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Tag: Rivers

  • Field Wike, lose Rivers, PDP group warns

    Field Wike, lose Rivers, PDP group warns

    A group in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Rivers PDP Third Force Movement, has warned the party against fielding the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, next year.

    The group said if the party must win in the state, then it must present another candidate.

    It condemned the decision of members of “Wike’s Forum of PDP Local Government Chairmen in Rivers State”,  who called on the minister to vie for the governorship slot.

    The group’s General Secretary, Oprite Amachree, maintained that a widely-acceptable candidate should be presented by the PDP.

    He said: “Wike’s political antecedents have proved him to be a greedy politician, who is in it for himself rather than for the state.

    “He is not the type of candidate that PDP should think of presenting for the Rivers State governorship race.

    “If Wike is fielded, PDP will fail in Rivers State and the  effects will jeopardise President Goodluck Jonathan’s chances of winning in Rivers State.

    “For Wike, nothing matters more than presenting a situation of political rancour and building on such disunity to solidify his  governorship ambition.

    “Wike’s sincerity to the PDP has been called to question because he has been more interested in binding the party structure at the national and state level in chains.

    “We urge the national leadership of the PDP and President Jonathan to consider strongly, the antics of Wike and his politics that negates the principle of zoning, which is in the PDP’s constitution and most recently buttressed by the decision of the delegates to the national conference.”

    The Rivers PDP Third Force movement also maintained that allowing Wike, who is the grand patron of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), to represent the party would make the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate to win.

  • Rivers PDP, Wike’s supporters protest

    Youths suspected to be supporters of the Supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marched on the streets of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to support the appointment of Justice Daisy Okocha as the administrative Chief Judge by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    The peaceful protest came barely 24 hours after a marmot crowd of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s supporters staged a similar march in Port Harcourt to express their displeasure over the “imposition” of Justice Okocha.

    The protesters took off from the main entrance of the High Court complex on Station Road where they gathered as early as 5am and stopped at the gate of the Government House on Azikiwe Road.

    The march was led by members representing Port Harcourt ( 1 & 2) in the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda and  Mrs. P. Nsiegbe, former Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Timothy Nsirim and the five anti-Amaechi law makers.

    The protesters, numbering over a thousand, were given full security cover by the police.

    They carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Amaechi respect the rule of law”; “Amaechi leave Justice Daisy to function”; Amaechi don’t pocket the Judiciary”; “NJC refuse Amaechi’s bribe”; “Rivers people are in support of the NJC’s decision”.

    The protest caused traffic jam on Azikiwe and Station roads, resulting in passengers, especially workers and students,  trekking to their destinations.

    Addressing the crowd at the Government House gate, Chinda said the people would not accept any law that would empower the Chief Registrar to undertake the CJ’s functions and responsibilities.

    He said they would do everything to frustrate any move to implement the law.

    His words: “There is a difference between Government House and House of Assembly; we want to register this to our governor.

    “We want the Rivers State Government to obey the constitution.

    “The people are calling for rule of law, Rivers people are saying no to despotism. Rivers people are saying enough to lawlessness and dictatorship.

    “We elected a governor that will rule us, today we have a governor that is ruining us. That is not what we want; we want to call on the governor to obey the NJC directive.

    “We want a functional judiciary; we want a functional legislature; we want checks and balances; we want separation of power.

    “The governor should please liberate members of the House of Assembly to come out and assume their functions.

    “We want to put it on record that Rivers state is in support of the NJC’s decisions.”

  • 2015: Ijaws plan to install governors in Delta, Rivers

    THE Ijaw ethnic group in the Niger Delta region may have concluded plans to install their kinsmen as governors in at least four of the nine states of the region in the next elections. Our investigations revealed that key leaders of the ethnic group in Rivers, Delta, Edo and Ondo are unhappy about their political fortunes, in spite of their numerical strength in the states. A source said Ijaw leaders are particularly unhappy that in spite of their population in Rivers, Delta and other states, they have been mere peripheral political players. According to the source, “You know that democracy is about number and population. Yet despite being the fourth largest ethnic groups in the country, we only have one Ijaw governor (Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa) and that is probably because Bayelsa is a homogenous Ijaw state. “In Delta, for instance, we are the largest ethnic group in the south, yet an Itsekiri man was able to emerge governor (Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan), while we cannot boast of ever producing a governor, deputy governor or even the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). “This situation has to change and we are working on it from all the angles. We will ensure that in the next election we produce a good number of Ijaw governors and work towards greater influential positions in state, where we are not in control,” the source, who asked not to be named, stated. Findings by our correspondent show that machinery has been set in motion in Rivers and Deltas towards actualising the dream of an Ijaw governor in those states in 2015. In Delta State, the Ijaw leaders, particularly those from the Izon Ekosotu (Ijaw Council of Elders), have swung into action in this regard. The move has resulted in the birth of the Delta Izon Congress (DIC), which is working underground to ensure that an Izon (Ijaw) man or woman succeeds Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2015. “The plan is to install an Ijaw governor in 2015 and we are capable of achieving this target,” a member of the Brig Gen Cletus Emein (Rtd) –led DIC, who spoke on condition of anonymity stated. The Nation also gathered that some members of the DIC were actively supporting former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Peter Godsday Orubebe, who visited the group recently as part of his ongoing consultation. Although Gen Emein, who is DIC Interim Chairman, reportedly told Orubebe that the group would assess other Ijaw aspirants, there were strong indications that Orubebe may get the nod of the DIC. The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has also joined the fray in canvassing for an Ijaw governor in some states of the Niger Delta region. It was gathered that the IYC, which is the umbrella body of Ijaw youth groups, was using Delta to make their case for Ijaw governors in the region. IYC Western Zone, comprising Delta, Edo and Ondo states, speaking through Preye Okaba, said it was the turn of the Ijaws in Delta, stressing that there was no agreement that the highest office in the state would rotate within the political districts. Similarly, the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, is poised to do battle with the Ijaws in Rivers State over Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s successor. Wike is believed to be angling for the top job, and he is reportedly being backed by Dame Patience Jonathan, even though he hails from the same ethnic group as the incumbent governor. Recently, Rivers Ijaw elders including Prof Dagogo Fubara, Alabo Biekpo Jack, Amaopusenibo Diri, Dr Francis Minimah and others insisted that it is the turn of the riverine people (mostly Ijaw) to lead the state. Among other things, they said, “… equity demands that 2015 is the turn of the Riverine Ijaws to take a shot at the governorship of Rivers State.” Their feelings were re-echoed by the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubor, who said it was wrong for Wike and other Ikwerre indigenes to aspire to succeed Governor Amaechi. Similarly, there were also reports of plan by the Ijaws in the riverine areas of Ondo State to produce Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s successor in 2016, with the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon Kingsley Kuku, allegedly warming up for the race.

  • Rivers…Between David and Goliath

    Rivers…Between David and Goliath

    Rivers. That six-letter state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria always glows. From its days when Bayelsa was part of it, it has registered itself on our minds. The exertion of Bayelsa from it did not diminish its status. It is difficult to ignore. And almost impossible to forget.

    By nature’s making, Rivers sits in a pretty cool location. So good is its location that the early White adventurists could not but make good use of it. Remove Lagos and Abuja and there is no other place in Nigeria that is a busy billboard in the country’s landscape. Talk of great icons or easily recognisable names, Rivers will not be find wanting. Talk of great institutions and entities, such as the University of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, will occupy plum positions. Let’s move to corporate entities and Rivers will give Lagos a ride for its money with organisations, such as the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, the Eleme-Indorama Petrochemical and many more.

    Rivers is home to many an ancient town, whose place in history is incontestable. Let’s leave Port Harcourt, which is the capital city and has thus enjoyed what some may call ‘over’ advantage over others; there is Opobo, that riverine town which many of us first read about in history books many years back, was home to Jaja—the icon we all love to call Jaja of Opobo. There is also Bonny, another Rivers’ riverine town with history as rich as any other Island on earth. It is also blessed with the NLNG, which by any standard, is perhaps one of the world’s most successful private-public partnership.

    Rivers, by nature’s design, is divided into two: the upland and the riverine. The bulk of the upland, I am told, is occupied by people with ties to Igboland. They, however, prefer to be called Ikwerre. Not a few of them will punch you if you refer to them as Igbo. Being the ‘majority’, they are Rivers’ Goliath and this has shown in the political leadership of the state since Bayelsa was carved out of it. The riverine people, who have not had a shot at the leadership of the state, for me, the David of Rivers.

    In the Bible, David defeated Goliath. In political terms, it may not be that easy. Really, even in the Bible, it was easy for David before God made Goliath look to him like the uncircumcised Philistine. Everyone around David was seeing a giant, but he saw something else, something so low.

    Like Governor Rotimi Amaechi said last Friday when he received elders of a riverine community, the leadership of the state is not the birthright of the Ikwerre. Thank God for people like Amaechi, who has vowed to resist the tyranny of the ‘majority’. There are many other Ikwerre sons and daughters who also feel others should be given a sense of belonging in the Rivers project. They are the ones God is using to make ‘David’ have a say in the presence of ‘Goliath’.

    This is no time to allow such sentiment that the people of Rivers State are not thinking of a riverine governor for now. When will they think of it? Is it after the Ikwerre have led for 50 years? Room should also not be given to argument about what happened in old Rivers State. Old things, like the Bible says, have passed away and all things are new. We should focus on the new. The tyranny of the ‘majority’ should be consigned to the dustbin of history. It should not deny Rivers of great leaders of riverine origin.

    Leadership, like writing, is innate. One of my lecturers in those days at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Ogba, Victor Bamidele, would always tell us during the Broadcast Journalism class: “I cannot teach you how to become a writer. I can only help to bring out the writer in you.” Leadership too cannot be taught. It must be in you and you can be helped to bring it out. I sincerely believe there are leaders in Bonny, Opobo and other riverine towns who are waiting to take Rivers to heights unimaginable. The tyranny of the ‘majority’ should not disallow them.

    All in Rivers must work towards getting David its due. Stakeholders in the riverine areas should continue to engage the upland people and make them see reasons to give them the chance to lead this state which has no rival in the whole of Southsouth and can also be rivalled by Lagos and Abuja in the whole of the country.

     

    Resource Control again

    On Tuesday, there were fireworks at a sitting of the National Conference’s Committee on Devolution of Power headed by former Akwa Ibom Governor Victor Attah. A report in this newspaper indicated that a delegate from the Southsouth argued in favour of the need to allow states to control resources in their domain. Hardly had he finished when a delegate from the North took him on. A lawyer-delegate was said to have intervened educating the members of the committee on the position of the law as it concerns littoral states and why states cannot have control of resources on waters around them. By law, the waters belong to the Federal Government.

    My take: laws are made for man and man not for laws. Men make laws from time to time to guide themselves. When they also deem fit, they can amend the laws. So, that the law, for now, says the Federal Government owns the waters in Opobo, Bonny, Okrika and other riverine communities in the Niger Delta, in the first place, is laughable to me. But because it is the law, we have accepted it. I sincerely believe the time to amend the law is now. And the essence of the National Conference is to look at things that are not right and change them to better the society.

    Let’s even forget the resources offshore, for the purpose of argument. The resources onshore, especially oil and other natural resources, are also in the firm grip of the Federal Government. I dare say the grip is killing and capable of strangulating the states in the Niger Delta. The time to loosen the grip is now. Over to you Attah and other resource control advocates!

  • Judge denies staying Rivers Chief Judge’s suspension

    Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has denied ordering a stay of the suspension and investigation of Justice Peter Agumagu as a judicial officer in Rivers State by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    Justice Ademola made the clarification yesterday at the resumed hearing in the suit filed by Justice Agumagu, challenging his suspension.

    The judge said while ruling on March 31 on an ex-parte application by Agumagu, he ordered the NJC to produce and file in court a certified true copy of the minutes of the emergency meeting of the council held on March 26, containing the decisions taken concerning the applicant.

    Justice Ademola’s clarification followed information contained in a letter written to the NJC by Agumagu’s lawyer, suggesting that the court ordered the respondents in the suit to stay all actions as it relates to Agumagu’s case.

    Sued with the NJC are Justices Babatunde Adejumo, Jubril Idris and Comwell Idahosa, who are chairman and members of the panel, set up by the NJC to investigate allegations against him.

    Agumagu’s lawyer, had in the letter to the Chairman of the NJC, stated that the court granted, “an order pursuant to Order 34 rule 3(6) of the rules of the Federal High Court, directing that the grant of leave shall operate as a stay of proceedings or any further actions by the respondents in respect of the investigation of the applicant for which the first respondent has set up the panel of the 2nd to 4th respondents, until the court otherwise orders”.

    Justice Ademola said there were clerical errors in the typed version of the enrolled orders as two of the orders he granted were omitted.

    Agumagu’s lawyer Akin Olujinmi (SAN), who earlier filed a motion on notice praying the court to correct the clerical errors, withdrew the motion yesterday.

    The substantive suit was not heard because the second respondent, Justice Adejumo, told the court that he was not served with the plaintiff’s motion on notice and that he only knew about the suit through a letter written by the applicant to the NJC.

    Justice Ademola ordered service of the motion on notice on the second respondent and adjourned till May 5.

  • Rivers :Wike’s guber ambition suffers set back as Ijaw, Ogoni, others kick

    The much whispered gubernatorial ambition of the Supervising Minister for Education, Chief (Barr.) Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, may have run into some major bumps, before proper kick off following incessant public display of opposition to his candidature by leading blocs in the politics of the oil rich state.

    Sources within the Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI), the political camp of the embattled Minister, say the recent agitations against his 2015 governorship bid across the state by political groups and ethnic nationalities came as a rude shock to Wike and his handlers.

    “The open hostilities to his ambition by group like the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ijaw Democratic Front (IDF), Kengema Unity Forum amongst others, came as big blows to the aspiration of the Minister. While we know that these groups alone cannot determine who rules the state, the public display of opposition to his candidature is worrisome.

    We didn’t see them coming. Otherwise, we would have countered the moves. The people you saw out there were not representing the opinion of the real people of these areas. the people understand why the state needs to jettison the idea of zoning and get a strong leader in 2015.

    But we are undeterred as we are ready to reach out to all quarters in our bid to give Rivers state the best governor in 2015. We are going to tell the Minister not to be bothered by the antics of the opposition. We view the development as the antics of a few people opposed to his well intended ambition,” Comrade Bernard Fisher, coordinator of the Wike Youth Alliance (WYA) said on Friday.

    Last week, Ijaws in Rivers State declared that the next Governor of the state must come from any of the Ijaw speaking communities. They were very clear in their insistence that a governor of Ijaw extraction in 2015 is non-negotiable.

    To press home their points in the past weeks, several Ijaw groups took to the streets across the state to propagate the gospel of an Ijaw governor for rivers state in 2015. At all the rallies and protests, the people said they will not negotiate nor compromise with any other ethnic group over the matter of who rules the state next.

    A pro-Ijaw for governor group, the “Ijaw Project”, while inaugurating its local government officers in Port Harcourt recently, demanded for a true Riverine governor come 2015. Speaking through its Director-General, Comrade Somina Wokoma, the group decried the absence of development in the riverine communities, but expressed optimism that the only panacea to the lopsided development in Rivers State is the emergence of a Governor from Ijaw extraction in 2015.

    Similarly, Ijaws under the auspices of the Ijaw Democratic Front (IDF) last week covered at the popular Alfred Diette Spiff Civic Centre, Moscow Road in the Port Harcourt Main township to make known what they called their determination to take their pride of place in the affairs of the state.

    Speaking at the event, the International Co-ordinator of the group, Comrade Kenneth Robinson said that the major reason of the information of IDF is to ensure that an Ijaw man occupies the Brick House in 2015. Comrade Robison who declared that there is an existing zoning formula in the state alleged the marginalization of the Ijaws and other riverine communities since 1999.

    On its part, MOSOP, a socio-cultural organisation of the Ogonis, recently reiterated its opposition to the emergence of an Ikwerre person as Governor of the state in 2015. Wike hails from the Ikwerre axis of the state. The group warned that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may lose votes from the oil-rich but highly impoverished kingdom if its governorship candidate does not come from that axis.

    Describing the alleged endorsement of Wike by the state chairman of the party, Felix Obuah,  as “a sentimentally disappointing approach representing a huge conspiracy against the Ogoni gubernatorial move that is of grave concern,” MOSOP said the action was “an appalling and shameful response to our quest.”

    Responding to the statement, President of MOSOP, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, said “the deed in our view, is not only a deliberate infringement on fairness but also politically inept, insensitive and unfortunate.

    “It is clear that the Ogoni governorship quest is most popular and widely and overwhelmingly supported within and outside Rivers State. The PDP would be losing a golden opportunity to monopolise and secure to its electoral advantage the huge Ogoni voting strength if it fails to commit her platform to any Ogoni seeking to govern Rivers State in 2015.

    The sustained unguarded and inflammable utterances and actions of the PDP state chairman, demonstrably betrays a devious attempt at scuttling Ogoni political interest and it is unacceptable. If the untoward development is not addressed, it would require inflexible Ogoni response. We are aware that Chief Obuah is acting a script, as we know the forces at play. However, the stance reflects an implicit admission of what we have all along been suspecting.

    Again, is it not unfair that while Rivers West and East senatorial districts have produced Governors of the state under a zoning understanding, efforts are being made to deny Rivers South East Senatorial District of the opportunity others have enjoyed?”

    At a recent rally to sensitize the public about its aspiration, the group said it would pursue the governorship project with the same “vigour, collectivity and articulation with which it fought environmental injustice in addition to effective mobilisation of the Ogoni society.”

    In another worrisome development, some youths in the PDP in Rivers State last week threatened to dump the party if its leadership  fails to call Nyesom Wike to order. Their threat was a reaction to the rumored endorsement of Wike as the sole candidate of the PDP in the 2015 governorship election in the state by some influential members of the party.

    The youths, under the aegis of PDP Third Force Movement (PTFM), in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, alleged that the purported endorsement of the minister was orchestrated by the trio of the chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Felix Obuah, national vice chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and Wike himself.

    The statement, which was signed by PTFM secretary, Oprite Amachree, said, “This is highly condemnable by us. It makes a caricature of the principle of equity, justice, fairness and adequate representation practised by our highly esteemed party.

    “This act by the trio is aimed at sabotaging the presidential and gubernatorial successes of our great party in Rivers State.”

    The youth said unless the party chooses a more amenable and less controversial candidate, it is bound to loose the votes of its teeming members across the state at the 2015 general election.

    Aso, a group loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation (NDRO) has warned the minister of state for Education, should be prevailed upon by chieftains of the ruling party to avoid heating up the polity with his ambition to succeed Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers State come 2015.

    The group, in a statement in Port Harcourt, said Wike’s gubernatorial ambition amounted to insult on the collective interest of the people of Rivers South East Senatorial district and the state. Signed by NDRO’s Spokesman, Mr. Kingsley Bejikini, the statement lamented that despite the contributions of the Ogonis to the present democracy, an individual would seek to hold the people to ransom due to his inordinate ambition.

    The group said; “As strong supporters of the Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, we view the stance of the minister as a threat to the ambition of the President and the unity of the state.”

    It observed that there were sound minds in Ogoni land and the Rivers South-East senatorial district that stand a better chance to deliver the dividends of democracy and would not be confrontational to the President as the Wike-led group want people to believe.

    Sources close to the Minister revealed that the development have left him undecided over what to do about his governorship ambition. Wike, who was expected to officially announce his goober aspiration and resign from the federal cabinet last week is said to be gripped by fear following incessant open objection to his ambition.

    “After the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by Prof. Attahiru Jega released its election time table, President Goodlcuk Ebele Jonathan has ordered that any minister in his cabinet who has a political ambition should resign voluntarily without delay. Nyesom Wike was set to quit the Federal Executive Council (FEC) since he has the ambition to become the next Governor of Rivers State.

    But he could not do that because there was need for him to review some development back home in Rivers state. You know too well that his aspiration is based on his willingness to serve the people. He needs to be sure of what the people are saying. Of course there are issues to resolve. It is not that he has dropped his ambition. He is merely consulting wider,” a state official of the party told The Nation on Friday.

  • Rivers CJ sues NJC

    Rivers CJ sues NJC

    Suspended Rivers State Chief Judge Justice P.H.C. Agumagu has sued the National Judicial Council (NJC) and three others over his suspension and threat to sack him.

    In a suit he filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Agumagu is challenging NJC’s decision to suspend him and praying the court to restrain members of a panel set up to investigate the allegations against him from taking any further steps in respect of his case until the determination of the suit he filed.

    Sued with NJC are Justices Babatunde Adejumo, Jubril Idris and Comwell Idahosa (Chairman and members of the panel set up by the NJC to investigate allegations against the applicant (Justice Agumagu).

    He is, by the suit, praying the court for “an order of certiorari, removing to this court for the purpose of being quashed the query and letter of suspension from office of the applicant as a judicial officer, Ref. No. NJC /S.32/RV.CCA/1/1/36 dated March 26, 2014 written by the 1st respondent to the applicant”.

    The applicant also seeks “an order of certiorari, removing to this court for the purpose of being quashed, the minutes of the decisions reached by the 1st respondent at its emergency meeting of March 26, 2014 concerning the applicant.”

    Mr. Justice Adeniyi Ademola, before whom the case is pending, on Monday heard an ex-parte application by the applicant and granted him leave to serve processes on the respondents. He adjourned the hearing till April 10.

    The NJC announced on March 27 that it will not accord any recognition to the newly appointed Chief Judge.

    The council said it would not deal with him in that capacity, and also elected to suspend him as a judge.

    It issued Justice Agumagu a query, directing him to explain, in writing within four days, why he should not be removed from office as a judge for his alleged failure to abide by his oath of office to uphold the Constitution and Laws of the country.

    NJC, at its 10th emergency meeting held the previous day, concluded that due process was not observed in Justice Agumagu’s appointment.

    NJC’s Acting Director, Information, Soji Oye said in a statement that “At its 10th Emergency Meeting, which was held on March 26, 2014, the National Judicial Council, under the chairmanship of the honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar, considered the purported appointment, confirmation and swearing-in of Justice P. N. C. Agumagu as the substantive Chief Judge of Rivers State on March 18, 2014.

    “In the course of deliberations on the matter, council noted as follows:

    *That it is expressly provided in Section 271 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) that:- The appointment of a person to the office of the Chief Judge of a state shall be made by the governor of the state on the recommendation of the NJC, subject to the confirmation of the appointment by the House of Assembly of the state.

    *That the NJC did not, at any time, make any recommendation to the Governor of Rivers State that Justice P. N. C. Agumagu, President, Customary Court of Appeal be appointed the substantive Chief Judge of Rivers State.

    “Council therefore resolved as follows:-

    *That the NJC does not and will not recognise Justice P.N.C. Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State.

    *That the general public and all concerned in the matter, particularly the Governor of Rivers State, the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Judiciary in Rivers State, be notified and informed that the NJC will not deal with Justice P.N.C. Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State;

    *That a query be issued to Justice P. N. C. Agumagu to explain in writing within four days, why he should not be removed from office as a judicial officer, for his failure to abide by his Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “In the meantime, council, in exercise of its powers under Paragraph 21 (d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, has suspended Justice P. N. C. Agumagu from office as a judicial officer with immediate effect.”

  • NJC vs Rivers State

    NJC vs Rivers State

    One of the several contradictions in our so called federal constitution is unfolding in Rivers state. There, the recently sworn in Chief Judge of the state, Justice Peter Agumagu, has been suspended by the National Judicial Council (NJC). His offence according to the NJC is that he was appointed in contravention of section 271 of the 1999 constitution as amended. Justice Agumagu who is the preferred candidate of the Rivers state government, under Governor Chibuike Amaechi, was quickly confirmed by the state assembly and sworn in after a Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Lambo Akanbi, declared the recommendation of the NJC that Justice Daisy Okocha, should be sworn in as the Chief Judge, as unconstitutional.

    The Federal High Court Judge, according to press report, was of the view that the Rivers state government was not a mere rubber stamp in the appointment of a Chief Judge, and that the NJC failed to give any satisfactory reason for their preferred choice. The constitutional provision in context for interpretation in the Justice Agumagu’s saga is section 271(1) which deals with the appointment of a Chief Judge and the Third schedule Part 1(i) paragraph 21(c) which deals with the relevant powers of the National Judicial Council. Section 271(1) provides: “the appointment of a person to the office of Chief Judge of a state shall be made by the Governor of State on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council subject to the confirmation of the appointment by the House of Assembly of the State”. On its part, the Third schedule provides: “the NJC shall have power to recommend to the Governors from among the list of person submitted to it by the state Judicial Service Commissions persons for appointments to the offices of the Chief Judges of the States…”

    In my humble view, the NJC based on the express provision of the constitution can not recommend to the state Governor, a candidate for appointment to the office of the Chief Judge, a person who is not on the list submitted to it, by the State Judicial Service Commission. Again, the power to appoint the Chief Judge, without equivocation lies with the state Governor, but alas only on the recommendation of the NJC. But even more distressing for our federation is the obvious incongruity of a federal executive body, which is what the constitution lists the NJC as, being imbued with far reaching constitutional oversight of a federating unit in an area that should be the sole prerogative of the federating unit; and in a manner that makes the state alter ego, which is what the Governor is, look helpless and a mere rubber stamp. A clash is inevitable, as the federal and state institutions contend for influence.

    The Federal High Court has from the press reports ruled that the Governor of a state is not under compulsion to accept the recommendation of the NJC. Yet, the constitution precariously provides that the Governor can only appoint on the recommendation of the NJC. Obviously the Rivers state Judicial Service Commission prefers Justice Agumagu, but relying on convention and tradition in the Judiciary, the NJC prefers the most senior Judge in the state High Court. Governor Amaechi who has done similar battles in the past to foster his executive powers, even at huge costs, has characteristically opted to fight it out.

    Unfortunately, our constitution once again lives up to confusion. This crisis is not different from the issue of control of Police, fiscal federalism or even resource control. It is a context between the central authority and the federating units. So, while the constitution grants the state executive and legislative authorities co-extensive powers and influence, in the appointment of a state Chief Judge, it also whimsically and indecorously swings that influence to a federal executive body, the NJC. That is the paradox, for which Justice Agumagu may pay dearly; and I guess ‘his sins’ pre-date the current crisis. It started with his accepting a cross appointment from the state customary court of appeal, to act as the Chief Judge of Rivers state, which in my view was against the express provision of section 271(4). But the appointment of a substantive Chief Judge is a different cup of tea, as the constitution did not expressly say that it must be the most senior Judge of the state High Court that should be appointed.

    With the NJC rejecting the state preferred Chief Judge; a constitutional crisis is in the making. For I doubt, if the state government will easily back down. Indeed, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, has lived up to an Igbo title: mmiri na ali ugwu. This can be literally interpreted as ‘water flowing up the hill’. Of course, that is without the aid of technology. He has shown an uncommon energy in challenging the status quo. His most recent battle was for the redeployment of the erstwhile state police commissioner, Joseph Mbu. He fought with every ounce of his energy. He has also so far, successfully starred down the presidency and his wife. Until the Governors forum was effectively destabilized by the presidency, he had elevated that platform to a credible voice of challenge to the impunity of the federal behemoth.

    While this column, had criticized Governor Chibuike Amaechi over some of his executive actions in the past, the current dispute between the NJC and the state Government in my humble view, is only one more manifestation of our incongruous federal constitution. The failings of our constitution as neither a federal constitution nor a unitary one, has greatly affected the political and socio-economic development of our country. I only hope that the NJC will see it in that light, despite its extensive administrative powers and control over the national judiciary.

     

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  • Who is who in battle for Rivers’ future

    Who is who in battle for Rivers’ future

    The gladiators in the deepening political crisis in Rivers State, ahead of the 2015 elections, are in two camps. BISI OLANIYI in Port Harcourt writes that the Abuja forces are led by President Goodluck Jonathan. The home-based politicians have as leader the youthful Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The former lecturer-turned-politician, President Goodluck Jonathan, is an indigene of Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and was born on November 20, 1957. In 1998, he was picked as the running mate to the Bayelsa’s former Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

    On September 15, 2005, Alamieysegha was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police for an alleged money laundering and was made to stand trials. He jumped bail and returned to Nigeria on November 21, 2005.

    A chain of events saw him emerging governor, vice-president, acting president and president. He is seeking re-election in 2015, but many persons are saying that he has not performed up to Nigerians’ expectations.

    The President is not comfortable with Amaechi as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and his recent defection to the main opposition All progressives Congress (APC). He is working to cut Amaechi to size.

    Peter Odili

    Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili, a medical doctor-turned-politician, is a former Governor of Rivers State (1999 to 2007), when Amaechi, his former Personal Assistant, was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly.

    The Ndoni, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA-born Odili, who was born on August 15, 1948 was the thirteenth Governor of Rivers state. He is a member of the ruling PDP and owns Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited, Port Harcourt. Odili is married to Justice (Mrs.) Mary Okaego Odili (nee Nzenwa, born on May 12, 1952), a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The former governor graduated from the Medical School of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and pursued post-graduate work in Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. In 1988/89, Odili was elected member and leader of the Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly.

    In 1992, he was elected as the deputy governor of Rivers state to Chief Rufus Ada-George, who hails from Okrika. After the third republic ended, Odili was again elected to the National Constitutional Conference and became the Conference Committee Chairman on State Creation and thereafter became the National Secretary of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN). He was elected governor of Rivers state in April 1999 and was re-elected in April 2003.

    Odili was a forerunner in the presidential race of 2007, but intrigues and power-plays led to the emergence of the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua as the PDP’s presidential candidate.

    The medical doctor was later nominated as Yar’Adua’s running mate, only to be dropped dramatically at the convention venue in Abuja, through a complex power game between the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu.

    The former governor had moved from being a frontrunner in the 2007 presidential race to a sure bet as Yar’Adua’s running mate, but eventually emerged with nothing at the end of the day and felt so pained over the humiliation by ex-President Obasanjo, whom he has not forgiven.

    Odili, a famous politician, in his new biography titled: “Conscience and History: My Story,” described Amaechi as an ingrate.

    On why he was stopped from the presidential race, the former governor said he was later informed that Ribadu had told Obasanjo that some foreign missions in Abuja would not be happy to see him on the PDP ticket, on the basis of the “EFCC interim report.”

    In the book, the former governor also narrated how his anointed successor and current governor of the state (Amaechi) was disqualified from the governorship race, but lamented that bad blood later generated between Amaechi and him.

    Odili has scores to settle with his political son (Amaechi), thereby teaming up with President Goodluck Jonathan to fight him, while also capitalising on his closeness to the President’s wife, Dame Patience, to deal with the Rivers governor.

    Patience Jonathan

    The wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Faka, was born on October 25, 1957 and hails from Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers state.

    Dame Jonathan prefers the representative of the Rivers East Senatorial District, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, to succeed Amaechi in 2015, in order to teach the youthful governor a political lesson for embarrassing him at Okrika in August 2010, during his two-day official visit to Rivers state.

    The visit ended on a sour note at Okrika, when Amaechi repeated his decision to demolish Port Harcourt’s over forty waterfront settlements, mostly occupied by Okrika people.

    The President’s wife decided to fight for her Okrika people by grabbing the microphone from the governor, while still speaking and told him: “Listen. You must listen to me. I want you to get me clearly.

    “I am from here (Okrika). I know the problems of my people, especially land. So, I know what I am talking about. What I am telling you is that you always say you must demolish. That word ‘must’ you are using is not good. It is by pleading. You appeal to the owners of the compounds, because they will not go to exile.”

    Listening to their daughter defending them, Okrika people were very happy, but Amaechi was highly embarrassed. To avoid further humiliation or altercation with Dame Jonathan, the governor quietly left the venue of the elaborate Okrika ceremony and moved to his official vehicle, parked nearby, where he stayed till the end of the programme. The President’s wife also cancelled other programmes lined up for the visit and quickly returned to Abuja.

    Rotimi Amaechi

    Amaechi’s place of birth is Umuordu-Ubima in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State and he was born on May 27, 1965. He attended St. Theresa’s Primary School, Ubima (1976); Okolobiri Grammar School in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State (1982) and the University of Port Harcourt (1987), where he read English. He is married to Dame Judith and they are blessed with children.

    Amaechi was the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited, Port Harcourt, owned by Dr. Peter Odili (1988); the Special Assistant to Odili (1992) and was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly for eight years (1999 to 2007), during which he doubled as the Chairman of Nigerian Speakers’ Conference and performed excellently, before becoming governor on October 26, 2007 through the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of the previous day.

    Amaechi’s cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, from the same Ubima, was inaugurated as governor on May 29, 2007, having benefitted from the infamous K-leg of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other leaders of the PDP, but sacked by the Supreme Court on October 25, 2007 and since then, has refused to reconcile with the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    Omehia contested for Rivers governorship on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011, just like his counterpart of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Dr. Abiye Sekibo, a former Transport Minister and an ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in the Odili’s administration.

    Surprisingly, Omehia and Sekibo were “defeated” by Amaechi. With the emergence of Chief Felix Obuah as the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both of them returned to the ruling PDP and will join forces to fight the NGF chairman, who earlier dealt with them during the 2011 campaigns and elections, especially for sealing off the Sekibo’s campaign office at the new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.

    The Rivers governor performed well during his first term, especially in the education, health, agriculture and power sectors, with most Rivers people now complaining that he has relaxed and almost gone to sleep in his second tenure, as well as stopping his surprise routine inspection of projects, said to have been caused by his NGF chairmanship distraction of always travelling.

    Amaechi said it would only be fair to allow somebody from another ethnic group, to be the next occupant of the Brick House (Government House), Port Harcourt.

    The Rivers governor was recently accused by the sacked Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, of poor performance and using the state’s funds to bribe people all over Nigeria, with Port Harcourt, the state capital, now a slum, while Amaechi described the Delta State-born ex-minister as a failure.

    Orubebe later visited Amaechi at the Government House, Port Harcourt, as a strategy to resolve their differences.

    The NGF chairman recently defected to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and vowed that he would never allow the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, to succeed him in 2015, accusing him of betrayal, which he denied.

    Nyesom Wike

    Wike, a lawyer, is from Rumuepirikom in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state was the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and also doubled as the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, before being inaugurated as Minister of State for Education on July 14, 2011.

    The ex-chief of staff was elected twice as the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. While in office as the council’s boss, he also served as the President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Local Governments Forum (CLGF).

    Amaechi, probably in an attempt to appease Wike, early 2012, appointed his wife, Eberechi Suzzette, as a judge in the Rivers State judiciary. While appearing on the radio programme in Port Harcourt, the minister of state for education said: “Rivers government is playing politics with federal presence in the state. People should not play politics with every issue. Federal Government should be appreciated.

    “I supported Amaechi in 2011. My LGA (Obio/Akpor) gave Amaechi the highest votes during the 2011 governorship election. I do not have personal problems with Amaechi. We may disagree on certain issues. I risked my life for Amaechi when it mattered most and I almost lost my life. I lost my driver to assassins. I stood firmly with Amaechi and stuck my neck.

    “My choice is Felix Obuah (PDP Chairman in Rivers State). He purchased form. I have no regret about supporting Obuah. I am not standing against somebody (Amaechi) I fought for in 2007. I supported Amaechi in 2007 and we fought till the end. I was the Commander-in-Chief of that era. I also supported Amaechi in 2011. Obuah should not be denied his rightful position. I never sponsored Ake’s (Chief Godspower, sacked Chairman of the PDP) election.”

    Magnus Abe

    The representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly, born on May 24, 1965 hails from Bera, Ogoni in Gokana Local Government Area of the state. He represents Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly. He is also eyeing the governorship seat during the next election, in order to make history as the first Ogoni man to be the governor of the state, created on May 27, 1967.

    The youthful Senator (Abe) was the Rivers Information Commissioner, in the administration of Dr. Peter Odili, having earlier been in the state’s House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, where he was the Minority Leader and then in the All Peoples Party (APP)/All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    In order to compensate hardwork, loyalty and commitment to a worthy cause, Amaechi, shortly after his October 26, 2007 inauguration, made Abe the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), the position he held before moving to the National Assembly in 2011.

    Some claim if Abe emerges as the next governor, he will make it a bit difficult for the Bori State dream of Ogoni people and their neighbours to be realised.

    The former SSG insisted that Rivers State would be governed by person who would provide electricity, good roads and well-equipped schools like Amaechi is doing.

    Abe said: “Somebody (Chief Felix Obuah, aka Go Round, being backed by Wike and also a former Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state, where the ex-Governor, Dr. Peter Odili hails from) who neither picked form nor contested election, is now the Chairman of PDP in Rivers state.

    “Rivers people, hold your peace. Do not go for war. Judiciary has done it before and will do it again. The will of Rivers people and the will of God will be done.”

    George Sekibo

    The representative of Rivers East Senatorial District was in April 2003 elected into the House of Representatives to represent Okrika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency.

    In 2007, Sekibo was again elected for a higher responsibility, to represent the Rivers East Senatorial District.

    The incumbent governor is not comfortable with the ambition of Sekibo to be governor since they are from the same senatorial district and the senator is close to Dame Patience Jonathan, who hails from Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area in Rivers state, to get the PDP’s governorship ticket, which will amount to survival of the fittest, considering Wike’s ambition of also becoming governor in 2015..

    Dakuku Peterside

    The representative of Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, 43, hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Amaechi has soft spot for Peterside, who is also the Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

    Peterside, who is Rivers State’s immediate past Commissioner for Works, is loved by most stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC), considering Rivers upland/riverine dichotomy in the choice of a governor and his closeness to the helmsman. Amaechi is from the upland part of the state.

    Otelemaba Amachree

    The Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, a Kalabari man, became the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly in 2011 and succeeded the late Tonye Harry, also from Kalabari part of the state.

    The Assembly’s April 22 last year’s decision to suspend the Chairman of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Timothy Nsirim, his deputy, Solomon Eke, and all the 17 councillors who are some of the loyalists of the minister of state for education, Chief Nyesom Wike, in government, is still being condemned by PDP leaders and other stakeholders, who accused the speaker and the pro-Amaechi lawmakers as rubber-stamp.

    The move by the 25 members of Rivers House of Assembly loyal to Amaechi to suspend the six lawmakers loyal to Wike, will put the speaker on the spot and he may not survive the aftermath, considering the Obuah-led PDP executive’s April 29, 2013 suspension of the pro-Amaechi lawmakers, including the speaker.

    Godspower Ake

    Ake, a former National Vice Chairman, Southsouth, of the PDP, hails from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state. He was removed along with members of his executive on April 15 last year, through the judgment of an Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello, but he expressed optimism of emerging victorious at the appellate court.

    The sacked chairman said: “It is disheartening for people to build a house and turn round to destroy it. I met Go Round (Obuah) sometime in the past and he told me that Wike invited him to destroy Amaechi’s structure.

    “Wike is not alone in the fight against Amaechi. There are others ‘at the top’, conspiring to destroy Amaechi’s structure. The party is actually not the target, but the Rivers State Government.”

    The sacked Chairman of the PDP earlier in Port Harcourt received members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers state chapter, led by its Chairman, Chimbiko Iche Akarolo, who is also the Mayor of Port Harcourt City LG, who paid him solidarity visit.

    The Rivers ALGON chairman earlier noted that as members of the PDP, they were aware of a judgment in Ake’s favour in Rivers High Court, Okehi, Etche Local Government Area, which had not been set aside and also aware that the sacked chairman had appealed the judgment over his “purported” removal by the Abuja High Court.

    Felix Obuah

    The Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, aka Go Round, who is a former Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers state, was inaugurated in Abuja on April 16 last year and welcomed to Port Harcourt by a mammoth crowd on April 19, said: “I do not have any weapon to destroy any structure, built on solid rock.”

    The new chairman also pleaded with his teeming supporters and PDP members in Rivers state to remain calm and law-abiding.

    Lee Meaba

    Meaba, an Ogoni, until 2011, represented the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly. He fell out with Amaechi, who preferred his confidant, Magnus Ngei Abe, to him during the last election and currently representing the district.

    The anger of being deprived representation might have made Meaba to fight Amaechi in the PDP, where he is strategising to be Rivers governor in 2015.

    Tele Ikuru

    Ikuru, an engineer, who hails from Ikuru Town in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, is Amaechi’s deputy. He has been quiet on his 2015 ambition, but he may not be ruled out of the governorship or senatorial race. He spoke with anger, while addressing the teeming supporters of Amaechi in front of the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    If Ikuru does not get the governorship or senatorial ticket of the PDP, as a loyal deputy, Amaechi may nominate him for ministerial or ambassadorial appointment.

    During elections in Rivers state, especially governorship, the upland/riverine dichotomy is always played up. The next polls may not be different.

    Ikuru is loyal to Amaechi and there is the likelihood of his remaining loyal to the end, having joined the Rivers governor to the APC, not minding the fact that his political father, Prince Uche Secondus, from the same Ikuru town in Andoni LGA is the Deputy national Chairman of the PDP.

    Last word

    Prominent Nigerians are, however, making moves to reconcile President Jonathan and the chairman of the NGF, to put an end to the political crisis.

    While strategising towards the 2015 elections, politicians and their supporters in Rivers state should sheathe their swords and give peace a chance, since without peace, there cannot be development, especially considering the deepening crisis.

     

     

  • GE Africa: Rivers villages get electricity for the first time

    GE Africa: Rivers villages get electricity for the first time

    Green Village Electricity Project (GVE-P), one of the winners of the inaugural GE Africa-USADF Power Africa Off-Grid Energy Challenge has completed the pilot phase of its off-grid community electrification project in Egbeke community in Rivers State.

    The project according to a press statement currently produces about 6 KW of solar powered electricity, which it distributes to over 140 homes in the community where  the residents are getting  access to electricity for the first time.

    Chairman of Egbeke Community Development Association, Sir Roland Eberechi commended GE Africa for supporting GVE-P in bringing electricity to the community.

    He affirmed that Egbeke and its surrounding communities comprising of nine villages have never had access to electricity prior to the GVE-Project which he described as a novel idea putting the community on the map of Rivers State.

    “Honestly, there’s nothing to show that we were part of Rivers State until this project. We have never had electricity here before now. But with this project, GE has put us on Rivers State’s map. That’s why we continue to thank the young man who conceived this project (Ifeanyi Orajaka) and General Electric that has supported his dreams to this far. We thank them for putting Egbeke Etchee on Rivers map,” he said.

    Sir Eberechi explained that the project has touched lives in the community adding that the community is now the envy of its neighbours.

    “We are proud to have this project in our community. It has added dignity and honour to our existence. We are now the envy of neighbouring communities. We are gradually moving on to take our place as community in Rivers State,” he said.

    He stated that the entire community appreciated the project and is grateful to all who contributed in bringing it to fruition. However, as with every novel ideas and initiatives, he added that the GVE Project has come with its own challenges.

    “As I said, it’s the first time my community is witnessing something like this. So, we are all excited. But as with every new initiative, everyone is eager to have a taste. Unfortunately, what we have at this pilot phase of the project cannot go round all the villages. This is generating a lot of problem.”

    According to him, “What is being generated now could only serve two villages. It is just natural that areas not covered for now are bound to react. You need to see what happened the day they brought the equipments for installation. The whole community was elated and participated in setting it up. You can imagine the frustration of many after the installation; the project could only cover two of the nine villages for now.”

    Sir Eberechi appealed to GE and other well meaning organisations to further assist the community and GVE-P to move on to the next phase to expand the project to cover the entire community.

    General Electric (GE) teamed up with the U.S. Africa Development Foundation (USADF) to launch the Power Africa Off-Grid Energy competition last year to encourage and assist African companies who are taking up the challenge to address the needs of marginalized African communities not reached by the national grid. The innovative power infrastructure development challenge provides a grant of up to $ 100,000 to each of the winners to support their initiatives.

    GE Africa, a subsidiary of General Electric, Inc., delivers innovative technology solutions for regional challenges to help its customers support growth throughout the continent.  GE Energy is providing a host of advanced solutions in water, oil & gas, and energy delivery technologies, with a focus on innovative localized energy solutions.