote a letter through the Clerk of the House to the Commissioner of Police to provide security for today’s sitting and he also wrote to the commander of 2 Amphibious Brigade, who also doubles as the head of the internal JTF.

    “So, when we got to work this morning, we saw the presence of policemen numbering over 50 and we thought that this was in response to Mr. Speaker’s request.

    Shortly thereafter, I noticed that the five anti-Amaechi members were discussing in clusters and calling on their boys to come in. Initially, the policemen were searching everybody who would come into the premises. I had to even come down at the gate and trekked into the premises. So, after a while, we learnt that there were phone calls and the commissioner of police personally called the unit, the man in charge to allow everybody in.

    “We went in as members who have not seen ourselves for sometime because of the crisis in the state. I was on my seat. Without provocation, Hon. Evans Bipi came to me in the full glare of everybody on camera and started raining punches on me. As his leader I did not react because I felt that it was something we could settle, whatever it was. Maybe I didn’t greet him also. When that continued, the speaker intervened and said, ha, ‘what’s happening?’ Then he reached out for the tripod that stands the camera, used it freely on me, himself and Michael Okechukwu Chinda. They flogged me to their satisfaction. I didn’t just utter a word until Hon. Ihunwo graciously asked me to run for my dear life ‘because they have brought people with guns’ and of course when I looked at the gallery they were shouting ‘who is the Chidi Lloyd? Who is the Chidi Lloyd?’

    “So, at that point, I’m sure somebody may have reached out to the governor who came in with his own security because these other policemen were there, standing helplessly, watching what was going on. He came and rescued members out of the place. Then, after a while we heard that they had sat, that they were meeting, they were trying to meet, they had procured a fake mace to the House, so we went back and I took the mace where they were sitting, then I sustained injury as a result of the violence by Michael Chinda and Evans Bipi.

    “So, while I was in the hospital, the speaker and other members of the House sat and heard the amendment that the governor sent, which was presented on his behalf by the deputy governor. Now these amendments are, the governor said he was just seeking for us to vire some sub heads for him to enable him take care of certain unforeseen events, such as flood, and all that. That is why we went to work for the state only to be dealt with in the manner that they have dealt with us. I want to use this opportunity while in the hospital here. I have received phone calls of threat to life for my family and me.

    “Incidentally, I’m so helpless; I don’t know who to run to. I can’t go to the commissioner of police because he is already in the arena; he’s already on the other side. I’m appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to pray for me and my family. That is the last hope we have resorted to and that we also urge the National Assembly, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Reps not to turn the other way on the events of Rivers State. This could lead to something that we cannot imagine. It had happened in Anambra State, people were laughing. Today it’s Rivers State; nobody knows the next state it would be. If we are practising a democracy, let us please play by the rules. Nigerians should pray for me and come to our aid. The state is under siege. You can’t even vouch for the safety of the governor. The people are getting more daring on a daily basis.”

     

  • Peterside condemns invasion of Rivers Assembly by hoodlums

    Peterside condemns invasion of Rivers Assembly by hoodlums

    The Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Representative, Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, has condemned yesterday’s invasion of Rivers State House of Assembly by hoodlums.

    He said: “I am horrified by the unfolding tragic drama in Rivers State and I condemn in strict terms, the wanton destruction of properties and attack on innocent people all in the name of politics in my state.”

    He warned that Nigerians must stand and denounce this growing impunity in Rivers State.

    Peterside, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Sylvester Asoya, said: “This is a great test for the Nigerian Nation, democracy and freedom and men of goodwill must rise as a people in condemnation of these attacks without any justifiable reason, except if we are all ready to face the potential damage that may befall our democracy and our future.

    “Nigerians, therefore, must not watch helplessly as Rivers State slips into anarchy in a manner reminiscent of the events leading to the civil war that did not only claim millions of lives of our country men and women but also took Nigeria many years back. Anything that touches on the legislature, an arm of government, which is a symbol of democracy, has far reaching implication on freedom and the people.”

    Like most Nigerians, the lawmaker is, however, worried by the continuous use of the apparatus of the Nigerian State to coerce, harass and intimidate those who hold dissenting opinions and perceived enemies of federal government. He emphasised that it is important not to send the wrong signal by any act that is capable of emboldening criminals.

    “It is important to apprehend and unmask the perpetrators of these crimes and those who aid and abet them through financing and other forms of support as any attempt to look the other way will not do our nation any good. It is an act of courage to protect freedom and every on looker must be reminded that great nations did not become great by wishful thinking, they acted. This is the time to act.”

     

  • 2015 behind Rivers crisis, says commissioner

    2015 behind Rivers crisis, says commissioner

    Rivers State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry Chuma Chinye spoke with CLARICE AZUATALAM in Port Harcourt on why President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Nyesom Wike, the Minister of State for Education, are fighting Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

     

    Many people have expressed disappointment over the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) election of May 24. What is your reaction?

    My first take is that there is hope for Nigeria, that we will be able to conduct free and fair elections. But, that hope wavers in the face of the rather disappointing reaction of the other 16 governors, who participated in that election. It is worrisome because it is reflective of the general tendency of the Nigerian politician not to accept the outcome of election results.

    I watched with amazement Governor Godswill Akpabio saying that Governor Amaechi practically forced them to hold the election. If you look at their sizes, Amaechi doesn’t quite look like the biggest or strongest. He is certainly by no means the oldest. He is younger than most of them.

    They went there and in spite of the mischief they had in mind, they blundered by allowing the election to hold in the first place. Once the election held, the minimum they should have shown by way of integrity as leaders in Nigeria was to accept the outcome and congratulate the winner. Therefore, it was shameful that in spite of the fact that they participated in the election, the results were clear, the election was free and fair, they turned round and began to manipulate and turn things around in a way that is not good for the future of Nigerian politics.

    What do you think is the cause of the crisis in the state?

    It is simple. Those who think that they mean well for the President, but are actually selfish and ambitious individuals, are busy stoking the fire of another civil war in Rivers State simply because they think or they accuse Governor Amaechi of having the ambition to be the Vice President to somebody.

    In my study of the history of the world, I have not seen or heard or read where somebody was running for the office of Vice President before the Presidential nominations have taken place. I think that it is idiotic and I say this with all sense of responsibility, it is idiotic for anybody to begin to fight a man because he is perceived to have a vice – presidential ambition, when in fact, all you need to do is to tackle the man that you think has the presidential ambition. Because, if you tackle the man that has the vice-presidential ambition, he can only become a vice-president if only there is a president.

    Has it always been like this?

    No. I have the privilege of working as the Director of Finance and Administration in the PDP campaign office in Rivers State in the 2011 elections and I know the charge that the Governor gave to myself and the then DG, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, to deliver PDP and ensure that the votes that we garner for President Jonathan will be the one that will surpass everyone in every part of Nigeria and we delivered.

    If the governor did not love his President, he would not go the extent that we went to ensure that the highest votes that the President had came from the Southsouth. It is on account of the number of votes that we delivered to the President that he conceded a second ministerial slot to Rivers State. That second slot is the one occupied by Wike. If this was a governor that hated the President or did not want him, he wouldn’t go to the extent he went.

    Therefore, if I may go back to what I was saying earlier on, if you begin to destroy Rivers State because Amaechi is perceived to have a vice presidential ambition, are we saying that we prefer the offices we want to occupy to the people of Rivers State?

    Are we saying that, because of 2015, we should first destroy all the good works that Governor Amaechi has done in Rivers State? If you want to occupy a house, do you set it on fire first? Those who want to be governors in 2015 should wait. when the time comes they can seek office. But it is the highest form of disservice to Rivers people, to any person whosoever, to begin to damage Rivers State simply because they want to take it over.

    Is there a plot to remove the governor?

    It is quite clear that there is a plot to remove Governor Amaechi from office now. For those who are behind this plot, have they asked themselves some questions, the voice that comes from heaven, have you examined yourself? Are they saying that the works that Amaechi is doing is not good enough for him to complete his second tenure?

    I read Chief E.K. Clark saying that the President is entitled to run for office, but he turned round to say that Amaechi is not entitled to aspire to be the Vice president because the Southsouth only deserves a President. Now, this President is not a President of the Southsouth; he is the President of Nigeria. Amaechi is the Governor of Rivers State. If the President has a right, so does Amaechi.

    Interestingly, neither the President nor Amaechi has said that they want to run for anything. But now, Rivers people are returning to the days of carrying their hands up to walk simply because people around the President think that Amaechi must be stopped at all costs. Stopped from being what?

    Critics have said that, if he is really as good as he is saying, he shouldn’t be in PDP. How do you react to that?

    My answer to them is that the right place for this kind of futuristic leader to be is in PDP. Because, if you look back, look at your Bible, the world got so bad, God Himself got so worried and wondered what He should do about the world. He decided to come and be part of the world. To see what we see, to feel what we feel, faced the temptations and the challenges that we face and in spite of those challenges, to stand firm and make a change. The changes that Amaechi is making in PDP are there for all to see.

    It didn’t start today. To become governor he effected changes which led to constitutional amendments. Before the constitutional amendments, his stand led to the historical Supreme Court judgment. Today, he is still standing by these virtues, by these truths. My fear for him is that he is probably ahead of his time.

    The governor has expressed fear for his safety. Do you share his anxiety, too?

    In 2007, on AIT programme, Focus Nigeria, on the issue of whether they were right to substitute Amaechi or not, I told the coordinator that they had the chance. And that what they needed to have done was to have killed him. But because they could not and change his name, once the 66 days elapsed, there was nothing they could do. Today, I also say that the mistake they have made is that they have failed to take him out. But since they haven’t done so and the man is alive, if they try to kill him now, Nigerians will rise. They are trying to remove him from office. It will not work because Nigerians and Rivers people will rise. But like I said, I have my fears and these fears are that leaders like him usually are ahead of their time and when you are ahead of your time they try to extinguish your candle.

    There is a man in Cross River State who was governor, Donald Duke. He came ahead of his time, stood for what is right. Where is he? They have pushed him aside. Nigeria has a habit of extinguishing its lights. Those persons who are most outstanding are usually pushed aside. Governor Amaechi has something to add to the national leadership of Nigeria, whether he is vice president, whether he is President, whether he is senator, whatever it is, he has served Rivers State and Nigeria for close to 16 years. The experiences and the candour and the integrity he has brought into public office should not be allowed to waste because some persons are ambitious. His fate should not become like that of Nasir El’Rufai. Nasir El’Rufai has something to add to Nigeria, whether you like him or you don’t like him.

    I lived in Abuja when he was the minister and I go to Abuja. I still have a property in Abuja and I see the difference. I am not criticising the present minister. But quite frankly, there is a difference. I have met El’Rufai; he has something to add.

    Nuhu Ribadu has something to add to Nigeria. Where is he? These men are on the sidelines why? Because they are like Governor Amaechi.

    I must say that if Amaechi has any ambition to move from the state level to the federal level into any office, I will stand by him. And I will stand by him not because I am his Commissioner but because having worked with him, I know that he means well. I have never met a public officer who means better for his people like Governor Amaechi and I have related with quite a number of them. In my lifetime I have served as Special Assistant to all kinds of people, including ministers and I have never seen one like Governor Amaechi.

     

  • ‘Keep waterways clean’

    A community leader has praised the Rivers State government for the collection and disposal of waste from streets.

    Mr Ben Orlu, the Chairman, Community Development Committee, Ozuoba, in Rivers, gave the commendation while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt. .

    Orlu also urged residents of riverine communities to ensure that water ways were cleared in addition to taking other precautionary measures, to prevent flooding.

    “We have many streams and rivers situated very close to our residences and as people in this kind of place, it is our responsibility to always ensure that our drains are not blocked to avoid flooding.

    “This could cause damages to lives and property.’’

    Describing cleanliness as one of the basics of healthy living, the community leader underscored the need to sensitise the people to maintain a clean environment.

    According to him, a filthy environment does not only pose a great danger to lives, but also slows down investment.

    Orlu said that the wish of every community to play host to big industries could not be realised without a resilient effort to sanitise the environment.

    While re-emphasising the saying that “cleanliness is next to Godliness”, the community leader urged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of self-discipline which, he noted, was needed for nation-building.

    Orlu decried the indiscriminate disposal of waste by some people without regard to its hazardous implications to the society and urged everybody to collectively safeguard the environment to secure the future.