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Tag: Rotimi Amaechi

  • Police ban political rallies in Rivers

    Police ban political rallies in Rivers

    The Rivers State Police Command yesterday announced a ban on all forms of political gatherings and rallies by all political groups, including the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI).

    The Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, in a statement in Port Harcourt said the ban was because of the increasing political tension in the state.

    Gunmen at Bori Khana Local Government last month foiled the rally by the members of “Save Rivers Movement (SRM), a socio-cultural group supporting Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    Earlier, the police had disrupted a similar gathering by the group at Obio/Akpor Local Government. Senator Magnus Abe was reportedly shot in the groin by the police at the event. He is still being treated in a London hospital.

    The police denied them security cover, despite their application. The police said they were not aware of the gathering and could not send officials for the meeting.

    The police provided sufficient security cover for the same kind of gathering by GDI, a political group founded by the Minister of Education Nyesom Wike, same day and time in Degema Local Government.

    They (police) have always provided security for all GDI’s rallies in the state.

    Amaechi led the group back to the same venue for the rally. He called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Muhammad Abubakar, who directed that police cover be given to them. The gathering was successful.

    Amaechi lambasted Mbu for alleged display of disregard and disrespect for the office of the governor. He told the crowd of supporters at the occasion that the police presence at the event was on the directive of the IG.

    The statement by Mbu through the spokesman Ahmad K Mohammad said: “The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform the public that as a result of increasing political tension in the state, the commissioner of police, has banned all political rallies in the state.

    “Accordingly, all public activities involving rallies of Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), Save Rivers Movement (SRM), Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF) and whatever other names, are hereby banned.

    “Rivers State Police Command will not, I repeat, will not provide security for any group in whatever guise. Party membership drive is allowed strictly as stipulated in Electoral Act 2010 as amended and INEC regulations.”

    The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, said the state welcomes the ban but that there is the need for the police to clarify between what constitute political rallies and meetings of associations or persons.

    Semenitari said: “We must remember that the police cannot hide under the guise of the ban of political rallies to stop individuals and groups from having regular meetings.

    “I do not think that the constitution allows the Police under any guise to deny any Nigerian the rights to freedom of association and expression.”

     

     

  • Wike distorting facts on monorail, says Amaechi

    Wike distorting facts on monorail, says Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has described the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, as a distorter of facts who should be ignored.

    Wike, a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, appearing on Channels Television yesterday, described the monorail in the state capital as a waste of funds.

    The Minister of State for Education, who is a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, declared that Amaechi had lost focus and never contributed to his rise in politics or his ministerial nomination.

    But the governor described Wike’s outbursts as false and misleading. He maintained that he remained focused and determined to develop Rivers State and empower the people.

    The governor spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, who conducted reporters round the site of the monorail on Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt.

    Iyofor said contrary to Wike’s claim that nothing was happening at the monorail site, work was going on. The site engineer also spoke with the reporters who accompanied him.

    The CPS said: “Gentlemen of the press, as you can see, work is ongoing at the site of the monorail project. So, it is funny when we hear the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, say that work is not going on.

    “You all heard him (Wike) on television saying there is no work going on at the monorail site. He was asked pointedly. He said, no, nothing is happening on the monorail project. But I am glad you all are here and you can see that work is going on in the monorail.

    “You heard the site engineer. They even work day and night, so that they can meet the target for completion and the monorail is already like 85 per cent completed, according to him.

    “So, it is even funny that a minister can come on national television to lie and attempt to deceive Nigerians.

    “It is something that all can see. I mean anybody who drives through Azikiwe Road can see that work is ongoing. So why will Wike come on national television and say nothing is happening at the Rivers monorail.

    “So, you can only imagine what else he has lied about, if he can lie on something that we all can see. It is unfortunate.

    “This is the project he (Wike) was part of. He was a member of the State Executive Council, when this project started.

    “So, I urge Nigerians to completely disregard whatever he said. If he can lie about something we all can see, so we can imagine how many lies he told in that interview.”

    Iyofor also described as outrageous the minister’s claims that the new schools that Amaechi had built all over the 23 local governments were only in Port Harcourt.

    The chief press secretary also refuted Wike’s claim that the governor did not make him minister.

    He said: “The bottom-line is that Governor Amaechi nominated him (Wike) to be a minister. Wike said his name was two or three on the ministerial list sent to the President by the governor. So, what does he want?”

    The Site Engineer, = Dele Mateola, who was at the project site at the time of the interview, stated that work was in progress and nearing completion.

    He noted that the Azikiwe Station of the monorail was 85 per cent completed, disclosing that his men had been working day and night to meet the completion date.

     

     

  • Amaechi dramatizing Rivers crisis – Clark

    Amaechi dramatizing Rivers crisis – Clark

    The Leader of the South-South Peoples Assembly, Chief Edwin Clark has accused Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi of dramatizing the crisis in the state.
    Besides, the former Federal Commissioner said it was wrong to have elevated the crisis to the national issue.
    The elder statesman also said that Ijaw leaders will mediate in the crisis between Bayelsa and Rivers over oil field.
    He spoke on Wednesday night at the opening of the one day expanded National Working Committee of the South South Peoples Assembly, held in Asokoro, Abuja.
    He said,” the governor of River State is dramatizing the crisis in the state and he just wants support. And some distractors and opponents of this government are using the Rivers state issue to create crisis in the country. What is happening in the state is between two factions and nobody has been killed.
    “We have sat here on two occasions to discuss Rivers problem. It is a shame that the problem of Rivers State has now become a national issue. It is true that Rivers is part of Nigeria, is Ogun State not also part of Nigeria? Recently, people were killed even within one party. What happened in Ekiti State where people were killed? How many people have been killed in Rivers State?
    “The Senator who flew to London, it has been discovered that he was pretending, he was not shot at, he was not injured.”
    While commending the people of RIvers for their unalloyed support for President Goodluck Jonathan, Clark pleaded that the President be left out of the alleged role being played by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu in the crisis.
    Chief Clark, who also spoke on the crisis between Bayelsa and Rivers over oil issue, said it should not be another issue for campaign as the Ijaw leaders have decided to wade in.
    He explained that “after consultations with Ijaw leaders, we have decided as leaders to takeover this matter to call the two sides together. And so I am appealing to the government of Baylesa and Rivers to handoff this problem of the oil between the states.”
    Clark also wants the President to be left out of the issue, arguing that “this is not the first time there will be crisis over oil issue. There have been crisis between Akwa-Ibom and Cross River, Akwa-Ibom and Rivers and Abia and Rivers. In all these there was never a time the President’s name was mentioned. So why is it that today the President’s name is being mentioned as if he is the one causing the problem? We are taking over this issue from the government.”

  • Rivers govt, APC, PDP disagree over state’s financial status

    Rivers govt, APC, PDP disagree over state’s financial status

    The Rivers State Government, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have disagreed over the financial status of the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The Rivers government, through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, and the APC, through its Interim Rivers Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, yesterday said the state was not broke.

    PDP’s Jerry Needam, the Special Adviser, Media to the Rivers Chairman of the party, Chief Felix Obuah, insisted that the state was broke.

    Semenitari and Ikanya urged Rivers people to ignore the PDP’s claims, which were described as misleading, frivolous and ridiculous.

    Rivers PDP, however, maintained that available evidence showed that the Amaechi’s administration could no longer meet its responsibilities.

    PDP said: “We wonder how the Rivers Commissioner for Information will deny this glaring fact, in the face of the failure and collapse of almost all the social and public agencies in the state.

    “The Commissioner’s brazen denial is laughable. We want Mrs. Semenitari to explain why the Rivers State Government still owes officers and men of the Rivers State Road Transport Management Authority (TIMA-RIV) for about six months.

    “The newly-recruited 13,000 teachers are also owed six months’ salaries, roads and other infrastructural projects have been abandoned and there is delay in the release of the N300 million Christmas bonus meant for the civil servants in the state.

    “The PDP also demands explanation from the Rivers Information Commissioner to justify the reason for the denial of funds for the full implementation of the 2013 budget by the various ministries, if the state is not broke.

    “If the state is not broke, let the pensioners receive their full gratuities, rather than the piecemeal, a style of payment which has never happened in Rivers State, except now that the state is in financial distress.”

    The Rivers APC also stated that the leader of the party in the state (Amaechi) had created what the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Chuma Chinye, described as the 24th LGA of the state.

    The NIPPG, according to Chinye, the political leader of group, who hails from Delta State, was to protect the political interests of the over 1.5 million non-indigenes residing in Rivers State.

    Chinye described setting up of the structure as the first of its kind in any part of Nigeria, which he said was in keeping with the antecedents of Amaechi as a great leader, whose patriotism is legendary and a true nationalist.

    The NGF chairman was also referred to as the hero and hope of the non-indigenes in Rivers State, if the ways he had carried the non-indigenes along in his administration were things to go by.

    The Rivers commissioner for commerce and industry said: “Governor Amaechi has a history of giving non-indigenes a sense of belonging, as reflected in the composition of the State Executive Council.

    “Apart from myself, many other non-indigenes such as Mr. Ade Adeogun from Ondo State, who mans the powerful Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority and Mr. David Iyofor, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, who is from Delta State, are holding key positions in the Amaechi’s administration.”

    The Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, to the Interim Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, yesterday noted that at a keenly-contested election, held at the state secretariat of APC at Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt over the weekend, Chief Uchenna Okokoba defeated the duo of Alhaji Yusuf Tanko and Chief Williams Ubeka, to emerge the Interim Coordinator of the non-indigene group in Rivers APC.

    Inaugurating the group on behalf of the Rivers APC chairman (Ikanya), the Interim Secretary of the party, Chief Emeka Bekee, said: “This is another strong signal of the doom awaiting the PDP and other opposition parties during the 2015 elections.

    “I assure you of the support of Governor Amaechi and leadership of the APC. So, go out and mobilse your people to ensure that the APC becomes the party to beat come 2015, seeing that Governor Amaechi recognises and has made your people an integral part of his administration.”

    In a related development, the APC in Rivers State has concluded the harmonisation of the different groups that came together to form the party, the legacy party, comprising the defunct ANPP, ACN, CPC and NPDP, in the 23 LGAs of the state.

    The interim Rivers chairman of the APC also admonished members of the harmonised steering committee of each of the LGAs of the state to go and spread the gospel of the party in all the nooks and crannies of Rivers.

    The harmonized steering committee members were also urged to establish the wards’ steering committees and mobilise Rivers people to formally register with the APC from February 5, for the PDP, their common enemy, to be politically dealt with during the 2015 general elections.

     

  • The anomie in Rivers State

    The anomie in Rivers State

    SIR: The once flourishing Rivers State, known as the ‘Treasure Base of the Nation’ has suddenly become the ‘Violence Base of the Nation’. Regrettably, a state that breathes life into most states and Aso Rock is currently bruised, battered, shattered, and suffocated, waiting for its obituary announcement to be published.

    While trouble drizzles in other states, it pours in Rivers. Rivers State has lost its relative calmness, charm, serenity and allure to bad and uncouth politics. Everything with the semblance of governance has fallen apart in the state. The thread of unity that once bound the people of Rivers has since been severed by petty politics, greed and narrow interest

    Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi’s beautiful dreams, people-based economic blueprint and hope of a better Rivers have all gone with the winds. His transformation train code named ‘The New Rivers State’ has joined the list of halted or failed projects. Not for Governor Amaechi’s incompetence, but for the evil machinations of a higher authority and personalities.

    Peace departed Rivers ever since the self-acclaimed Mama Peace Patience Jonathan swore never to allow it a place in the state. True to her words, hardly a day passes that both local and international media are not awash with unpalatable occurrences spewing out of the state. Tension has become a permanent feature of the state.

    Having lost Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states to Boko Haram insurgency, Rivers is undoubtedly gearing hard to increase the number of states taken over by troublemakers. What we read about in the papers on the happenings in Rivers state is not any different from what is obtained in the north east. The Rivers state legislature is more or less on break. No serious legislative activity has been reported in recent times. The House, mainly of legislators loyal to Amaechi had to convene within the Rivers state Government House to enable the Amaechi led government present the state’s 2014 budget estimate.

    While the anti-Amaechi camp gets its backing, funding and support from Aso Rock, its foot soldiers, led by President Goodluck Jonathan’s political godson, who doubles as the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike have vowed to make Rivers State ungovernable. On the security front, Commissioner of Police Joseph Mbu is doing more harm to the already battered image of the Nigerian Police Force through his brazen unprofessional conducts.

    We have lost Rivers state to troublemakers. It appears those responsible for the raging political crisis in the state are not bothered. President Jonathan, the number one Chief Security Officer of the nation, on whose shoulders the security of lives and property of all Nigerians rest is busy globe-trotting, junketing, oiling his political machinery ahead of 2015 and fiddling while Rivers burns. All that matters to him and his foot soldiers is for Amaechi to be completely out of the way. Thanks to the media, civil rights groups and other respected opinion leaders who have constantly opposed plans to bundle Amaechi out of power, either by hook or by crook.

    It seems the Jonathan government isn’t aware of the negative impression the war in Rivers state could have on the nation and his government. I know he’s a man who hardly gives a ‘damn’ or attach seriousness to germane issues. Why is he so interested in seeing the premature end of Amaechi’s political career? Is Amaechi the political Wall of Jericho he has to pull down to return to Aso Rock in 2015?

    • Abdullahi Yunusa

    Imane, Kogi State

     

  • Much ado over APC’s directive to lawmakers

    Much ado over APC’s directive to lawmakers

    Since February last year, Rivers State has been on the edge. Opposition rallies have become taboo. Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Itse Sagay believes that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, would not have been harassing opposition elements if he does not have the backing of the powers-that-be. Last Saturday’s rally by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) held in Bori, the headquatres of Ogoniland, Rivers State was the first time in a long while that the opposition had a smooth rally. An attempt to do the rally six days earlier left many injured; and vehicles were destroyed.

    Yet, irrespective of their party leaning, Nigerians, who wish to stage a peaceful protest, must be able to do so without molestation.

    When about 13,000 teachers were supposed to receive their certificates and letters of employment at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, they were dispersed by the police with tear gas. On other occasions, ex-militants disrupted peaceful rallies in the state. On an occasion, the police prevented the governor from accessing his house, insisting that he must pass through a particular road. Things became worst when Governor Rotimi Amaechi joined the APC. Senator Magnus Abe was shot at a rally and is still recuperating in London.

    It got so bad that Amaechi wrote the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and used other means to lodge complaints. But deaf ears were turned to his plea.

    The impunity in Rivers made the Senate last Wednesday ask the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, to appear before it to give a situation report. Both arms of the National Assembly have condemned the recurring crisis in the state.

    Sagay told The Nation yesterday: “The Federal Government is obviously sponsoring what is happening in Rivers. Mbu will not be doing what he is doing if his backers are not at the top. His directive is to frustrate the Rivers governor and his masters.”

    Angered by the ‘madness’ in Rivers, the APC instructed all its members in the National Assembly to block all executive bills, including the 2014 Appropriation Bill.

    The party said: “In view of the joint resolutions of the National Assembly on Rivers State, and other constitutional breaches by the Presidency, the APC hereby directs its members in the National Assembly to block all legislative proposals, including the 2014 budget and confirmation of all nominees to military and civilian positions to public office, until the rule of law and constitutionalism is restored in Rivers State in particular, and Nigeria in general.”

    The PDP flayed the directive, accusing the APC of being anti-people. The chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Dan Nwanyanwu, also toed the PDP line, accusing the leading opposition party of wanting to foist hardship on the people. Sagay said the APC decision is just like a balance of terror. Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday said there was nothing anti-people about the directive. Fashola cited instances where PDP members in the National Assembly have blocked some legislative proposals, such as the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

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

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

    He explained that in a democratic process “where the party in power in majority has full legislative majority, this has been a weapon that the parliament has employed”.

    Fashola said the PIB Bill had been stalled in the National Assembly for over three years as well as the refusal to approve appropriation for the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) saying that no voices were raised in those situations.

    “Have you asked yourselves why? That was an example of withdrawal of cooperation. The same party in the majority returned the budget and you know how the budget finally came back to the National Assembly, that was an example of withdrawal of legislative cooperation. The same party with the majority last year said it was not going to approve appropriation for the Security and Exchange Commission, a constitutional empowered and created body because they were disagreeable with its leadership.”

    Analysts believe that the fruit of APC’s threat is already being felt. They say if not for the decision of the party, the Bori rally would have been disrupted by either the police or political thugs. They faulted the anti-people label being hanged on the party, citing instances where opposition in advanced democracies have blocked legislative proposals.

    The Republicans in the U.S. blocked some moves of President Barack Obama. The Obamacare is one. The Republicans went to great extent to stop, arguing that it is all part of democracy. The Republicans saw in Obama’s Affordable Care Act the single most unifying issue. Rank-and-file Republicans, especially those who are aligned with the Tea Party movement, despised the new health-care law. They devised strategies to delay, defund or in some other way disrupt the imminent implementation of the legislation.

    In Canada’s parliamentary system, the basic function of the opposition is to oppose the government on a day-to-day basis. In this role, the opposition takes on an adversarial role. This includes routinely criticising government legislation and actions, as well as providing the Canadian public with alternative policies. In some cases, the opposition may even organise to bring down the government, by voting against key pieces of government legislation, including the annual budget .

    Mohammed said the party sought to shut down government so that the government would not shut down the country. (See box)

    He said the step would not hurt the people. “Government is about people, if there is no peace and stability, what is happening in Rivers State might escalate to other states. And if that is the case, what will be the importance of any budget? So, why are we putting the budget over and above the life of the average citizen in Rivers State? People called to tell us that our position is ante-people but we say no. Any government that does not believe in fairness, justice and equity is anti-people. Any government that cannot protect its entire people is anti-people. Any government that does not respect the rule of law is anti-people. So, what we are doing is a patriotic service to Nigeria,” he said.

    The party said once the President stops what is happening in Rivers State there will be no reason to filibuster.

  • Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa APC crisis

    Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa APC crisis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Kpodo urged them to prevent the escalation of the crisis.

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

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

     

  • Activists to Jonathan: stop lawlessness in Rivers

    Activists to Jonathan: stop lawlessness in Rivers

    A pro-democracy group, the Voters Assembly, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to order the police to stop lawlessness in Rivers State.

    The group, in a statement yesterday by its president, Comrade Mashood Erubami, decried the development arising from the differences between President Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi. It described it as “growing lawlessness and political impunity.”

    The statement said: “The growing lawlessness and political impunity going on in Rivers State call for the attention of all Nigerians, particularly a proactive action from President Jonathan. With the situation in the state, if nothing is done, it could become a festering ground for a setback for the 2015 democratic consolidation.

    “The consequences of not taking immediate remedial actions by statesmen and leaders of parties to arrest the situation in Rivers State may engender a multiplier effect in other states, as manifesting already in Anambra, Nasarawa, Jigawa and Ogun. This could result in graver consequences for our democracy.

    “President Jonathan cannot afford to look elsewhere and exhibit the attitude of indifference to the unwholesome development in Rivers State, particularly as a result of political difference going on among politicians, because of its grave consequences on the polity. He must, therefore, rise to the occasion and discharge his duties to preserve, protect and defend the constitution, in accordance with the law and in the best interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and security of Nigeria.

    “The President must be seen to be doing right to all manner of people without consideration for political affiliation and ill-will.

    “The obvious misuse of the police in River State unleashing terror on innocent citizens, who are committed to saving the state from the impunities of a few is not acceptable and stand condemned. Hence, efforts should be made by the President to make the Inspector-General of Police prevail on the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu, to respect the law and rights of the people.

    “The police under the law are obliged to respect the right of governors as the chief security officers of their states. A situation where the safety of the governor is put in jeopardy as is the case in Rivers, opens the state and its indigenes to a danger of high magnitude and this can undermine the movement towards entrenching genuine democracy in Nigeria.”

     

  • APC directs Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa crisis

    APC directs Amaechi, Ikimi to resolve Bayelsa crisis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Kpodo urged them to prevent the escalation of the crisis.

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

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

     

  • Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

    Now that IGP Abubakar has woken up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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