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Tag: Wike

  • Wike, APC differ over plot to rig rerun poll

    Wike, APC differ over plot to rig rerun poll

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC), the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of planning to rig the December 10 rerun election.

    At a news conference inside the Government House Banquet Hall, attended by former Acting Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Uche Secondus, Deputy Governor Ipalibo Harry Banigo, state PDP chairman Felix Obuah, members of the state executive council and some party leaders, Wike said: “Anybody that plans to rig the rerun election would rig his or her life.”

    He alleged that those arrested were members of the APC and relatives of one of the leaders of the party, adding that if the police failed to conclude their investigation on the arrest of the suspects, his party would protest and ensure that justice is done.

    Wike said: “We have been working on a tip-off on some of the manipulation going on in  the state and we said when it is mature, we will strike. Now, God has exposed them. I was in Sokoto when they called me that members of the APC had been arrested while printing ballot papers.

    “The plot is to bring the fake result sheets to the polling units, in agreement with security agents and push away our agents and then concoct results. That is the role INEC is playing with the police.”

    But Rivers State APC Publicity Secretary Warisenibo Chris Finebone said the PDP planned to plant electoral materials in the homes of APC chieftains, instigate arrest and keep them out of the way before the re-run election.

    Finebone said: “The idea of the PDP is to plant election materials in some homes of individuals, claiming they are APC members so as to take some of our chieftains out of circulation before the rerun election. Emma Chinda they mentioned has not been in Port Harcourt for a very long time.

    “Their target is to paint Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside black. For us, they should come forth and show us proof. Security agents should come up to tell us if the operation was genuine or not.”

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Aniedi Ikoiak, declined to speak when contacted.

  • Wike: INEC can hold elections in Sambisa but not in Rivers

    Wike: INEC can hold elections in Sambisa but not in Rivers

    • Blasts commission over pending rerun polls

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of plotting against democracy in the state.

    He hinged the accusation on the failure of the electoral commission to hold the delayed rerun elections.

    The governor said it was ironic that INEC, which conducted successful elections in the Northeast and Sambisa forest, could not conduct elections in Rivers state.

    Speaking during a state dinner for delegates of the West African Architects Fair from 13 countries on Friday night, Wike said the non-conclusion of rerun in the state was fallout of the grand conspiracy to rig the polls in favour of an undisclosed unpopular political party.

    According to him: “Elections took place in Borno State. Elections took place in Yobe State.

    “Elections took place in Adamawa State, where you have deadly insurgency. They were able to conduct elections and votes were counted.

    “They were able to conduct elections in Sambisa forest and votes were counted but they cannot conduct elections here in Rivers State.”

    “Because people want to illegally seize power in Rivers State that is why you are hearing all this.

    “All these plots are to take Rivers State. Why do you want to take Rivers State, when it is not your own?

    “Between March 19th and now, they planned to do elections so that they can get the number of seats to impeach me and put their own man.

    “Since March, everyday they postponed the elections. From May to June to July, August then September. They said October ending, still no election.

    “Now, they say 10th of December and when we get to 10th of December, they may shift it to next year.”

    The Rivers governor said INEC and its alleged collaborators had denied the state representation in the Senate, House of Representatives and Rivers Assembly.

    He went on: “They continue to postpone the elections in Rivers State. The Senate will be discussing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the Senators will be having the constitutional amendment and the state that produces the crude oil has no Senator and cannot be part of the   discussion.

    “Nobody will defend Rivers State in the Senate. Nigerians are not worried. Why? Rivers is a minority state.”

    Wike also claimed Rivers was far more peaceful than other states, saying it had played host to series of international and national conferences.

    He said that once elections were approaching, desperate opposition politicians and their media collaborators would allegedly be inducing negative propaganda on insecurity.

    The governor alleged deliberate anti-development programmes had been slated against Rivers state, pointing out that the state had successfully overcome the plots.

    He said: “We are the only state that applied for bail-out funds but they did not give to us.

    “We are the only state where they started deducting our funds when a loan facility has not been given to us.”

  • Wike suggests alternative dispute resolution to electoral disputes

    Wike suggests alternative dispute resolution to electoral disputes

    The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has suggested the introduction of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the settlement of political conflicts, after major elections.

     He noted that ADR would help to reduce the level of bickering, time and resources expended on cases at election petitions tribunals, Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court.

    Wike spoke yesterday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, during a courtesy visit by the executive members of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

    Rivers governor said: “We, as politicians, have been discussing how we can introduce ADR in settlement of election matters, without going to the tribunals.

     “The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators can play a role in the introduction of ADR to election disputes. It will reduce bickering, it will reduce cost and time spent at the tribunals, Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court. In other words, there will be more time for governance.

    “It is a major issue that we should put our heads together to see how it will be possible to introduce in election matters, as issues to be resolved through ADR.”

    Wike also described Rivers State as safe for investments and tourism.

     He claimed that Nigerians and expatriates had already disregarded politically-motivated false insecurity reports being sponsored by the opposition, hence they allegedly troop to the state for conferences.

    He reiterated that the Niger Delta state, in the last four months, had played host to the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotary International and the West African Architects Fair.

     “Check the crime index in the country, that of Rivers State is quite low. It is lower than other major states. Go to Lagos and Kaduna states, they have higher crime rates than Rivers State,” the governor said.

    The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mrs. Mainnaya Essien (SAN), had earlier stated that the institute chose Rivers, because the state was safe, with modern amenities to host international events.

    Essien noted that Rivers state would be promoted as a major destination for ADR in the country, on the same standing with Lagos and Abuja.

     The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ conference will hold between November 10 and 11, 2016 in Port Harcourt.

  • Insecurity: We’ll fish you out after amnesty, Wike tells cultists, others

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that security agencies would go after suspected cultists and kidnappers after the 60 days amnesty package for youths.

    This is even as the governor has noted that criminal activities have caused food insecurity in Rivers communities.

    Wike made the statements yesterday, in Isiokpo, headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area of the State, at the occasion of recovery of weapons from repentant armed youths.

    The governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Amnesty and Chairman of the State Amnesty Implementation Committee, Ken Chinda, reiterated that suspected cultists, kidnappers and other criminal elements had within the 60 days’ grace to surrender their arms or face security onslaught.

    He vowed: “As a government, we cannot allow this criminality to continue. After the period of the amnesty, we shall go in and fish them out. We shall not shy away from our responsibility.

    “We will not allow you to rape and kill married women and girls. We will not allow you to kidnap and chase investors away from the local government area and the state.

    “Those who refused to come out and surrender their arms, have declared themselves enemies of the state and Nigeria. What we are doing is to help you. Remember that some of your members who started with you are no more. You should thank God for offering you this amnesty.

    Also speaking, the Caretaker Committee (CTC) Chairman of the LGA, Samuel Nwanosike, noted that insecurity had turned Ikwerreland into a theatre of blood, which led the council to seek support of the state government to offer amnesty to youths in Ikwerre LGA.

    He urged the youths to shun kidnapping, cultism and armed robbery so that business could thrive in the area.

    Nwanosike declared that those who refused to embrace amnesty would be fished out by security agents no matter their hideouts.

    Members of De-Gbam and Iceland groups in the LGA laid down their arms before members of the Amnesty Implementation Committee.

    Leaders of the various units of the two cult groups in different towns in the LGA denounced their membership and signed undertakings for good conducts on behalf of their members.

    Thousands of youths accepted amnesty and promised to live a transformed life style.

  • Ibiyeomie is a blessing to this generation, says Wike

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has stated that the Presiding Pastor of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, is a blessing to this generation.

    Speaking  during the celebration  of  the  54h birthday of Pastor David Ibiyeomie at the Salvation Ministries headquarters  in Port Harcourt on Friday night , Wike lauded the cleric for his positive  contributions to the  development  of  the universe .

    The governor said Rivers State has been privileged to have Pastor IIbiyeomie as a strong spiritual  pillar, noting that his prayers have helped to stabilise the state .

    Wike, who was accompanied by his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, said celebrating the cleric is the right thing to do, so that younger persons will be encouraged to live worthy lives.

    Also in attendance at the 54th birthday celebration were prominent leaders of Rivers State, Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, members of the State Executive Council and members of the State House of Assembly.

    In his remarks, the celebrator, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, thanked Wike and his  wife for honouring him by attending  the  birthday  despite their  crowded schedule.

    The celebration witnessed special presentations by renowned Christian artistes and comedians .

  • Fed Govt working to kill PDP, says Wike

    Fed Govt working to kill PDP, says Wike

    Rivers State Governor  Nyesom Wike has accused  the Federal Government  of working   to kill the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The governor  spoke  yesterday  at the Government House , Port Harcourt  when he granted  audience to the leadership  of Non -Indigenes Without Borders chaired by Hon Emeka Onowu.

    He said: “We have a sad situation  where everything  is being done   at the  federal  level  to kill the PDP .  However, in the end, it is their own political  party that will die.”

    The governor  expressed dissatisfaction  with the repeated plots to rig the forthcoming  rerun  elections in Rivers State. He noted that nobody would be  allowed to steal the mandate of Rivers people, no matter  the deployment  of pliant  security  agencies .

    “They are repeatedly  shifting the date of the rerun elections, so that they can have a convenient  time to rig. Nobody  should be scared of their plan to use DSS  and police to rig  the rerun  elections .

    ” The policeman  that is carrying gun, how many  people  can he kill? In Turkey  where they resisted the Army, are they not human beings ? Nobody will  circumvent the mandate of the Rivers people,” Wike said .

    He said as an opposition  state, the people of Rivers State are aware that will have battles for survival from those who control the federal level.

     

  • The speech Wike should have given

    The speech Wike should have given

    My dear people of Rivers State,

    I welcome you to this special state-wide broadcast. I had intended it to be a nationwide broadcast but the federal authorities frustrated me. So, I decided to settle for a state-wide broadcast. And in this Internet age, I have instructed that it should be streamed live on Rivers Television’s website because of the importance of the message. I have also taken out advert space in the print media to run the full text of this broadcast.

    Fellow Riverians, I am sure by now you all know of my heroic midnight act some days back when I aborted the abduction of a Federal High Court Judge by the Department of State Service (DSS) in Port Harcourt.? DSS men came like a thief in the night. They claimed to have a search warrant but carried on as though they were armed robbers.

    The DSS men arrived at the home of the judicial officer in a manner disturbingly similar to how Boko Haram marauders stormed the Government College in Chibok in 2014. This might look like a tragic parallel to draw like one of my commissioners has pointed out, but a thread of impunity runs through both incidents.

    In these instances, the invaders, I dare say, acted outside the law and their victims committed no crimes. I was just passing by the scene around 1am when I noticed the commotion. As a lawyer and someone whose love for justice is legendary, I could not but intervene. I was with the chairman of our great party, Bro. Felix Obuah, our State and National Assembly members, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara; and some caretaker chairmen.

    Fellow Riverians, my intervention led to the DSS men harassing me. They dragged me and threatened to shoot me. They acted like men under the influence but I maintained my calm. I remained focused on my mission, which was to prevent these crazy men from abducting a judge whose sin was upholding the rule of law.

    It is only the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the responsibility to discipline errant and corrupt judges. It is only after this that the indicted judicial officers can be handed over to the relevant law enforcement agency for prosecution. This sort of practice also exists in the police, army and other para-military agencies. In the police, errant and corrupt policemen are first given orderly room trial and sacked before being prosecuted.

    The right things must be done. We must not do things that will jeopardise our hard-earned democracy. If the DSS had succeeded in abducting the judge, they could have gone ahead to kill him and use that as another evidence of their claim that Rivers State is insecure.

    To justify their barbaric act, the DSS men claimed the judge, who I did not bother to even find out who he was before helping out, was hiding a bribe in his house. They claimed the bribe ran into $2 million. That in Naira is N900 million. For me, this is far-fetched. The DSS only created this story to ?whip up public sentiment against the judge. It is really unfortunate that DSS has concocted a false defence. It is unfortunate the DSS is coming up with flimsy excuses.

    How can anybody in his right sense, without any psychiatric disorder, keep N900 million in the house? How could DSS be outside and declare that N900million was found in the official residence of the judge? What is he hiding that the money was not taken to the bank? These are some of the posers I asked myself before coming to ?the conclusion that the DSS men were blatant liars.  While I do not condone corruption, I will never support any process targeted at ruining the nation’s judiciary.

    Fellow Riverians, in this age of scarce dollars, it is simply impossible for an individual to have that kind of money. The DSS simply wanted to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

    As your governor, I have immunity from arrest and the kind of treatment the DSS meted out to me that day. As a result of this, we have decided to take on this secret service agency, which chose to violate our laws.

    Your governor should not be treated like a common criminal and you let it go that way. So, the Commissioner for Justice and the Attorney-General of the State is putting finishing touches to a suit against the DSS. As a governor who believes so much in transparency and accountability, let me share with you some of the reliefs that we will be seeking.

    One, the DSS DG must prostrate in the full glare of national, continental and international media for the assault on me. Two, the DSS must sign an undertaking that never again will it carry out any arrest in this state without informing me and that if I disapprove, the action cannot be carried out. Three, the DSS must plead guilty to lying about the presence of $2 million in the home of the judge. Four, the DSS must admit that the public statement it on the botched abduction was the sorriest justification for executive lawlessness in a democratic dispensation.

    Fellow Rivers, my fifth relief is that the DSS must admit that my midnight act was a courageous act in support of the supremacy of the law. The DSS must also admit that my intervention is the sort of sacrifice every Nigerian must be prepared to make. We will also be seeking a relief to compel the international community to intervene because Nigeria’s fragile democracy is facing its gravest existential threat in nearly two decades.

    My people, I will also be seeking an order declaring me Nigeria’s ultimate outdoor governor as earlier conferred on me by my Commissioner for Information and Strategy. My heroic act of some days back sure prove that time is not an enemy for me when I need to play by role as the Good Samaritan.

    For those who may wonder why this broadcast. Well, I have done this in view of the propensity of the DSS and other security agencies to use the media to manipulate information. We cannot afford to relax the way things are going. We must be vigilant so as to defeat the dictatorship that is trying to take over our land.

    Freedom is never served a la carte. Independence is never earned on a platter of gold. Liberty has sacrifice as its price. And injustice is an evil we must fight. Let us prove to them that nobody can intimidate Rivers people.

    Thank you and God bless.

     

  • Rivers APC to Wike: leave Amaechi, Peterside alone

    Rivers APC to Wike: leave Amaechi, Peterside alone

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Governor Nyesom Wike to leave alone his predecessor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as well as the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, the party described as reckless, unfortunate, ill-informed and frivolous, Wike’s allegation that Amaechi and Peterside, the party’s governorship candidate in last year’s election, sponsored Tuesday night’s publication by Sahara Reporters.

    The publication was titled: Justice Mary Odili (of the Supreme Court/wife of ex-Rivers Governor, Dr. Peter Odili) wept and begged Supreme Court judges to accept N5 billion bribe on behalf of Gov. Wike, report says.

    In an online statement on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, the govrnor insisted that he did not bribe Supreme Court justices with N5 billion for his victory at the apex court.

    Wike also claimed that Amaechi was indicted by his “properly-constituted” Judicial Commission of Enquiry for allegedly enriching himself by embezzling the state’s funds.

    But Rivers State APC said it was compelled to go against its avowed principle that it would not respond to “arrant nonsensical” publications and statements by the “accidental” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in Rivers State under Wike.

    The party said it took exception, this time, to address what it called the ludicrous issues raised in PDP’s “moment of disorientation, confusion and attempt to desperately drag down the reputation of notable leaders of the APC in Rivers State”.

    It added: “APC leaders in Rivers State, including Amaechi and Dr. Peterside, have no direct, indirect or any other form of links with Sahara Reporters as an organisation or with any of its personnel. Records abound to prove that Amaechi and Peterside have, at one time or another, come under intense scrutiny in the reports of Sahara Reporters.

    “It is appropriate and well-timed that the statement by Wike has something to say about whether or not he bribed justices of the Supreme Court over the 2015 governorship matter. From what is emerging today across the nation, the APC will like Rivers residents and other Nigerians to make their conclusions.

    “It is a statement of fact that the Justice George Omereji’s panel, which was set up by Wike to target, foist and pin corruption charges on …Amaechi, failed abysmally, because it could not find anything to pin on the former governor. To this day, despite all the challenges by Amaechi for the Rivers State Government to take him to court, it has been impossible, because there are absolutely no grounds to do so, and the Rivers State government knows it.”

    Rivers APC also said Wike and his party never released any statement without the “hallucinatory mantra” of N3 trillion received by the Amaechi administration, which it maintained was contrived to fool ordinary Rivers residents and other Nigerians.

    It said: “Indeed, it is sad and primitively disingenuous of Rivers governor, his co-travellers and cohorts to huff and puff over an imaginary N3 trillion that got to Rivers State in Amaechi’s eight years, but often dishonestly display selective amnesia when they pretend to forget the many landmark projects and programmes of the Amaechi administration.

    “For anyone who cares to know, Amaechi has always stated his avowed stand, on principle, not to make a single comment on his relationship with his erstwhile political mentor, Dr. Peter Odili, and his family, as no amount of blackmail will make him deviate from that resolve.

    “It is the unshakable belief of Amaechi that his relationship with Dr. Odili and his family is divine and not open for speculations and conclusions by mortals. It remains personal and private to this day.”

  • Wike, DSS, and the rest of us

    SIR: There have been so much hues and cries over the attempted arrest of a judge in Rivers State in the short hour of the day in his residence by members of the DSS and Police. Some have described that attempt as a Gestapo-style kidnap but foiled by the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike as speculated in ways that the Parthians, in the Parthian Empire of ancient days would have envied. It is commendable, because even though the Parthians were brave warriors, they cowed under the domination of the Roman Empire, with only a garrison of troops on their land.

    I wonder why the crying jag? I wonder why no-one raises a protest when commoners are daily arrested without warrants for arrests by security forces in this country. Even when a human rights activist was slain the other day, no-one raised this sort of protest, not even his colleagues on the bench.

    Life for the poor, in this country is to work, serve the rich, be diffident, and be exploited by the rich. The security forces and the Nigerian system, instead of protecting all, protect only the rich.

    It is nerve-wracking for me. Both the rich and poor pay taxes. It is amusing because the banks do not discriminate against receiving money from the rich and poor. And when they suddenly go burst, both the rich and poor cry. It is worrying today to hear tales of graft levelled at high-ranking members of the judiciary. Without dissimulation, they rub it in and I get the impression that they are beginning to mislead us all.

    The politicians in Nigeria are on holiday, they live happily on our account. It saddens me to read in this medium about another governor elsewhere who it was alleged masterminded the raining of blows on a judge in his state the other day commenting about the impiety not to God but to the judiciary.

     

    • Simon Abah

    Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Wike and gubernatorial end time

    Things are happening here, Hardball dares to say!

    With the DSS-corrupt judges stand-off (which some passionate partisans have deliberately, if emotively, dubbed DSS-Judiciary showdown), Nigeria might even be on its way to recording its first case of a fugitive judge, never mind that violent contradiction.

    From the news, the sting operation in Port Harcourt was not quite successful. According to DSS, the target judge somewhat escaped arrest, no thanks to the alleged heroics of Governor Nyesom Wike, who virtually sprang from nowhere, with some lorry loads of policemen in tow.

    DSS then made it known it was extending an invitation to the judge.  Except he honours that invitation, and there is no court restraint to the contrary, Nigeria might just be on its way to producing its first fugitive judge!

    But perish that thought!  His Lordship would probably show up and everything would be sorted out.

    Still, that would hardly excuse Governor Wike’s scandalously ungubernatorial conduct, in the whole messy affair.

    Both sides to the drama have stated their respective cases. But there are notorious facts that still shine through.

    Fact: Wike had no business on that scene of alleged crime — not as a lawful citizen; much less as a governor, who the constitution grants immunity from criminal prosecution, as long as he remains governor.

    But an unstated code of that rare privilege seems to have been lost on the governor, as it is lost on too many: whoever is immune from criminal prosecution as governor is unlikely, by his exemplary conduct as a lawful private citizen, to ever run the risk of prosecution.

    In other words, (s)he is not unlike Caesar’s wife: not only above reproach, but must be seen to be so!

    But did Wike’s reported conduct portray?  As governor, he admitted he “blocked” the arrest of a citizen — a judge yes, but a citizen nevertheless — even, with a tinge of drama, claiming that he quit his crusade when the DSS operatives threatened to shoot him.

    Well, Hardball is glad no one eventually got shot.  But not so, that a governor, enjoying constitutional immunity, would turn himself into a wilful barrier against the law, in a scandalous but classic case of standing on gubernatorial dignity.

    Because he enjoys immunity against criminal prosecution, does Wike think he is above the law?  Or that unruly conduct is acceptable to the polity, just because he enjoys the privileges of a governor?

    Besides, if Wike as governor behaves in such a reckless manner, is his conduct telling us his natural instinct is to thumb his nose at the law?  And in future, must we conduct psychoanalysis on gubernatorial candidates before deciding which one of them merits the constitutional grace of immunity?

    Or, because of the Wikes of this world, should we then go ahead and remove the immunity clause, since Wike’s disgraceful conduct does not seem to appreciate the huge and solemn privileges attached to his high gubernatorial office?

    Besides, what was Wike’s business in a matter concerning a judge accused of soiling his hands?  Is he the chief of the judge’s judicial jurisdiction?  The chief judge of Rivers State?  The president of the Court of Appeal?  Or the Chief Justice of Nigeria?

    Why would any right-thinking governor stake the majesty of his high office to aid a judge allegedly accused of acts which could bring him and his high judicial office into odium and ridicule?  And to boot: that judge could well, thanks to Wike’s golden intervention, account for the dubious honour of doubling as a fugitive, one of a very few, if not the first ever in Nigerian history?

    You want answers?  A difficult chore!  But just pass it as Governor Wike’s heroics in a gripping movie: Wike and gubernatorial end time!

    Things are really happening here!