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  • Amaechi, Wike in war of words over 2015

    Amaechi, Wike in war of words over 2015

    •NGF Chair wants INEC to call minister to order
    •I’m not campaigning, says Wike

    The Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, to stop his 2015 governorship campaign. He advised him to face the strike by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP).

    Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), yesterday, in a telephone interview, stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must call Wike to order, for violating its regulation of campaigning only 90 days to elections.

    The minister of state for education, however, stated that he was not campaigning for 2015 governorship, asking Amaechi to face infrastructural decay in Rivers State, while alleging that the Rivers governor and his “cohorts” were behind ASUU and ASUP strike to embarrass President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC), through its Chairman, Anyakwee Nsirimovu, declared that the Rivers Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, must be redeployed forthwith, to ensure peace in the Niger Delta.

    Wike is the grand patron of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), while he and members of the group have been moving round the state’s 23 local government areas for GDI’s inauguration and they will be in Etche LG today (Sunday).

    Prior to his emergence as the minister of state for education, Wike, a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG Council, was the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and doubled as the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011.

    Amaechi expressed surprise that the minister of state for education, who is now supervising minister of the ministry, was acting as if he was above the law, in view of his closeness to President Jonathan, with INEC leadership being helpless.

    He noted that emphasis must be placed on the rule of law and due process, in order not to make mockery of the hard-earned democracy.

    The Rivers governor, who spoke through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, said: “ASUU members have been on strike for over three months. ASUP members decided to resume their suspended strike over Federal Government’s insincerity and inability to honour the agreement signed with the union. Is it not shameful that the Federal Government signed an agreement with ASUU in 2009 and yet to fully implement the terms?

    “Whether ASUU and ASUP members are on strike for one year, is not Wike’s business. He is gallivanting all over Rivers State for his 2015 governorship campaign and using President Jonathan as a smokescreen

    “The leadership of INEC cannot pretend not to be aware of Wike’s governorship campaign which was transmitted live on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It is no longer secret.”

    He accused the minister of moving round the state to campaign. “You cannot give what you do not have. Wike is dry intellectually and has never practised as a lawyer. He is not interested in qualitative education. He is only after award of contracts for Almajiri schools to his cronies for his cut, without following due process.

    “President Jonathan is very happy with Wike’s governorship campaign and activities in Rivers State, believing that he (Wike) is checkmating Governor Amaechi. It is a case of your enemy’s enemy is your friend. The focused and performing NGF Chairman has no problem with Dr. Jonathan.

    “Wike’s governorship campaign calls for concern. INEC made it clear that there must be no campaign until 90 days to the elections. Prof. Attahiru Jega, as a man of integrity, must rise to the occasion and call Wike to order.”

    The minister of state for education, who spoke through the Secretary-General of the GDI, Samuel Nwanosike, asked well-meaning Nigerians to call Amaechi to order, in order to stop embarrassing Rivers people.

    Wike also declared that the people of Rivers State were very proud of President Jonathan, not because his wife, Dame Patience, hails from Okrika in the state, while insisting that the president would be re-elected in 2015, in view of his “impressive” performance.

    Nwanosike said: “Wike is not campaigning for 2015. GDI is doing thanksgiving and inauguration at the ward and LGA levels. GDI is a socio-political organisation to promote good governance and not a political party.

    “Chief Wike is very successful as a minister of state for education and he is trying his best as the supervising minister of education to resolve the strike by ASUU and ASUP. Amaechi and his cohorts are behind the strike, because of their political interest, to embarrass President Jonathan, who is transforming Nigeria.

    “Whether Amaechi and his co-travellers like it or not, President Jonathan will be overwhelmingly re-elected in 2015.”

    The minister of state for education added that the NGF chairman was deceiving Rivers people, alleging that the government’s poorly-constructed roads in Port Harcourt and other parts of the state had become an eyesore, in spite of the huge allocations to the crude oil and gas-rich state.

    Amaechi had earlier declared that the only condition for peace in the state would be the immediate redeployment of Mbu, for taking sides in the deepening political crisis.

    The Senate and the House of Representatives, in separate resolutions, before they proceeded on recess, stated that the police commissioner must be redeployed forthwith, for acting like a politician.

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, however, noted that Mbu had been told to be a professional police officer and would remain in Rivers state.

    NDCSC, yesterday in Port Harcourt, stated that it was very concerned about the cruel fire set against the fundamental rights and freedom of unsuspecting Rivers citizens, by stationing a government within an elected government by the Presidency, using Mbu as a most retarding instrument.

    It said it was not only repugnant to the requirements of the rule of law, but a fundamental abuse of the sovereignty of citizens in a democracy, to freely elect or reject their governors and government.

    The group pointed out that it was becoming the worst time to live in the state, stressing that Mbu, instead of being the guardian of effective law enforcement and of good behaviour, was overzealously teaching the geography of impunity, anarchy, chaos and fully guided and funded by the authorities that designed his heinous agenda.

    It noted that citizens had wondered where the thundercloud was coming from, until the police commissioner recently chased away 13,000 newly-recruited teachers with teargas at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, when they gathered to collect their posting letters.

    NDCSC said: “Mr. Mbu’s political policing habit is not only irresponsible, but discriminatory, unethical and unprofessional, failing the test of any civilised global standard of policing. Mr. Mbu, if not stopped immediately, will graduate from throwing teargas canisters on innocent law-abiding citizens, to shooting live bullets at them.”

    The group also stated that quite unfortunately, the Rivers police commissioner was creating the impression that he had a duty to protect only the interest of President Jonathan.

    NDCSC called on civil society oganisations and the community of democrats globally to take more than a passing interest in a most serious threat to democracy and fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens in the state.

    It asked President Jonathan to show leadership by reaffirming faith in the fundamental human rights of Nigerians, as one of the highest purposes for his office and save the present and succeeding generations, who might suffer the scourge of inhumanity, if the imminent explosion was allowed to happen.

     

  • 2015: Amaechi blasts Rivers monarch over Wike

    2015: Amaechi blasts Rivers monarch over Wike

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has stated that he is not disturbed by the support of the traditional ruler of Ogbaland, Eze Chukwumela Nnam Obi II, for the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike ahead of the 2015 general election in the state.

    Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), described the monarch as a traditional ruler who has lost his place of pride in the state and as such has little or no support to offer anybody.

    He added that the New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje, had come to stay in the state. He, however, expressed shock that the politics of the state has left the realm of ideas to that of mudslinging.

    He maintained that he would not resign as governor and would not pack out of the Government House in Port Harcourt, as suggested by Wike and his co-travellers, in view of his impressive performance.

    Amaechi insisted that Wike needed help and should be ignored, stressing that the Minister of State for Education and his confused supporters were exhibiting frustration.

    “They would continue to be haunted by the law of retributive judgment, having benefitted immensely from our government,” he said.

    The Oba of Ogbaland had while receiving Wike and members of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), in his palace at Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, stated that the state was becoming a mockery and had never been so since after the civil war.

    The monarch said President Goodluck Jonathan must be respected.

    “Those who will develop Rivers State are here (in his palace). We have been left undeveloped and our people are left to roam as sheep without shepherd. You are the ones to develop Rivers State.

    “Those who are fighting and quarrelling cannot develop Rivers State and its people. Leaders must be humble and upright and be servant leaders. They must come down to serve the people. A leader is never above his people. We have never danced naked like this in Rivers State.

    “President Jonathan is the symbol of the unity of Nigeria. Nigeria must be one. Those who say otherwise must die,” the monarch reportedly said.

    Amaechi, through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, said the monarch should be ignored, considering the many people-oriented and capital-intensive projects by the administration across the state’s 23 LGAs.

    “The Oba of Ogbaland has long lost his face, even in his kingdom. We respect elders, but the Oba of Ogbaland has lost the integrity to speak or advise Governor Amaechi. We do not reckon with him.” He added that Wike rather than focus on how to end the nationwide strike by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), is gallivanting all over the state for his 2015 governorship campaign, pretending to be mobilising support for the President.

     

  • Amaechi’s govt is fraudulent, says Wike

    Amaechi’s govt is fraudulent, says Wike

    •Says governor’s bid to remove him as minister failed
    •Minister is an empty vessel— Amaechi

     

    The Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has described Rotimi Amaechi’s government in Rivers State as fraudulent. He asked the governor to pack and go and that he is no longer sleeping, as he (Wike) promised him.

    He also declared that he would not allow Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), to open a secretariat of the parallel Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, not even in Government House, Port Harcourt.

    Wike, a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, stressed that Amaechi is not God and cannot be God, while teasing him that the condition he gave President Goodluck Jonathan to remove him as a minister did not work.

    He stated these yesterday evening at the playground of the Girls’ Secondary School, Abonnema of Kalabari Kingdom, the headquarters of the coastal Akuku-Toru LGA of River state, at the LGA and Wards (17) inauguration of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), of which Wike is the grand patron.

    There was a thanksgiving service earlier at the same venue, with the minister of state for education, whom sources said would soon be made a senior minister, arriving the venue at 4:41 pm, in an Aero helicopter, marked BN-BHG, which left immediately.

    Wike immediately proceeded to the nearby palace of the Amanyanabo (monarch) of Abonnema, King Gbobo Disrael Bobmanuel, on a courtesy visit, with the royal father asking the minister to give the ancient town a federal secondary school.

    The minister of state for education returned to the playground at 5:41 pm for the inauguration, while the chopper returned at 5:50 pm, but had to wait till the end of the programme.

    Wike, a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, was also the Director-General of the Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, before being appointed as a minister, while he and Amaechi are both Ikwerre.

    Earlier on Thursday, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, inaugurated the Rivers secretariat of the New PDP at No. 38, Forces Avenue, old GRA, Port Harcourt, before policemen invaded and sealed off the expansive premises.

    The New PDP secretariat, directly opposite the old GRA Police Station, was the headquarters of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011.

    On Thursday evening, policemen prevented Amaechi and the visiting former speakers from accessing the nearby Government House, through the Forces Avenue.

    Amaechi, through Okocha, in a telephone interview last night, described the minister of state for education as a misfit, empty vessel, intellectually dry, a ragamuffin and playing God.

    Wike said: “Change has come to Rivers State. I will plead with you to join me and say this: ‘Amaechi, you are not God and you cannot be God,’ because you are a tenant. Your house rent has expired and you cannot pay. Pack and go. Tenant, pack and go.

    “Man proposes, God disposes. They thought they could give condition, because of your prayers, all they have done have come to nothing. Help me thank Mr. President, for the confidence he has in me, to keep me back, as a minister in the Federal Executive Council.

    “Continue to support our brother, continue to support our son. Preach the message that come 2015, President Goodluck Jonathan will come back. Continue to support Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    “There is only one PDP. Those who said they have two million votes; they are still going for meetings to give conditions. We are not accepting any condition. The only Chairman of this party is Felix Obuah.

    “They wanted to dare us, to see whether we are still in government. We are in government. We are PDP government and nobody can open office of any parallel party in Rivers State. They should go to their Government House. I will not allow them to open it, even in Government House, because their rent has expired.”

    According to him, “Before, they said we were Abuja politicians. Now they are saying we are in Rivers State every week. The politicians have come home. When I told them they would not sleep, they did not understand. Are they sleeping now? You can now see 4-1-9. They have been showing the same model primary school since 2007. 4-1-9 government, pack and go.”

    Amaechi stated that every citizen of Nigeria had the rights of the freedom of association, freedom of speech and the freedom of movement, and that the minister of state for education had no right to restrict the governor’s movement.

    Rivers chief of staff said: “Wike should be told that the new PDP, led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje, has come to stay in Rivers State. There is nothing anybody can do about it. The secretariat of the New PDP has been opened and the party’s flags have been hoisted.

    “Wike has no pedigree. He is a tout. I do not know who is more 4-1-9 than Wike. He awarded to himself, all the contracts under the auspices of Almajiri, using pseudo names, without following due process. He never bothered about the quality or standard of education in Nigeria, but he is concerned about infrastructure to make money. ASUU strike does not concern Wike.

    “Wike, as a lawyer, has never worked in any firm. He has never practised law anywhere in Nigeria. Wike, as the supervising minister of education, is a misfit and appointed in error. Wike is one of the indices to measure a failed state, by putting a square peg in a round hole, when all nations of the world know the importance of qualitative education.

    “Governor Amaechi is not playing God. Wike is the person playing God. What is Wike’s business of campaigning for Rivers 2015 governorship in 2013, when INEC has not lifted ban on campaigns? He is using President Jonathan as a smokescreen. Wike is playing to the gallery, instead of focusing on ASUU strike.”

    The Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Uche Secondus, in his remarks, stated that change had come to Rivers State, while the Rivers PDP Chairman, Chief Felix Obuah, said there was no cause for alarm, with President Jonathan to be re-elected in 2015.

    The President-General of the GDI, Bright Amaewhule, said members of the Rivers PDP would never be part of the Baraje-led PDP, while the Coordinator of the GDI in Akuku-Toru LGA, George Georgewill, assured that Wike would ensure good governance.

  • Before the PDP self-destruct

    Before the PDP self-destruct

    As Nigeria’s politics continue to take shape ahead of the 2015 elections, the leadership deficit of the PDP came to the fore once again with a festering crisis tearing the party apart.

    Spirited attempts by former heads of state, and the incumbent President to reconcile the warring factions have so far fallen on deaf ears. The ruling party is like a time bomb, doomed for implosion! The sad reality of plunging the nation into avoidable political crisis stare us in the face as the party’s predilection to press the self-destruct button is rather habitual.

    The party exhibited its favourite pastime — dancing naked in public — this time at the Eagles Square, venue of the Mini Convention, where aggrieved members of the PDP stormed out to form a parallel faction now known as the ‘new PDP’.

    Members of the faction including notable governors from the north, joined by their counterparts from Rivers and Kwara states, led by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, with Abubakar Baraje as Chairman. There was another drama as aggrieved members of factions in Anambra state PDP resorted to fisticuffs to press home their grievances.

    Such disregard for decency and decorum has become the hallmark of the party. The continuous existence of the party might be a mirage when viewed against the backdrop of its inability to justify its existence for 14 harrowing years other than plundering the nation’s resources. It is derisory that the party still thinks it can railroad voters in 2015 into its conquistadorial mission.

    The subversion of democratic principles to the whims and caprices of the party’s hierarchy is fast becoming the norm in the PDP. The job of taking Nigeria out of the abyss unto the path of prosperity, it does seem, we cannot continue to entrust into the hands of such mendacious, unrepentant and rapacious rascals, donning the garb of democrats.

    2015 will come upon us like a thief in the night, we must begin to be wary of self-seeking power grapping politicians who have failed the acid test of demonstrable leadership capacity. Their ability to make rational decisions is in doubt much as the lip service they pay to the vaunted transformation agenda of the present administration is evident in the dwindling fortunes of all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    The recent squabble came as good news to many Nigerians who see the PDP as a monster that has colluded with the ruling elite for over a decade to loot the treasury, institutionalise corruption and ensure that Nigerians remain in perpetual captivity. That the party has survived series of crisis not occasioned by mass defection is largely due to the lack of a formidable opposition. As the APC, Atiku’s PDM, VOP – rumoured to be backed by the aggrieved governors in the ‘new PDP’ – are fast changing the political landscape, sooner rather than later, we shall witness a mass exodus of dissenting PDP members.

    Bamanga Tukur’s tenure as the PDP chairman has been nothing short of calamity on the party that pontificates as the largest party in Africa, as if political parties are defined and identified by size alone. At a time when the political minefield is being reshaped with APC and others, it is expected that Tukur would not push his game too far as the party continue to totter precariously on the brink of disaster. So far, he has failed to show tact, diplomacy and political savvy in dealing with the challenges that a party of strange bedfellows like the PDP pose.

    The ruling party, as always, downplays crisis rocking the party as one that should be expected in any large family. Some like Nysome Wike, go to such nit-witted extent to show their political naivety by saying political crisis “beautify democracy”.

    Sadly, the perpetual wrangling in the ruling party has nothing to do with Nigerians; it is not about policies, or issues that border on how to move the state forward, or how to build institutions, create jobs and develop infrastructure to improve the lives of the populace but instead it is how to massage their already over bloated egos and further their selfish ambition.

    More worrisome is the deployment of state resources and apparatus to fight perceived enemies. The current in-fighting and political skimming the PDP is enmeshed is nothing but jostling for 2015 elections. A truly democratic party will not estrange members for aspiring to any political office. Such actions are not only antithetical to every known democratic tenet but tyrannical.

    The split must have come as cheery news for the main opposition party, APC. How prepared they are to cash in on the PDP break-up and woo the aggrieved gladiators to their camp remains to be seen. It is not a co-incidence that since the APC was formed the party at the centre has never known peace. Now, the ruling party seems to be on the path to perdition.

    There’s no gainsaying the fact that the PDP has been sitting on a keg of gun powder for much of the time. The leadership of the party has completely ignored calls over the years to deepen democracy by eschewing factional politics, instilling discipline and ensuring a level playing ground for all members. Matter of fact, the party needs a reform, not just reconcile aggrieved members, if it is to wriggle itself out of the snarl it is currently mired.

    Past failure in putting its house in order culminated in the official rascality and uncivilised manner party members conducted themselves at the convention, a testament to the poor rating of the PDP’s leadership capacity.

    Political observers have surmised that the ‘Old PDP’ is headed for the rocks. The Baraje faction is taking their time to garner more members, goodwill from the public and ultimately, destroy the PDP, before finally making deft political moves to the new parties: PDM, VOP or the APC.

    Mr President’s desire to run for 2015 at all cost against the wishes of aggrieved governors, and his quest to have a firm grip of the party’s machinery, by launching a counter attack to whittle down the influence of those opposed to his ambition, coupled with the wind of the opposition, is what is tearing the umbrella to shreds today. The president’s foot soldiers are ready for a showdown with the ‘new PDP’.

    Without a clear cut policy direction, the continuous existence and dominance of such a party will mean total ruination of all the attractions, stimulation or semblance of democratic principles that has given Nigerians hope in governance. The reality of the situation is, the party is already headed towards destruction. The death knell is sounding loud and clear. Nigerians must rise up to bail the country from the firm grip of the PDP powers that be have plundered the resources of the country in a mafia-like circus.

    The war of words between the Tukur and Baraje factions is bound to leave a bad impression on the minds of Nigerians. The PDP wittingly or unwittingly is nursing a dangerous death wish. The party behaves as if it has no opposition which can capitalise on its monumental weaknesses, or they assume that whatever their weakness, they can still capture power in 2015 and it seems every action of government is now deliberately intended to intimidate opposition, within and outside the party, against President Jonathan’s pesky 2015 ambition. This perception from the public can erase whatever good luck is left in Jonathan or any PDP politician for that matter. Such negative politics that elevates party chaos with its attendant reconciliation process with tax payer’s money over governance must henceforth be put on the back burner.

    The writer can be reached via: theophilus@ilevbare.com, http://ilevbare.com, twitter: @tilevbare

  • Understanding Wike’s politics

    If late, the nation’s political space has been inundated with several political reports and commentaries on the person of Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, the Minister of State for Education. If he travels to his home state for a weekend, his political adversaries manipulates the media to question why he returns home every weekend.

    These opponents make ridiculous comments which attempt, though without success, to question his commitment to his assignment as a minister of the Federal Republic. If he fails to travel any weekend, the same adversaries, who usually hide under the mask of phantom political groups, call him an “Abuja politician”. Whichever way it is viewed, it is a case of the proverbial cockroach in a court presided over by chickens. The cockroach will always be adjudged guilty.

    The unfolding political drama in the country has clearly revealed who the men of honour are. Those who have principles which they are willing to stake their necks and political future for. Those who are ready to stand by the generality of their people, irrespective of the economic consequences and the likely pains that their personal preferences may suffer.

    For Wike, politics has always been and will always be people-centric. All pursuits must be determined by the overall strategic interest of the people. At all times, the aspirations and the collective will of the people must be considered before any position is taken.

    For him, once such a position is taken, the eyes must be on the goal to ensure that the interest of the people is protected. The interest of the people in this case supersedes the interest of one man or a cabal. Therefore, at every turn, he is with the people, irrespective of whose ox is gored.

    As a local government chairman, this political philosophy drove his actions. It was on this basis that he put in place unprecedented achievements that set him aside from the crowd of local government chairmen. As a firm believer in grassroots development, he evolved as the national president of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON. All Nigerians know the collective achievements of ALGON under his watch. The promotion of primary healthcare, security and staff welfare across the country.

    Standing with the people is second nature to Wike. This is fundamentally why he is in politics. It is only natural that if you stand with the people, the people will stand by you.

    As Chief of Staff to the Rivers State Government, Wike was the politician that brought stability into an administration that his hardwork , dedication and commitment gave life to. At the time, despite all political grievances that stakeholders had, he was able to build a rare unity of purpose in the state’s political framework. Since he left, the administration in the state no longer has a stabiliser as there is no administrator that is willing to sacrifice personal ego and ambition for the people.

    It is clear that the minister comes from a solid political background that he always works in a manner that promotes the interest of the larger percentage of the community. Little wonder, the negative, paid political propaganda against his person has yielded no fruit. The people know him personally. They know what he stands for and are not deceived by the antics of paid political commentators and advertorial consultants whose assignment has been to feed the public with concocted stories.

    Since Wike became the Minister of State for Education, the game has changed. For those who remember the mantra, no longer business as usual, they will gladly agree that there is a new way of doing business at the basic education sector under the supervision of the minister. We can only highlight some key performance indicators in this piece. First, the minister executed on behalf of President Jonathan,  the overwhelming delivery of 125 Almajiri Schools, 16 girl-child schools, implementation of N150billion nationwide adult literacy programme, 72 e-libraries for Federal Government Colleges, phased total rehabilitation of 24 Federal Government Colleges and the commencement of the construction of vocational and technical colleges in all the 11 states of the South-East and South-South zones.

    Lest I forget, he has successfully executed the distribution of over 60million textbooks and library resource materials to pupils and students of primary and junior secondary schools nationwide. We cannot leave out the fact that he is a champion of training and re-training of teachers across the country. Over one million teachers have been trained under his watch to improve efficiency and national development

    The facts of the minister’s achievements since he joined politics are public knowledge. Wherever he found himself, he has worked relentlessly to improve the condition of the people. In doing this, he has rejected every single attempt made by those who are self-centred, to intimidate him. It is his rejection of the intimidation antics of political adversaries that has generated this campaign of falsehood and name-calling.

    Even in our community setting, those who resort to name-calling and the raining of insults at the height of an intellectual argument are people who upon sensing defeat would attempt to divert attention.

    It is no longer news that the Rivers community, nay the South-South geo-polittical region and the entire nation crave a Jonathan Presidency post 2015. The reason for this preference is not far-fetched. The President, in the last two years, has set in motion an unprecedented pace of development. The only areas he is faulted by his critics are areas that relate to “our local political procedures”. For the Nigerian people, these areas are better ignored since the President is serving them well. Wike, being a people-centric politician and administration like always, remains with the people.

    This is where he derives his might and followership. With the people by his side, he is always at home in Rivers State and elsewhere, while his opponents find solace on the pages of paid advertorials, documentaries and falsehood. No politician of South-South origin, who understands the loud voice of the people, will be anti-Jonathan. It is unfathomable, to say the least. Just of recent, those who performed less enjoyed a second term, while should a performer be denied a second term, simply because non-performers have declared so?

    — Simeon Nwakaudu is the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Education.

  • ‘Wike can’t give Amaechi conditions’

    A group, the Rivers Peoples Forum (RPF), has dismissed as laughable and ridiculous, reports that the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, has said for peace to return to Rivers State, the suspended Obio-Akpor Local Government chairman and councillors must be recalled.

    The group, in a statement by its president, Charles Bekwele, said Wike cannot give anyone conditions and insisted on its earlier call that he must be arrested and prosecuted for threatening the peace and people of the state.

    “It is sad, very sad and unfortunate that Wike, who has been certified to be a danger to democracy, who has threatened the peace and people of Rivers State, is still being allowed to roam the streets and make inciting statements.

    “Who does he (Wike) think he is to say the suspended Obio-Akpor Council executive must be recalled for peace to return to Rivers State?

    “For crying out loud, these people were suspended for a monumental fraud and a serving minister is saying they should be recalled just like that, without any investigation!

    “This clearly shows the world the kind of character Wike is. It shows that he loves and enjoys corruption, and even thrives in it,” the statement said.

    Continuing, RPF lambasted Wike for denying that he didn’t threaten the peace and people of the state and reiterated its call for the arrest and prosecution of the minister.

    The group said Wike is already campaigning to become the governor of Rivers State, adding that it is too late for him to deny this.

    “Wike threatened the peace and people of Rivers State. He said the state would be uncomfortable, ungovernable. It is on record, on tape, the video is on the Internet and many newspapers reported it. He cannot try to twist it now. Wike must be arrested and tried for threatening the peace and people of Rivers State. The Inspector-General of Police must act now. This man should not be allowed to roam the streets and make more inciting comments.”

  • Rivers crisis: Wike gives condition for peace with Amaechi

    Rivers crisis: Wike gives condition for peace with Amaechi

    •Suspended council chairman, councillors must be recalled, he insists

    •Denies Rivers govt claim of heating up polity

    •Says ‘We can’t force ASUU to go back to work’

    The suspended chairman and councillors of Obio/Akpor Local Government in Rivers State must be recalled for peace to return to the state, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, said yesterday.

    The minister, who is the arrowhead of the opposition to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, hails from the local government area.

    Speaking to reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt after appearing before the Performance Assessment Committee set up by the Felix Obuah faction of the PDP to evaluate public office appointees and elected officials from the state, he denied heating up the political temperature of the state as alleged by the state government.

    The government had accused him of violating the ban on campaign for the 2015 elections by circulating his posters for the governorship race.

    The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, said that contrary to the minister’s denial, he (Wike) and his supporters were the brains behind the circulation of the posters.

    However, Wike, reacting to the allegation, said: “I was told that my posters are everywhere. These are politicians. They will just wake up one early morning and try to be mischievous. Do not bother yourself. We know their antics. We know this game. People just do what they like.

    “One of them was even defending it this (yesterday) morning that I was the one who put the posters. As a good politician, does it make sense? I am a minister and I will be pasting my posters. Does it make sense? You can see that people are very mischievous, just to find one thing or the other to say.

    “What utterances have I made that are heating up the polity? I said those who want to destroy Obio/Akpor LGA, they will not sleep. If you want to destroy my house, will I allow you to sleep?

    “Those who are accusing me of not doing my work, are they those who appointed me? Has Mr. President said I am not doing my work? I do my work. From Monday to Friday, I am in Abuja. Then Friday, I come back home to see my people. What is wrong with that?

    “For me is that PDP must go from strength to strength. We do not want PDP to lose any election. Nobody will take us by surprise. I am doing my work. Mr. President knows that. There is nothing you will do that people will not criticise. If you are quiet, they will say why is he quiet? If you are not quiet, they will say why is he talking too much?”

    He also denied that he will be leading the state’s delegation to this weekend’s mini convention of the party in Abuja in the absence of the governor who is currently on suspension by the PDP.

    “In my local government (Obio/Akpor), I know who the delegates are. I do not know the delegates from other LGAs. It is only the party chairman who can ascertain who are the delegates.

    “Except those who are automatic delegates, like the governor, who is a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT), senators, House of Representatives members, party chairmen, assembly members. 27 (of 32 loyal to Amaechi) Rivers House of Assembly members have been suspended and will not be able to participate.

    “Since they have been suspended from the party, they cannot take part in the activities of the party, until their suspension is lifted. It has nothing to do with me. Me leading the delegation is neither here nor there.”

    On ASUU strike, Wike said: “Am I not part of the negotiating team? My comment is what the Federal Government has done. We are pleading with ASUU members to go back to the classroom, with the N130 billion the Federal Government has released. Let us start from there and let them go back to the classroom.

    “I do not know what you mean by force. Nothing can be enough. We are appealing to them (ASUU members). The Federal Government has done something. In the interest of our children and in the interest of our nation, they should go back to the classroom. Nothing like force. We cannot force anybody.”

    Sources indicated that the performance assessment was to prevent the associates of the NGF chairman from attending the party’s special national convention in Abuja on August 31, as they would be suspended before the convention.

    The Rivers Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, ministers, senators; members of the House of Representatives, commissioners, five members of the Rivers Assembly loyal to Wike, LG chairmen, among others were invited by the committee for the three-day assessment, which commenced on Thursday, but Amaechi’s loyalists refused to appear.

    The minister of state for education, while commenting on what transpired between him and members of the Rivers PDP’s Performance Assessment Committee also stated that nobody forced him to appear, but he was invited by the party, while describing the interaction as normal.

    Wike added: “They asked me, as a minister, what have I done for the PDP? I told them I am a minister, through the approval of Mr. President (Dr. Goodluck Jonathan), most of the PDP members today can say that they are members of federal boards. Not less than 15 of our people are members of federal boards, which is part of serving the country and people are happy.”

  • Wike’s group kicks as Amaechi swears in Rivers Acting CJ

    Wike’s group kicks as Amaechi swears in Rivers Acting CJ

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi yesterday swore in President, state customary Court of Appeal, Justice Peter Agumagu, as the acting chief judge, pending the approval of the female nominee, Daisey W. Okocha, by the Nigeria Judicial Council (NCJ).

    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Mr.David Iyofor said the appointment was based on the order of seniority in the profession billed to last for three months.

    He said: “Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has sworn in the new Acting Chief Judge of the State, Justice Peter N. C. Agumagu.

    ”Justice Agumagu was sworn in after the former Chief Judge of the State, Justice Iche Ndu, retired from service.

    ”Justice Agumagu was sworn in during a brief ceremony at the Council Chambers, Government House, Port Harcourt on Tuesday (yesterday).

    Amaechi urged him to discharge his responsibilities without fear or favour.

    Explaining why he made the appointment, Amaechi said: “ I sat through the week with the Attorney General to review the appointment and we looked at the constitution and the constitution says the most senior Judge of the High Court, and we looked at your appointment as a Judge of the High Court and compared it with the rest of the judges in the state and realised that you are the most senior judge of the high court of Rivers State.  We therefore took that decision to proceed with the appointment.”

    He told the judge “we hope that within the three months of your acting, you will discharge your responsibility.”

    State government officials, including the governor and the Attorney-General, boycotted the farewell ceremony of the retiring CJ on Monday

    But Minister for State for Education, Nyesom Wike, Amaechi’s rival in the unabated Rivers political crisis, a lawyer, was fully robed at the event.

    Justice Ndu was appointed by former Governor Peter Odili in 2001.

    The Wike group criticised yesterday’s inauguration of Justice Agumagu.

    The minister’s group, Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), in a statement by its President-General, Bright Amaewhule, yesterday described Agumagu’s inauguration as a rape of  the  Constitution

    The Rivers State government, through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, however, declared that Wike and his co-travellers were ignorant of the law.

    Wike’s group expressed shock that the Rivers governor and Boms could boycott Monday’s valedictory session for the retiring CJ, despite of being in Port Harcourt and without any cogent reason, alleging that Ndu refused to be used as a tool for political vendetta against their perceived political opponents.

    The Rivers chief of staff, a lawyer, also maintained that Amaechi acted within his rights and in order, stressing that the law empowers him to appoint an acting chief judge, if the situation arises.

    Okocha said: “I should not be responding to positions of those who lack knowledge of the law. When people are not aware, they make such ignorant comments and judgments.

    “The governor has powers to appoint an acting chief judge, even without recourse to the Assembly and such appointment is, according to the law, bound to last three months.

    “The governor is well aware of his rights and responsibilities. He is not one of those who act without disregard for the law. Even while he was performing the swearing-in ceremony, he said that a substantive appointee would be sworn in, if the National Assembly approves the recommendation of the NJC, at its resumption from recess.”

    The GDI, however, accused Amaechi, of having a non-performing executive arm of government, a comatose legislature and who now sought to destroy the Rivers judiciary, to voluntarily resign from office, describing him as a danger to democracy and the rule of law.

    By appointing Agumagu as the acting CJ, Wike’s group noted that the Rivers governor had violated Section 271 (4) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that until a substantive appointment is made, filling the vacancy in the office of the CJ of the state, the most senior judge of the High Court of the state, shall be appointed to perform the functions of the CJ.

    The GDI’s president-general said: “Amaechi and Boms, in clear violation of section 271(4) of the 1999 Constitution refused to swear in Hon. Justice Daisy Okocha, who is the most senior judge of the High Court of Rivers State, in an acting capacity, until the procedural niceties of appointing a substantive CJ of Rivers State are fulfilled.

    “Justice Daisy Okocha happens to be the same judge of the High Court of Rivers State that both the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Commission have recognised as the substantive CJ of Rivers State and recommended for appointment to Governor Amaechi.

    “Governor Amaechi does not have the constitutional power (as much as he would wish he had) to appoint the CJ of Rivers state, be it in a substantive or acting capacity, outside the provisions of Section 271 of the Constitution.”

     

     

     

  • Wike is next Rivers governor, says Obuah

    Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, yesterday said Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, will be the next governor of Rivers State.

    Wike, who is the grand patron of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), also vowed not to return the Rivers State PDP structure to Governor Rotimi Amaechi. He said change had come to the state.

    The minister also said President Goodluck Jonathan would seek re-election in 2015, although the President has said he would not declare his 2015 plan until next year.

    Wike and Obuah who are leading the anti-Amaechi group in Rivers State, spoke at the inauguration of the Ahoada East Local Government and Ward (13) Executives of the GDI. The event was held at the playground of St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Ahoada.

    The inauguration was preceded by a thanksgiving service/dedication of the Ahoada East Local Government chapter of the GDI at the St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral.

    But Amaechi said he would remain focused and committed to his administration’s transformation agenda and would not be distracted by the enemies of progress.

    Obuah said: “I want to appreciate the members of the GDI, for the wonderful work you are doing, especially with the crowd of this magnitude. If GDI, a socio-political organisation, can pull this crowd, what will happen when the PDP is campaigning in Ahoada East LG?

    “It is on this note I am calling on the would-be governor of this great state, who I believe, by God’s grace, is here in our midst (Wike), that we need a 50,000 capacity stadium in Ahoada. If PDP is coming for campaign, this arena (St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Ahoada) will be too small.

    “That is why I am calling that the ancient city of Ahoada, the headquarters of Orashi region, to have at least a 50,000 capacity stadium. I want to thank the GDI members for tremendously mobilising support for President Jonathan.”

    The Rivers PDP chairman, an indigene of Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of the state and a former Chairman of the council also called on PDP members who would be at the party’s convention on August 31, to vote a former National Organising Secretary of the PDP, Uche Secondus, as the Deputy National Chairman of the party.

    Wike said: “I am very happy. I thank all of you who made today to be possible. God Almighty will bless you. GDI is for the emancipation of Rivers people. Change has come to Rivers state. Wherever you are, make a mark.

    “If we had allowed Chibudom Nwuche (former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives) to represent you (Rivers West Senatorial District), we would not have had a deaf and dumb representative (Senator Wilson Ake). What have they done? We have made a mistake. We shall correct that mistake.

    “They will not face reality. He (Wilson Ake) wants his elder brother (Chief Godspower Ake) to continue to be the Rivers chairman of the PDP, in order to continue in the Senate. God says it is not possible again and it will not happen again. I am not afraid of Wilson Ake. The truth must be told. “

  • Wike: Minister or militant?

    Wike: Minister or militant?

    SIR: “So far in the history of the world, there have never been enough mature people in the right places’’ George Chrisholm

    It is side-splitting and devastating, how Nyesom Wike, Minister of State for Education has brought opprobrium on the enviable position he is occupying. The blooper he exhibited recently at Obio/Akpo Local Government Area, where he said he will make life miserable and dangerous for the government and people of Rivers State was reprehensible and lugubrious. His boasting that “we will make sure they will not sleep again, as they are sleeping now. They will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open because they know there is danger” was not expected from a responsible public officer of this great nation, which prides itself as the giant of Africa and pride of black race on earth. It is propagation and exposition of nuisance value and precarious liability, which is not marketable in this present dispensation.

    Politics apart, there is an acceptable conduct and code of ethics expected from a minister of this great nation for that matter.

    I wonder what other evidence the Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Abubakar needs to invite him for interrogation on the security risk and the danger his utterance portend to national peace and unity.

    No matter the level of political differences and disagreements between him and the state government, he should be reminded that he is a public servant; for him to desecrate public office and sink into political frivolities is not acceptable.

    Why is it that President Jonathan has not taken any drastic step to stem the negative tides in Rivers State if not that he that pays the piper and hence dictating the tunes of this minister appointed by him? If the President wants to convince the Nigerian public of his non-culpability in this case of absurdity, he should sanction his erring minister.

    I had followed his works as minister of state for education responsible for Federal Unity Schools. I enjoyed how he had been on the necks of the unity school principals to get them to be above the board, and to be financially responsible and accountable. Events unfolding in recent times show that the minister has since kicked off the 2015 rat race.

    If the ambition of Wike is to set Rivers State on fire and make life unbearable by mobilizing ex-militants to unleash mayhem on the people, then good luck to him. But he should by now tender his letter of resignation honourably before the President wakes up from his slumber and spit him out of his cabinet unceremoniously. His shift of attention from his primary assignment has rubbed off on the masses negatively by allowing the predators among the Unity School Principals to cheat on the poor masses.

    The educational sector needs an indomitable, committed, socially responsible and emotionally intelligent officer to take charge; not an individual encumbered with other things.

    • Pastor Mark Debo Taiwo [JP],

    Takie, Ogbomoso.