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Tag: Wike

  • Wike fails to stop inspection of poll materials

    Wike fails to stop inspection of poll materials

    The Rivers State governorship election petitions tribunal has rejected the prayer by Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the governorship election, Dakuku Peterside, from inspecting election materials.

    The tribunal, yesterday, dismissed Wike’s motion, seeking, among others, an order staying the execution of the June 11, 2015, leave granted the petitioners (APC and Peterside) to conduct forensic inspection of materials, pending Wike’s appeal.

    The petitioners, were, by the June 11 ruling, required to inspect and obtain certified true copies of the materials, to be tendered as exhibits in support of their case that the election was marred by irregularities.

    The tribunal held that Wike’s motion was deemed abandoned because his lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), chose to “dilly-dally” when given the opportunity to move it on Monday.

    “The motion is deemed abandoned. He (Ukala) preferred to dilly-dally with the case. It is our considered view that in the circumstance the motion will not be determined on merit and same is hereby struck out,” tribunal Chairman Justice Mu’azu Pindiga said.

    It also dismissed another motion by Wike, asking the  tribunal to strike out the witness statements on oath made by some witnesses.

    In another ruling, the tribunal refused the petitioners’ motion for an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transfer materials used for the election to Abuja for ease of inspection.

    The petitioners had complained that INEC was working with Wike and the PDP to frustrate their inspection despite the order it granted on June 11.

    It said granting the motion would amount to it (the tribunal) varying its June 11 order allowing the petitioners to inspect materials, noting that they did not file any motion seeking to vary the order.

    The tribunal also refused another motion by the petitioners seeking an order directing that notices of preliminary objections, filed or intended to be filed, by the respondents, should only be allowed in their final written addresses.

    The tribunal held that the motion had been overtaken by event, because some of such notices of preliminary objection had been heard and decided.

    It rejected a motion by INEC for an order striking out the reply of the petitioners to its (INEC’s) response to the petition.

    Justice Pindiga, who adjourned till next Monday, said two pending applications by INEC and Wike would be heard during hearing of the main petition.

  • Wike won’t escape judgment, says APC

    Wike won’t escape judgment, says APC

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Governor Nyesom Wike will not escape judgment in the hands of God and the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    A statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by Chairman Davies Ikanya’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said the “caretaker” governor (Wike) could only run but would not be able to hide.

    APC said: “…Almighty God will certainly judge him and so too will the Muhammadu Buhari administration, which does not brook any illegality.”

    The governor, at a church service in Port Harcourt on Sunday, declared that God would disgrace those opposing his administration.

    Rivers APC said: “We wonder which God Chief Wike is referring to that will disgrace those opposing his illegal government. As much as we praise those that are trying to make a Christian out of Wike overnight, we in Rivers State know very well his religious inclination. We wish to tell him that the God we know is a God of righteousness, who can never be on the side of those engaging in criminality…

    “We are convinced that at the appropriate time, God will bring judgment on Wike and those who have brought hardship to Rivers State and its people…”

    APC added: “It is not late yet. There is no way Wike can escape judgment. The ‘caretaker’ governor must account for the blood of our people massacred during the elections.”

    The party hailed the chairmen and members of the election petitions tribunal sitting in Abuja for allegedly rejecting overtures from Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and for standing by the truth.

    Rivers APC praised its governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside and his legal team for winning their cases so far and surviving what it called the booby traps set up by Wike and his legal team.

    The party advised the peace-loving people of Rivers State to be patient till justice the time justice is done.

     

  • Tribunal: Rivers APC exposes PDP’s sinister plot

    Tribunal: Rivers APC exposes PDP’s sinister plot

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has, once again, exposed the sinister plot of the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the suits before the election petitions tribunal in Abuja.

    APC, through the Secretary of its Media and Publicity Committee, Godstime Orlukwu, Tuesday in Port Harcourt, revealed that the PDP leaders were plotting to pay money into the bank account of one of the tribunal judges, thereby implicating the APC through frivolous petitions.

    The governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, and most candidates of the party for the state and National Assemblies filed petitions at the tribunal, in view of the massively-rigged March 28 and April 11 polls.

    Peterside dragged his counterpart of the PDP, Chief Nyesom Wike, now governor, to the tribunal, on the sham elections, while all the motions and applications of the PDP’s governorship candidate to stall the petition have been dismissed by the fearless judges, with full hearing to commence soon.

    Rivers governorship candidate of the APC had consistently accused officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working with the PDP and Wike to frustrate his petition before the tribunal.

    The party said: “The APC has just uncovered another desperate arrangement by the PDP to put a cog in the wheel of justice in the ongoing governorship/legislative tribunal cases in Abuja. At a meeting they held in Port Harcourt, the PDP leaders perfected moves to pay a huge sum of money into the account of one of the tribunal judges hearing the Rivers State petitions.

    “This might not have been a strange occurrence, since the PDP leaders would not imagine that every Nigerian is up for sale. The plan is to make the payment in the name of a chieftain of the APC and then write a petition to the National Judicial Council, (NJC) and the unsuspecting public.

    “The aim of the sinister move is to cast aspersion on the integrity of the members of the tribunals hearing the Rivers State petitions, and raise doubts in the minds of Nigerians and especially Rivers people.”

    The APC also stated that its candidates had good cases before God and man, while having absolute confidence in the Nigerian judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

    It noted that it did not have any reason to coerce, blackmail or corrupt the process to get justice.

    APC said: “We wish to reiterate that the APC and its candidates will not be party to any plot or ploy to compromise any judge, as we believe wholly in the rule of law and in the sanctity of the judiciary.

    “We are confident that justice will prevail and we have repeatedly said that we would pursue our matters legally and without recourse to illegality or self-help of any kind. We have never been and will never be party to any untoward act, even in the face of outright provocations and deliberate denial of our rights.

    “We have remained steadfast in our pursuit of justice and trust that God and the will of Rivers people will see us through. Eternal vigilance remains the price of freedom.”

    The APC also called on the security agents to be on the alert and monitor very closely any act that might be inimical to the peace and progress of Rivers State.

    It noted that Rivers people had suffered enough and would not believe that the state should continually be in the eye of the storm, in view of some people’s greed.

    Wike had earlier in Port Harcourt stated that he had a good defence at the tribunal, with formidable legal team and would not be involved in any criminal act to get justice.

  • Wike, PDP, INEC fail to stop hearing of APC’s, Peterside’s petition

    •Tribunal refuses allegation of petitioners’ fee default

    For the umpteenth time yesterday,  the Rivers State governorship election petitions tribunal rejected request to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Party (APC) and its candidate at the last governorship election in the state, Dakuku Peterside against the outcome of the election.

    The Justice Mu’azu Pindiga-led  tribunal held, in two rulings yesterday, that the joint request by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Nyesome Wike for the dismissal of the petition, was misplaced.

    INEC, PDP and Wike had, in separate motions argued on Friday by their lawyers, F. O. Orbih, Ken Njemanze and Emmanuel Ukala (all Senior Advocates) sought the dismissal of the petition on the ground that the petitioners failed to comply with the provision of Paragraph 18(1) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act 2010 by not paying the stipulated fee of N100 for their application for the issuance of pre-hearing notices (Form TF 007)  to parties.

    They contended that by not paying the fee, the petitioners were yet to ignite the tribunal’s jurisdiction and are deemed to have abandoned their petition, leaving the tribunal with the option of dismissal.

    But yesterday, the tribunal upheld the argument by petitioners’ lawyer, Akin Olujinmi (SAN), to the effect that ?application for the issuance of pre-hearing notice was not part of documents for which a filing fee must be paid as prescribed in the First Schedule to the Electoral Act.

    The tribunal also held that contrary to the argument by INEC, PDP and Wike, the APC and Peterside validly applied for the issuance of the pre-hearing notice (Forms TF 007 and TF 008) within seven days after the conclusion of exchange of processes by parties.

    “There is no defect in the pre-hearing notice. The tribunal therefore holds that the application filed by the 1st respondent (INEC) is hereby discountenanced and accordingly dismissed,” Justice Pindiga, who read the ruling, said.

    The tribunal’s decision yesterday is one of such decisions by the tribunal in series of applications filed in the past by INEC, PDP and Wike to prevent the hearing of the petition by APC and Peterside.

    The tribunal has however, fixed tomorrow for ruling on five motions filed by parties to the petition. Two were filed by the petitioners, two by Wike and one by INEC.

    In their motion filed on July 16, the petitioners want the tribunal to direct that all notices of preliminary objection already filed and yet to be filed by the respondents, should be raised in their final written addresses after the hearing of the petition.

    The petitioners, in the second motion filed on July 17, want the tribunal to order INEC to move all materials,  used for the conduct of the April 11 governorship election, to Abuja in view of their inability to inspect them in Rivers State.

    The petitioners have consistently accused INEC of working with the PDP and Wike to frustrate their inspection of the election materials despite a subsisting order of the tribunal made on June 11, directing INEC to allow the petitioners inspect the election materials.

    Wike, in his motion filed on July 11, is seeking order for stay of execution of the tribunal’s ruling of June 11 granting leave to the petitioners to inspect the election materials, pending his appeal against the ruling.

    In his second motion dated August 1, Wike is seeking order striking out all the witness statements on oath filed by the petitioners for not disclosing the full names and identities of the deponets

    INEC, in its sole motion filed on June 30, wants the tribunal to dismiss the petitioners’ reply to its response to the petition.

     

  • Wike: God’ll disgrace those plotting against my govt

    Wike: God’ll disgrace those plotting against my govt

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said God will disgrace those planning to truncate his administration.

    He said his administration had confounded those who claimed that building roads cannot happen during rainy season.

    Addressing worshippers yesterday at Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Wike said his victory at the poll was ordained by God and made possible by the prayers of clerics, including those at the Lord’s Chosen.

    The crusade was attended by the General Overseer of the Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry, Pastor Lazarus Mouka.

    Wike said: “Those who are fighting and plotting to truncate the lifespan of the mandate freely given to me by the people of Rivers State will be disgraced by the God of the Lord’s Chosen.

    “The way the God of the Lord’s Chosen did it on April 11, that is how he will do it again.”

    The governor recalled that it was at the Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry’s Rivers State headquarters he promised that if it was true that he was a cult member, he should not win the election.

    According to him, he won the election because the rumour was false.

    Also, Wike directed the repair of the road to the Rivers State headquarters of the Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry.

    The governor also directed the interlocking of the church premises, in line with his promise to the church during his election campaigns.

    He said both projects would be completed before September 7.

    Wike assured that the building of the roads and other projects would be sustained by his administration, despite the rains.

    The governor said the essence of governance is to address the challenges of development the people face, adding that his administration was committed to achieving.

    Pastor Mouka prayed God for Wike to have a successful tenure.

    He also prayed for the governor’s protection and officials of his administration and other residents of the state.

  • Rivers APC chair berates Wike for ‘demonising’ Amaechi

    Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Davies Ikanya has criticised Governor Nyesom Wike for his failed attempt to   demonise former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    Ikanya noted that Amaechi, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), had been vindicated in Wike’s corruption allegation levelled against him.

    Wike was Amaechi’s Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt from 2007 to 2011.

    The former governor recommended him to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 for a ministerial appointment.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the APC chairman noted that Wike’s allegations were spurious, senseless and baseless.

    The statement said: “The immediate past Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), George Feyii, and the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside, in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, did not only dismiss the allegations as a figment of the imagination of Wike and his cohorts, but also provided concrete proofs that ex-Governor Amaechi ran the affairs of Rivers State, using transparent financial procedures that cannot be faulted by any well-meaning person or organisation.

    “As Messrs. Feyii and Peterside made clear in their letter to President Buhari, the fabricated allegations against Amaechi, sponsored by Wike and spread through the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and amorphous groups, such as Integrity Group, are borne out of malice, with the sole aim to malign the integrity of ex-Governor Amaechi and his administration, to poison President Buhari’s mind and discourage him from appointing Amaechi into his cabinet.

    “With the refutation …by Messrs. Feyii and Peterside, it is now very clear to President Buhari and other Nigerians that former Governor Amaechi is just one of our few leaders who ran a corruption-free and transparent administration during his tenure as the governor of Rivers State.

    “Thus, Wike has failed abysmally in his desperate bid to tarnish the good image of Amaechi. Surely, President Buhari cannot be deceived by the antics of Wike and his cohorts who are seeking to stop him (President Buhari) from making Amaechi part of his administration, in recognition of his well-known managerial acumen and the role he played as the Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation, in mobilising Nigerians to cast their votes for the APC’s presidential candidate in the March 28 election.”

    Ikanya urged Nigerians to continue to support the Buhari administration to bring about the necessary change.

    The APC chairman noted that with Amaechi’s excellent performance as Rivers governor, he would do much better at the federal level.

  • God will disgrace those plotting against me – Wike

    God will disgrace those plotting against me – Wike

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that those planning to truncate the lifespan of his administration will be disgraced by God.

    Addressing members of Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry in Port Harcourt on Sunday, Governor Wike said that his victory at the polls was ordained by God and made possible by prayers of clerics including those of Pastors of the Lord’s Chosen.
    ” Those who are fighting and plotting to truncate the lifespan of the mandate freely given to me by the people of Rivers State, will be disgraced by the God of the Lord’s Chosen .
    “The way the God of the Lord’s Chosen did it on April 11, that is how he will do it again “.
    The governor recalled that it was at the Lord’s Chosen Renewal Charismatic Ministry, Rivers State headquarters that he made a vow that if the rumour that he was a member of a cult, he should not win the governorship election.
    He said he won the governorship election because the rumour spread by the opposition was false.
    The governor said that his administration be virtue of strategic planning has confounded those who claimed that road construction cannot take place at the height of the rainy season.

  • Rivers: INEC, Wike, PDP urge tribunal to dismiss Peterside’s petition over alleged fee default

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Nyesome Wike of Rivers State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked the state’s Governorship Election Tribunal to dismiss the petition by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election, Dakuku Peterside, and his party.

    INEC, Wike and PDP argued that the petitioners failed to comply with the provision of Paragraph 18(1) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act 2010 by not paying the stipulated fee of N100 for their application for the issuance of pre-hearing notices (Form TF 007)  to parties.

    They contended that by not paying the fee, the petitioners were yet to ignite the tribunal’s jurisdiction and are deemed to have abandoned their petition and it should be dismissed.

    Lawyer to INEC, K. C. O. Njemanze (SAN), while moving his client’s motion, challenging the court’s jurisdiction, said the payment of filing fee for the application for pre-hearing notice was statutory and constitutional and constituted a condition precedent for the invocation of the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the petition.

    Wike’s lawyer, Emmanual Ukala (SAN), who made a similar argument urged the tribunal to adopt the decision of the Imo State Governorship Election Tribunal which dismissed the petition by Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP on a similar ground.

    He argued that the payment of filing fee was mandatory and was a condition precedent to the tribunal exercising its jurisdiction to hear the petition.

    Lawyer to INEC, F. O. Orbih (SAN), adopted the arguments by Njemanze and Ukala and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

    Petitioners’ lawyer, Akin Olujinmi (SAN) argued that the requirement for the payment of N100 filing fee did not apply to application for pre-hearing notices, which he said, the party applying could make orally.

    Olujinmi insisted that since the application for the pre-hearing notice was by a letter to the Secretary to the tribunal, his clients were not liable to pay a filing fee as such was not specifically provided for in any law.

    He argued that Paragraph 2 of the TF007 only made provision for the submission of the form and not filing which would have warranted payment of a filing fee.

    Olujinmi contended that even if his clients were required to pay the fee, failure to do so could only amount to a mere irregularity which the tribunal could direct them to pay at any time.

    He further argued  that his clients, like other parties to the petition, had made a deopsit of N500,000 security funds to the tribunal, so the tribunal could easily deduct N100 from the said money, if it was a must that the N100 fee must be paid.

    Olujinmi said: “It is now settled that a petitioner can start a pre-hearing session by oral application. If  I’m passing by, I can just ask the Secretary to the tribunal to issue Form TF 007. So am I going to pay for the voice?”

    He urged the tribunal not to allow the justice of the petition to be defeated by mere technicality which the respondents’ applications were predicated.

    Olujinmi prayed the tribunal to dismiss the defendants’ motions and proceed to hear the petition, challenging the outcome of the April 11 governorship election in Rivers State.

    The Justice Muazu Pindiga-led tribunal has fixed Monday for ruling.

  • Wike: we’re working for organised development

    Wike: we’re working for organised development

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has said his administration is working to achieve an organised development of the state.

    He said the construction of a modern complex for spare parts dealers and automobile technicians was a manifestation of his administration’s efforts to develop every sector.

    Wike spoke at the weekend when he performed the groundbreaking of the complex at Kilometre 17, Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

    The governor recalled that since the creation of the state on May 27, 1967, spare parts dealers and automobile technicians had operated haphazardly in unplanned locations and uncertain sections in Port Harcourt and its environs, especially at Ikokwu and Olu Obasanjo Road.

    He said this had hindered the development of the areas.

    Wike acknowledged the service technicians rendered to the state, despite the worry to residents and visitors, who share in the vision of making Port Harcourt one of the best cities in the country.

    The governor hailed the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPHCDA), in partnership with SPATMART Limited, to provide accommodation for spare parts’ dealers and automobile technicians.

    He said: “While we contend with the high population of the city and the need to move them to a more suitable and comfortable location, we cannot but also appreciate the value of the services they provide to the commercial viability of the state.

  • Rivers people want to blackmail me – Amaechi

    Rivers people want to blackmail me – Amaechi

    Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has accused his successor, Nyesom Wike, of leading people of the state to blackmail him.

    Amaechi noted that since Wike and members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state are jittery that his appointment will be the main determinant of the state politics, they have moved to tarnish his image in the eyes of President Muhammadu  Buhari, who detests corruption.

    The ex-governor spoke at a reception organized in his honour in Abuja Sunday night.

    He said, “Let me tell you what is currently going on in Rivers State. The governor and PDP are afraid of me getting an appointment to the national executive council because that will determine what the politics of Rivers State will be.

    “And they know that the current President abhors corruption and the only way they can stop me from getting the appointment is to paint me with corruption. And the people that know me in Rivers State know that I don’t like money. But I am not angry with them. My anger is that in Rivers they know I don’t like money. And I expect them to defend me that I don’t like money.”

    The same Wike, according to Amaechi, who used to advise him that merely executing project without wasting money on people would not earn him a second term in office, has sponsored newspapers’ adverts to rubbish his reputation.

    Amaechi added: “Governor Nyesome Wike has again sponsored one advert in a bid to rubbish me. He will go and publish in the paper on Monday as advert. Only God knows that if there is one thing I don’t like, I don’t like money. Anybody close to me knows that I don’t like money. Even Nyesom Wike told me you will not win second term if you don’t use money. So all this wasted projects will not deliver us. And I said let us do it once and for all.”