The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wike

  • Peterside to Wike: your allegation on campaign malicious

    Peterside to Wike: your allegation on campaign malicious

    Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 11 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said the allegation by Governor Nyesom Wike on the launch of his campaign ahead of the rerun is wicked and malicious.

    The APC chieftain noted that the governor’s allegation also amounted to the vituperation of a drowning man.

    Peterside, who spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital, said Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) needed sympathy because they were at their wits’ end.

    The APC chieftain noted that PDP’s desperation and proclivity for lies and misinformation was borne out of their fear of the impending rerun.

    Peterside said he was aware that Wike and his associates, who allegedly perpetrated the worst electoral fraud in the last elections in the state, were panicky.

    He said: “For the avoidance of any doubt, I wish to state categorically that the fraudulent Rivers State election of April 11 was not cancelled only for non-compliance and usage of the Card Reader.

    “The judges cited other irregularities and breaches. For instance, the APC provided evidence that Dr. Chituru Orluwene, who was Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) Collation Officer for Degema Local Government Areaq, is a known PDP member and was also a member of the PDP Campaign Organisation (the medical team). APC also established that known members of the PDP worked as INEC’s ad hoc workers in the election.

    “Our party proved beyond doubt that in all the local government areas, total accreditation for the governorship elections was at variance with that of the House of Assembly.

    “We provided evidence with Omuma Local Government Area, where they alleged that election did not hold in the governorship election but held for the House of Assembly. The same cheap and criminal manipulation took place in wards 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 in Obio/Akpo Local Government Area.”

    Peterside said the documents the PDP and Wike filed, which showed the photographs of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi casting his vote at Ubima Ward 8, Unit 14, also failed integrity test because INEC could not provide results from the former governor’s unit.

    “We pointed at the disparity on the number of accreditation on the result sheets, which is different from the tick of accreditation on voters’ register and the Card Reader report. APC also established the inconsistency between accreditation figures for the governorship and the House of Assembly elections, even in same units.

     

  • Wike’ judicial faux pas

    SIR: The highest judicial body of the land – the Supreme Court – was carpeted by the Rivers de jure Governor Nyesom Wike over its recent decision in the case involving him; the same with the electoral tribunal whom he also accused of compromising its judicial briefs after he lost at the tribunal.

    Wike’s professional background as a lawyer could not attenuate his provocative invectives and disparagement of the hallowed bench; even the highest judicial body was not spared. The PDP whose spoke- person is also a lawyer took this infantilism a notch higher by threatening civil disobedience. This political desperation is a product of zero sum game that underpins PDP’s ideological template from inception. It is rather unconscionable for a party that recorded victory of all its NASS members at the same tribunal to turn round and impugn the integrity of the same tribunal when the chips were down.

    The Nigerian Bar Association and the National Judicial Council should halt this macabre dance of judicial insults by meting appropriate discipline to lawyers who having the options of appeal deliberately attempt to sentimentally gain undue advantage by painting judges in bad light thereby putting the integrity of the whole judicial institution on harm’s way.

     

    • Bukola Ajisola,

    Lagos

  • WIKE… God is not mocked

    WIKE… God is not mocked

    God, as presented in the Bible, is not one to toy with. He is loving and longsuffering, but is not to be mocked as Apostle Paul pointed out in his epistle to the Galatians. Man could play games with anybody, and anyone. But, the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth is not to be regarded as a pawn on anyone’s chess board. He is the God of Justice. He is awesome in His powers and could, in His wrath wipe out the entire human race. He alone, who reserves the right to take both body and soul, is to be feared.

    This is the teaching of the Holy scripture. This, I believe, should inform restraint on the part of politicians who would stop at nothing in manipulating perception and the electorate. For anyone who has keenly followed development in Rivers State, it should not be surprising that there is so much tension in the state. The verbal and physical assault that attended the last elections in the state had indicated that the combatants would stop at nothing until there are no more advantages to be pressed.

    As is usually the case, the delivery of verdict in favour of the APC last week meant a time of mourning for the PDP. Governor Nyesom Wike who would be dethroned should the verdict stand immediately swung into action to prove that it was not yet over. He had to assure his supporters that it was a temporary setback. He pledged, as anyone could have predicted, to take the matter all the way to the very end. That was within his right. I felt disconcerted when he chose to address his people and berate the judiciary for stepping on the law. As a lawyer, I thought he would be more circumspect in handling the matter. In desperation, he indicated that he could not be bothered if the house was pulled down for a temporary gain. He said the tribunal ought to have waited another 72 hours for the Appeal Court on jurisdiction. Yet, he lost at the Appeal Court.

    I did not feel disgusted until he brought God into the matter. He hurriedly packaged a thanksgiving service at which many “men of God” officiated and prayed. They intoned that Wike would ultimately triumph and his “traducers” put to shame.

    It was not amusing. The “prophets” jumped and twirled as they effortlessly invoked the name of God to support vanity. The men, apparently in the Order of Balaam, had been procured to do a job and would stop at nothing to assure the paymaster that it was not over.

    They shouted themselves hoarse, twirled and turned, sweating profusely in a bid to convince their master that they meant business. As I watched them on the television, I remembered the event on Mount Carmel and could imagine the disgust of Prophet Elijah as he mocked the prophets of Baal. He urged them on as they displayed their tragic ignorance and folly.

    Wike’s prophets similarly jumped and danced to satisfy the bid to hoodwink the public. Who did not know that Wike lost his case? Who did not see and hear as he berated the judges and blame the judiciary and the APC? How could the same man head for the church for thanksgiving? When men play gamed with institutions, the country and the nation, the next logical step is to engage God in the game.

    It might not be too late for all the men, and Wike, to repent and seek the Face of God. Nigeria is not making progress because of the activities of such politicians and their friends on the pulpit. It is a shame that men are called by their stomachs, not God, and seek to convince the unsuspecting that they have the wand to make things happen. The so-called men of God could contrive anything… a new tongue, wave fake prophecies and acquire unreal affectations all in a bid to project the kingdom of darkness as if it were of light.

    As was the case under former President Jonathan, they are men who would organize to be bought jets for evangelism and then divert it to commercial use; rush to the Villa and come out to tell a worried public the late President Yar’Adua’s health had improved and he actually saw them off, when in fact the imagination had been fired by the President’s G-M-G. May the Lord have mercy.

    It is no surprise that the more churches spring up in the country, the more sins multiply and the people suffer.

    Let Wike and his ilk stop at playing game on the terrestrial surface. Venturing to the spiritual realm as they chose to do last week is dangerous. While God is indeed longsuffering, his anger can only be imagined. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah toyed with him until judgment came. Korah’s family did not live to tell their own story. So was the experience of Achan. God is the same; He has not changed over the years. Indeed, he cannot be mocked. As Apostle Paul declared, whatever a man sows, he shall surely reap. I can only sound the warning.

  • Wike, Rivers APC in verbal war over tribunal ruling

    Embattled Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have disagreed sharply on the nullified mandate and pro-Wike protests by various groups in Rivers.

    APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, yesterday in Port Harcourt, alleged that the sacked Rivers governor had gone full blast against the judiciary by mobilising market women, traditional rulers and clerics, among others to protest.

    But, reacting, Wike, through his deputy, Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, vowed to protect the mandate given to him by Rivers people on April 11 this year and to ensure that the resources of the state were used to improve the living standard of the people.

    It will be recalled that the tribunals sacked Wike on Saturday and voided the victories of 20 PDP lawmakers of the Rivers House of Assembly, including the Speaker, the following Monday.

    On Tuesday, the tribunal also insisted that the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja was for security reason, while affirming the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier approved the decision of the tribunal to assume jurisdiction.

    In his reaction to the judgments, the Rivers State governor alleged judicial gang-up against him and the people of Rivers state.

    APC said: “The Rivers State chapter of the APC has received credible information that Nyesom Wike has begun to mobilise and incite different sections of Rivers people to protest against the judiciary, for handing out unfavourable judgments on his matters at the tribunals and Supreme Court.

    “Two top traditional rulers in Rivers State separately informed the APC that the embattled Rivers governor summoned them for a meeting today (yesterday), where they suspect that the governor may request and mobilise them to endorse protest documents against the judgments of the tribunal that annulled the so-called election of the governor and the decision of the Supreme Court that dismissed his appeal on jurisdiction of the tribunal.

    “As part of Wike’s plan to mobilise the people of the state against the judiciary, he doled out huge cash to a section of market women, who shamelessly went on a protest march yesterday (Thursday) in Port Harcourt, denouncing the Nigerian judiciary and threatening the peace of Rivers State.

    “The APC has been told that after the meeting and mobilisation of traditional rulers to protest in today’s meeting, the next group penciled down to be mobilised is the clergy in Rivers State. Wike believes that he can finance a section of the supposed men of God to protest and publish anti-judiciary articles and paid adverts in the media, extolling the embattled governor.

    However, Wike maintained that the people of Rivers state voted for him and all the candidates of the PDP, in view of their conviction that they possess the capacity to deliver quality service to them.

    He said: “Rivers People voted for us, because they believe that we will deliver the dividends of democracy to them and improve on the living standard of our people.

    “Time has passed when people came to Rivers State to take away our wealth. We are prepared to protect our resources for the betterment of our people.”

  • wike loses again

    wike loses again

    THE Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by Governor Nyesom Wike and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on the relocation of Rivers State governorship election petition tribunal to Abuja.

    The apex court, in a unanimous judgment yesterday, held that the appeal “lacked merit and substance”.

    The court dismissed it “in its entirety”.

    Justice Amiru Sanusi, who read the judgment on the interlocutory appeal, upheld the earlier decisions by the tribunal and the Court of Appeal that the tribunal’s relocation to Abuja from Port Harcourt, was in order because it was informed by security challenges.

    The tribunal last Saturday nullified Wike’s election in its judgment in the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Dakuku Peterside.

    Justice Sanusi held that evidence abound that there were security challenges in Rivers State when the tribunal was moved to Abuja.

    He said the court was not bound by an earlier decision in the case involving former Delta State Governor James Ibori  that tribunals must sit in a state where election was held to determine dispute from such election.

    The justice said the Ibori case was not binding where the relocation was effected by the tribunal’s constituting authority – the president of the Court of Appeal – and the relocation informed by security challenges.

    Justice Sanusi observed that in the Ibori case, the relocation of the tribunal was not by the president of the Court of Appeal, and that the relocation was not on the grounds of insecurity.

    “But in the instant case, it was the president of the Court of Appeal that relocated the tribunal to Abuja because of insecurity.

    “It was this situation that demanded a doctrine of necessity which made the president of the Court of Appeal to relocate the tribunal to Abuja to protect the lives of members of the panel.

    “I agree with the Court of Appeal that the president of the Court of Appeal is right in relocating the panel to Abuja.

    “On the whole, I hold that the tribunal was properly constituted by the president of the Court of Appeal even without consultation with the chief judge of Rivers State or the president of the Customary Court , even though, as at then, there was no chief judge, and there was no president of the Customary Court.

    “The consultation here is not as to the venue of the sitting, but to get judges in Rivers State that will be part of the various election petition tribunals.

    “It is necessary to protect members of the panel by relocating them from the theatre of war to where their lives will be secured. The president of the Court of Appeal has the power and has judiciously utilised the power.

    “The panel is properly constituted and it is not bereft of jurisdiction to hear the petition of the petitioners. The appeal lacks merit, and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Sanusi said.

    The Rivers tribunal was one of the tribunals relocated to Abuja on security grounds following its inability to conduct its proceedings in Port-Harcourt, the state capital.

    Others are those of Akwa Ibom, Yobe, Borno, Admawa and Taraba states.

    Uncomfortable with the tribunal’s movement to Abuja, Wike and PDP objected to its sitting in Abuja, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Ibori case.

    The tribunal dismissed the objection to its jurisdiction to hear the petition in Abuja. It held that it could sit outside the state where election was held to decide any dispute arising from such election where security was a challenge.

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja, upheld the tribunal’s decision as it relates to its jurisdiction to sit in Abuja, following which Wike and his party appealed to the Supreme Court.

    A panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Fabiyi, heard the Appeal by Wike on October 16 and fixed judgment for yesterday.

  • Rivers: Supreme Court dismisses appeal by Wike, PDP

    Rivers: Supreme Court dismisses appeal by Wike, PDP

    •’Suit against tribunal’s relocation to Abuja lacks merit’

    THE Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against the relocation of the state governorship election tribunal to Abuja.

    The apex court, in a unanimous judgment yesterday, held that the appeal “lacked merit and substance”.

    The court dismissed it “in its entirety”.

    Justice Amiru Sanusi, who read the judgment on the interlocutory appeal, upheld the earlier decisions by the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, to the effect that the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja from Port-Harcourt, was in order having been informed by security challenges.

    The tribunal last Saturday nullified Wike’s election in its judgment in the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Dakuku Peterside.

    Justice Sanusi held that evidence abound that there were security challenges in Rivers State as at when the tribunal was relocated to Abuja.

    He said the court was not bound by an earlier decision in the case involving former Delta State Governor James Ibori to the effect that tribunals must seat in a state where election was held to determine dispute from such election.

    The judge said the Ibori case was not binding where the relocation was effected by the tribunal’s constituting authority – the President of the Court of Appeal – and the relocation informed by security challenges.

    Justice Sanusi observed that in the Ibori case, the relocation of the tribunal was not by the President of the Court of Appeal, and that the relocation was not on ground of insecurity.

    “But in the instant case, it was the President of the Court of Appeal that relocated the tribunal to Abuja because of insecurity.

    “It was this situation that demanded for a doctrine of necessity which made the President of the Court of Appeal to relocate the tribunal to Abuja to protect the lives of the members of the panel.

    “I agree with the Court of Appeal that the President of the Court of Appeal is right in relocating the panel to Abuja.

    “On the whole, I hold that the tribunal was properly constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal even without consultation with the Chief Judge of Rivers State or the President of the Customary Court , even though, as at then, there was no chief judge, and there was no President of the Customary Court.

    “The consultation here is not as to the venue of the sitting, but to get judges in Rivers State that will be part of the various election petition tribunals.

    “It is necessary to protect members of the panel by relocating them from the theatre of war to where their lives will be secured. The President of the Court of Appeal has the power and has judiciously utilised the power.

    “The panel is properly constituted and it is not bereft of jurisdiction to hear the petition of the petitioners. The appeal lacks merit, and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Sanusi said.

    The Rivers tribunal was one of the tribunals relocated to Abuja on security ground following its inability to conduct its proceedings in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    Others are those of Akwa Ibom, Yobe, Borno, Admawa and Taraba states.

    Uncomfortable with the tribunal’s movement to Abuja, Wike and PDP objected to its sitting in Abuja, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Ibori case.

    The tribunal dismissed the objection to its jurisdiction to hear the petition in Abuja. It held that it could sit outside the state where election was held to decide any dispute arising from such election where security was a challenge.

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja upheld the tribunal’s decision as it relates to its jurisdiction to sit in Abuja, following which Wike and his party appealed to the Supreme Court.

    A panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Fabiyi, heard the Appeal by Wike on October 16 and fixed judgment for yesterday.

  • Wike’s wake

    Wike’s wake

    To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus

    Our fears in Banquo stick deep,

    And in his royalty of nature

    Reigns that which would be feared — Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 1,   Shakespeare’s Macbeth          

    Given this opening quote, there appears an eerie parallel between the historical tragedy of the Scottish impostor king, Macbeth (as dramatically captured by William Shakespeare); and the looming gubernatorial tragedy of Nyesom Wike, the embattled Rivers “governor”, whose “election” was judicially annulled on October 24.

    Put the quote in contemporary Nigeria.  Put the words in the mouth of Patience Jonathan, the pesky, tempestuous spouse of former President, Goodluck Jonathan.  Drop “Banquo” for “Amaechi” — and this is what you get: Patience, the godmother, to Wike, the godson:

    “To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus/Our fears in Amaechi stick deep,/And in his royalty of nature/Reigns that which would be feared“!

    Ay, in the original, the impostor Macbeth, spoke in painful soliloquy, after he had killed King Duncan, his benefactor; after being goaded into regicide by the puffy promises of the three witches; and loads of satanic prompting from his no less evil wife.

    At the end of the day, however, it took more than slaying Duncan to sit pretty on the Scottish throne.

    Still, the Nigerian adaptation isn’t totally out of place.

    Politically slaying Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers governor, was central to the egregious Rivers election rigging, which the Rivers State Election Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, just confirmed.

    Patience Jonathan would appear the grand dame of that anti-Amaechi plot.  Between Amaechi and the former first lady, there was no love lost.

    Her husband, President Jonathan, the naive but no less opportunistic, “Macbeth”, who hoped to greatly profit from Amaechi’s political liquidation, by subtle appeal to base South-South sentiments; while the less subtle Dame went on overdrive, the “home girl” exploiting explosive Okrika (read Rivers) base appeal.  Okrika is her hometown.

    Wike, of course, then as Jonathan’s education minister of state, was the not-so-legit viceroy (just as Macbeth was the legit Thane of Cawdor) assured to become outright illegitimate governor (just as Macbeth committed regicide) — but only if he could pay the price!

    The tragic result was a wanton and gory harvest of lives and limbs in the name of election — perhaps the bloodiest in all of the 2015 general elections.

    Even before the Tribunal verdict of October 24, international observers had dismissed the “election” as free slaughter; just as local observers concurred it was “war”.  Yet, “Governor” Wike and his fatally deluded agents of impunity kid themselves they had a “mandate”!  Some mandate!

    Wike’s gubernatorial meltdown is, therefore, a sweet testimony to the futility of impunity — not only during electioneering and elections, but also in day-to-day governance.

    This is particularly so in a federal setting, where a president abandons extant rules; and essays presidential imperialism, as Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan clearly did during their tenure.

    Recall: the crush-Amaechi-at-all-cost campaign created political anomie in Rivers, well ahead of the elections.

    Remember the illicit pressing into service of Mbu Joseph Mbu, who as Rivers Police commissioner, attained notoriety for gross subordination.  He claimed that as a “lion” he had tamed the “leopard” Governor Amaechi — perhaps to muted applause from Jonathan’s Aso Rock!

    While Mbu was busy playing the partisan, if not outright lawless, policeman, Wike was the proud Abuja viceroy in Port Harcourt, in whom Aso Rock was well pleased!  And the two, unfazed poster boys of untrammelled impunity, made quite a tag-team!

    Despite a paralysing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, which fell under his purview as education minister of state, Wike would rather growl and talk wike, wike on the rough and tumble of Rivers politics — again, to apparent Aso Rock cheer!

    This then was the heart-rending situation, from which Rivers pre-election anomie sunk into the abyss of election-time anarchy; all premised on brazen “federal might”, the Nigerian contemporary political equivalent of the three witches’ gaseous promise to Macbeth.

    But just as the witches’ pledges evaporated fast, like the morning dew melting at the first touch of the sun, Wike’s assured cover of “federal might” (no thanks to Jonathan’s parlous loss) has exploded with an iridescent pop — leaving the tragic “governor” to grope at mocking emptiness!

    And yet, he and his deluded ensemble crow: we hold — and will never surrender — a mandate freely given!  But by who — one is tempted to ask?

    A whole family wiped out just because they had the ill luck of insisting on their democratic right to associate and vote in an election?

    A whole community sacked, and who became election-time refugees in the bush, simply because the Wike Army of Brutal Election Enforcement were on the prowl?

    Or yet tens and hundreds of the fatally traumatized aged, condemned to untimely deaths, just because their youths had the audacity to exercise their democratic rights?

    After all the legal and forensic grandstanding, even up to the Supreme Court on appeal; and the emotive and atavistic play in the streets, towards a patently evil cause of electoral banditry, judicially proven: will all the waters of the Atlantic wash the marauders’ hands clean of blood and blot?

    The evil Lady Macbeth, at the end of her tether, in troubled sleep-walking, answered that question — in resounding negative!

    To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus!

    Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial wake (never mind the Peoples Democratic Party’s hysterical bluff and bluster) should be a wake-up call to all: never again must Nigeria tolerate flagrant electoral banditry, routine in some parts of the country.

    But relieving Wike of his gubernatorial loot should only be the first step.  The next logical step is trying and gaoling every INEC official implicated in this grand and ultra-violent electoral heist.  That should send the right message.

    Though about everyone seems to have partisan inclinations, true democrats should bother less about partisan electoral winners and losers, though victory is sweet and defeat painful.  Rather, they should ensure the process wins, by making elections free, fair, transparent and credible.

    If this is achieved in the Rivers re-run, the process would have won; and everyone — winners or losers — with it.

     

    Quote: “Wike’s gubernatorial wake should be a wake-up call to all: never again must Nigeria tolerate flagrant electoral banditry, routine in some parts of the country”

     

  • ‘Wike’s ouster justifies Rivers APC’s struggle for justice’

    A Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Senator Magnus Abe, has said Saturday’s nullification of Governor Nyesom Wike’s election at the tribunal is a justification for the party’s struggle and its vindication for seeking justice.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his media aide, Mr Parry Saroh Benson, the senator said: “We have always maintained our confidence that there are judges in Nigeria who will deliver justice to Rivers people. This has come to pass.”

    Abe said the tribunal’s verdict showed that truth would always prevail, despite the suppression by the opposition.

    The senator urged well-meaning residents, especially APC supporters, to remain steadfast for the party’s victory.

    He also assured that APC supporters would be able to vote in the rerun and their votes would count, unlike what happened in the March 28 and April 11 elections, when they were denied their rights to vote for their candidates.

    But the lawmaker representing Degema in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Dr. Farah Dagogo, described the tribunal’s judgement as a miscarriage of justice.

    Dagogo expressed optimism that the Court of Appeal would correct what he called the wrongs of the tribunal.

    The lawmaker said the judgment negated the wishes of Rivers residents, who he said massively voted for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Wike.

    He urged the people to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses, adding that the government would explore legal means to redress the tribunal’s verdict.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, Dagogo noted that majority of lawyers and public commentators considered the judgment to be strange in law.

    He said: “I can assure you that we will appeal this strange and obvious miscarriage of justice. We believe the Appeal Court will correct the wrongs of the election tribunal.”

  • Wike, PDP attack judges as tribunal annuls Rivers poll

    Wike, PDP attack judges as tribunal annuls Rivers poll

    •Party dismisses judgement as biased
    •Sacked gov vows to fight all the way
    •Attempt to blackmail judiciary will fail, says APC

    A furious Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State yesterday launched tirades on the judiciary moments after the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Wike  as Rivers State governor.

    The tribunal had said the election that brought the governor to power was characterised by malpractices and not held in substantial compliance with the electoral laws.

    PDP immediately declared that   the judgment cannot stand while Wike branded it a gang-up against the people of Rivers State.

    National Publicity Secretary of the PDP , Chief Olisa Metuh, slammed  the verdict as “completely bizarre and unacceptable,” and said it was part of the script by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the will of the people.

    His party, he claimed, had been hinted  several months ago about  “this spurious judgment,”  and that it accordingly  alerted the nation and the international community to the plot by the APC government to use the judiciary and various security agencies to reverse the victory of the PDP in Rivers, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Taraba and Abia states.

    “We invite Nigerians and the international community to recall various reprehensible steps taken by the APC government that culminated in this ruling as well as the ridiculous Wednesday’s verdict of the Akwa-Ibom state governorship election tribunal, also sitting in Abuja”, the PDP said.

    The party listed what it described as the curious and controversial relocation of the election tribunals from their states to Abuja without any justification; the constant juggling of judicial officers and members of governorship election tribunals in PDP controlled states, especially, Rivers and Akwa-Ibom.

    It also alleged constant harassment of judicial and electoral officers involved in the governorship election cases in these state, using agencies of government, particularly, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) under the direct command of a known APC member, Alhaji Lawal Daura.

    The PDP similarly alleged constant threats, intimidation and coercing of witnesses against the party in the tribunals.

    He added: “the recent mass transfer of security operatives, especially the DSS and police personnel that actually participated in the conduct of the elections in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom, ostensibly to frustrate the course of genuine evidences in the process. “The bias in the judgment against the PDP in Rivers as well as Akwa-Ibom is evidenced in the contradictions inherent in the trial process of the two cases and the verdicts therein, whereby the tribunals clearly disregarded standing legal norm that a petitioner must establish prove of claims.

    “Also curious is the fact that after both the petitioner and respondent agreed before the tribunal that both card reader and manual accreditations were used for the election, the tribunal still went ahead to base its decision on issues of card reader.

    “While it is convenient for them to use legal technicalities to deny PDP victory in Imo, Lagos, Ogun and Yobe states, the same rules are misapplied to wickedly favour APC petitioners in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states.

    “It is therefore evinced that these contradictions are direct fall-out of compromises as well as boasts by the APC of being in direct and remote control of the tribunals.

    “If not, how can one explain the fact that while governorship elections are being upturned in PDP states, in APC states, where similar claims and facts are in contention, elections are being upheld.

    “Further proof of bias by the Rivers tribunal is the fact that less than 24 hours after various counsels submitted nine written addresses and documents, the tribunal rushed its notice of judgment, an action ostensibly aimed at ambushing the pending Supreme Court action on the issue of jurisdiction regarding the relocation of the tribunal outside River state, which was due to be delivered on Tuesday.

    “This is not withstanding the fact that the tribunal has up to seven days after receipt of addresses, to deliver its judgment, but chose instead, to rush to deliver this spurious verdict even on a Saturday, a development eliciting suspicion that the judgment may have since been predetermined and written even before the commencement of the case.

    “The PDP calls on all Nigerians and the international community to note this growing manipulation of the judiciary by the APC government, a factor which portends great danger to our democracy and the stability of our country.

    “Nigerians would want to recall that under the PDP-led government with former President Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to the tenets of democracy as encapsulated in the safeguard of ‘one man one vote’ and the independence of the judiciary, the PDP conceded electoral defeat in Edo, Anambra, and Imo states without attempting to collect victory through executive manipulation of the judicial process.

    “The PDP restates unequivocally that this judgments must not stand in view of the prevailing inherent contradictions, in addition to the huge threat they portend to our democracy and national stability.

    “Finally, the PDP charges all lovers of democracy, particularly our members in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom state not to be daunted, as these judgments will not stand the test of the law and the will of the people.

    “We therefore reassure that the PDP will do all within the ambit of the law to resist this criminal attempt by the APC to steal and thwart the will of the people”.

    On his part, Wike told his supporters in Port Harcourt last night that the verdict was nothing short of a gang up against  Rivers people.

    Wike said: “I am still the governor of Rivers State. Our lawyers are going on appeal. We are all going on appeal. There is also the Supreme Court.

    “They can say anything, but Rivers people’s interest must be protected. Nobody will intimidate me to abandon this state. If they like, let them summon the justices as they have been doing. But one day, God’s own pronouncement will come.”

    Wike’s pronouncement drew an immediate response from the APC in the state, with the party’s Chris Finebone accusing him of blackmail.

    He was shocked that the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State “has come out to condemn and cast aspersions on the character of the panel of jurists.

    “The APC believes that such irrational utterances on the part of the PDP are as a result of the shock, frustration and disappointment that the panel of judges of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal made themselves unreachable to be compromised by the PDP and Governor Nyesom Wike and demonstrated that despite the malfeasance of a few, the Nigerian judiciary is still made up men of impeccable character who cherish their good name, character and hallowed profession.

    “The APC is only worried that Nyesom Wike as at yesterday had made uniforms for his followers in preparation to celebrate the ruling of the Supreme Court over PDP matter on the jurisdiction of the election petition tribunal.

    “As a result of this, many questions come to mind one of which is: “Does Nyesom Wike already know the decision of the Supreme Court on his appeal on locational jurisdiction?”

    “For us in the APC we will continue to believe and trust in the transparency and forthrightness of the members of the Nigerian judiciary as has been exemplified on occasions without number including over the ruling on the Rivers State matter today.

    “We believe that the antics and machinations of a few persons such as Nyesom Wike are not enough to tarnish the impeccable records of our distinguished men and women of the bench in Nigeria.

    “To us in the APC, the innuendo, allusion and expressions on the judiciary by Nyesom Wike and the PDP are mere red herring meant to blackmail members at the very apex of the judiciary having woefully failed to monetarily compromise them.

    “This evil motive by Nyesom Wike and the PDP to blackmail and impugn the hard-earned integrity of the justices of the Supreme Court will surely fail.”

     

  • Wike remains governor – Rivers PDP

    Wike remains governor – Rivers PDP

    •Allays fears of residents

    The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday sought to calm its disillusioned supporters after the tribunal’s judgement that annulled the April election of Mr. Nyesom Wike as governor.

    It said that Mr. Wike remains governor for now.

    Reacting to what he called a travesty of justice and rape on democracy, the State PDP Chairman, Mr. Felix Obuah, said: “no matter the degree of conspiracy by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government, the falsehood and gang-up against Rivers people will amount to a nullity in the end.”

    He urged the people of the state “not to panic over the pre-empted judgment which had been decided long before the written addresses by the parties were adopted Thursday, October 22, 2015.”

    He cited section 143, subsection 1 of the Electoral Act 2010 which guarantees an elected governor to stay in office and continue to execute his duties as the State Chief Executive as long as a notice of appeal is given against the judgment within 21 days from the date of the judgment notwithstanding the decision of the election tribunal.

    He said:  “this is one tribunal judgment that will never stand,” stressing that the PDP will go to any length to “fight the injustice.”

    “There is no other reason why the tribunal hurriedly delivered the contraption it called judgment in less than 24 hours after adopting the written addresses on a matter that lasted over four months than to pre-empt the judgment of the Supreme Court against the tribunal by the PDP which comes up next week Tuesday.”

    “Notwithstanding all this, in the end we shall have the last laugh.”