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Tag: Wike

  • Wike may quit as Atiku’s South-South campaign coordinator

    There were indications yesterday that Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, could quit as the South-South campaign coordinator for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),

    Sources close to the governor told The Nation yesterday that he was not happy because Atiku’s campaign committee was not carrying him along in its activities.

    The governor was said to have complained that some of the people appointed to work with him were appointed without his knowledge.

    An aide of the governor told our reporter yesterday that he was planning to communicate his decision to the presidential candidate.

    The National Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus, had announced the appointment of Wike as the South-South coordinator of Atiku’s campaign a few days after the latter emerged the presidential candidate of the party at its national convention in Port Harcourt on October 6.

    His appointment was announced simultaneously as that of Senate President Bukola Saraki as the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation while Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, was named as zonal coordinator for the Northwest.

    Others who were also named as zonal coordinators include Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo (Northeast), Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom (Northcentral) and Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi (Southeast).

    The immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, was named as the coordinator for the Southwest.

  • No confidence in election agency, says Wike

    RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacks the capacity  to conduct credible polls in 2019.

    The governor said Nigerians should not be deceived by the statements usually released by INEC because the commission’s works negate her mandate.

    He spoke yesterday at the Government House in Port Harcourt when he granted audience to the Senate Committee on INEC.

    He said: “Let’s not deceive ourselves. INEC is not prepared for credible elections.  If there is an agency that is not prepared for 2019, it is INEC . I have no confidence in INEC.  There is no amount of INEC’s preparation will convince me.

    “INEC chooses how it interprets laws to suit those they support. They choose the court orders to obey and the ones to disregard.  In one state where it favours a particular, they obey. In another state, INEC will claim they are yet to see judgments not in favour of the party they support.”

    He said in 2019, any attempt by INEC to negatively manipulate the will of the people will be resisted.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC Senator Suleiman Nazif said the committee was in the state to carry out assessments on the preparedness of the commission for the conduct of credible elections in 2019.

    He said the committee carried out oversight functions on the available card reader machines, voter registers and other facilities needed for the 2019 polls.

     

  • Wike and the misadventure of Prince Charles 

    The narrow-minded would probably view the futility of the entire visit only by a fleeting wardrobe malfunction. In the amusing picture that had trended in the social media, visiting Prince Charles of Wales buttoned his suit wrongly. Flanked by wife Camila and a Nigerian general in full ceremonial attire in the blazing sun, his sunglasses would have accentuated his grey-colored ensemble, but for the misaligned button.

    Then, the cynical caption that could only be written by a PDP sympathizer: “Just two days that Prince Charles spent in Nigeria his life has been turned upside down. Just look at the way he buttoned his suit. Nobody visit(s)… APC-led government and still remain (sic) in his senses.”

    Of course, that is the most subjective – if not utterly unreasonable – thing to say.

    Another joke was made of the fact that at yet another occasion, Prince Charles had to depend on additional illumination provided by rechargeable lamp to read his speech because the room was poorly lit.

    But the comic reliefs of sartorial indiscretion and poor lighting aside, a few salient issues were undoubtedly thrown up by the royal visitation of last week.

    Regardless of the official garnish, a frank audit of the prince’s itinerary would only suggest a vanity trip for a man on the eve of his 70th birthday, at huge social-cultural costs to the nation. His earlier tour of the west coast included The Gambia and Ghana.

    A visit to Plateau had to be cancelled at the last-minute at the instance of the Nigerian authorities over security concerns. The visitor was expected to discuss “peace-building and conflict resolution” there.

    With the seemingly unending ethno-religious eruptions in Jos, that proposal would appear perfectly in order.

    But those who still remember how the same Prince Charles had used his pen to stoke anti-Semitic tension in the Middle East in 1986 could only have anticipated the Jos townhall meeting with baited breath. In the tactless letter, he had blamed the influx of “foreign, European Jews” for escalating the Arab-Israel conflict.

    As if that was not explosive enough, his next sentence would set Britain and the United States on diplomatic edge. He pointedly asked whether then US President Ronald Reagan would summon the courage to push back “the Jewish lobby” to stop terrorism in the perennially beleaguered region.

    In the unlikely event that Prince Charles would have agreed to submit his speech for security preview by the Nigerian establishment, the invocation of “security concern” may indeed have helped stave off possible landmines of a misspeak capable of raising the blood pressure in some quarters in Abuja, especially as we enter the election season.

    Two, the decision by Abuja to dragoon all the leading royal fathers across the country to meet Prince Charles in Abuja is most condescending. It was as if we were back to the colonial era when traditional rulers had to appear before the district officer. If Prince Charles had expressed desire to meet with our kings, couldn’t he have been encouraged to visit them in their respective palaces like he did in Ghana to the Asantihene of Kumasi?

    Well, perhaps the only consolation we can draw now is that Oba Ewuare II of Bini Kingdom did not allow the moment slip without reminding Prince Charles of the need to return the artifacts agents of his forebears looted from the acclaimed “cradle of black civilization” in 1897.

    In his own assessment, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State saw the marginalization of the South-South. While hosting a Pentecostal preacher in Port Harcourt, he argued that the heir to the British throne should not have stopped at the showcases in Abuja and Lagos, but also visited the Niger Delta which though produces the bulk of the nation’s wealth, its people are left to live in desperate condition.

    Indeed, only those who endure acid rain or inhale air poisoned by gas flare are in the best position to tell the story of pain in intimate details.

    Mindful of the facts of history – whether recent or ancient, the observatactivist Wike’s observation would seem even too charitable. On the contrary, the institution Prince Charles represents certainly still has a lot of explanation to make to the swamp-dwellers of the Niger Delta. The debt owed by Britain is both moral and cultural.

    Coming in the very week that the twenty-third anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa was being marked, it would have indeed been interesting to hear what answer the heir to the British throne would, for instance, offer to the Ogoni procession in Bori or Port Harcourt on the old question of British complicity – both by commission and omission.

    Until the Ogoni crisis exploded into a national conflagration in the 90s, British-owned Shell had undoubtedly become synonymous with neocolonial exploitation of the oil communities, inflicting unspeakable atrocities, devoting vast sums to setting clan against clan in a rendition of text-book strategy of divide-and-rule.

    Then, Shell had no qualms colluding with a military without patriotic education to “pacify” the restive. It provided logistics and cash incentives to the Okuntimo-led internal security squad that became the byword for terror against defenceless activists like writer Saro-Wiwa agitating for fairer deal for the people.

    When nine Ogoni activists were sentenced to death in 1995 through a trial adjudged a sham at best, it took not the righteous indignation of the institution Prince Charles represents, but the lobby championed by a few men of conscience including immortal Nelson Mandela (then South African President) to stampede the Commonwealth into expelling Nigeria then under the despotic jackboots of Sani Abacha from the body uniting Britain with her former colonies.

    Twenty-three years on, very little has been done to clear the environmental rubble Shell left behind, even as the culture of exploitation remains. It took Saro-Wiwa’s memorial last week for the world to be reminded that the promise of clean-up by the Nigerian state has not been fulfilled, even as efforts are being intensified in official quarters to fasttrack Shell’s return to Ogoniland to resume “business as usual”.

    Of all the existential needs of Ogoniland, the Nigerian authorities would, for instance, recently propose the award of the contract for the building a cemetery the most urgent in what clearly showcases nothing but contempt for the humanity inhabiting that space!

    It would have been interesting to hear Prince Charles’ response on Rivers soil to such difficult questions and grotesque suggestions.

    Elsewhere in Edo, the British royal would perhaps not have had a respite either. In Benin City, he would not have missed the imposing statue at the beginning of the Sokponba road by the iconic Ovonramwen Square. It is an enduring monument to courage under fire and loyalty in the face temptation.

    Surrounding it is a tract from Bini’s rich history. It is where in 1897 the advancing British forces, with all their thunderous artillery fire, reportedly met the last wall of native resistance.

    Tellingly, Prince Charles came visiting last week close to the commencement of the annual Igue Festival. It was indeed a willful violation of this deeply spiritual season in Bini’s cultural calendar by the British in the twilights of the 19th century that had set off the chain of events that culminated in the “punitive expedition” by imperial Britain. The spiritual seclusion forbids the Oba from hosting visitors, much less entertain mercantilist talks the British were agitated about.

    The murder of the British emissaries by the enforcers of the referenced cultural “curfew” would then provide a perfect alibi for the imperialists to apply clearly disproportionate military force with the sole carnal objective of rooting out the impediment the Oba was thought to be constituting to their economic interest through the imposition of customs duties on goods leaving his territory.

    When eventually outgunned and subdued on that historic day of 1897, the Bini general leading the local platoon was asked by the invaders at that location (a stone’s throw from the great Palace) to renounce the Oba and proclaim allegiance to Britain or face death. Without hesitating, the captive defiantly exclaimed “Sokponba” (No one but the Bini King).

    Of course, he thereafter paid the supreme price, but with head unbowed till the last breath.

    The spectacle was no different when the great Oba Ovonramwen was later encircled. He bore the indignity of dethronement without losing honour and subsequently endured the humiliation of exile in distant Calabar with uncommon equanimity.

    In the process came not just the wholesale arson by a 1,200-strong wrecking army against anything standing in the kingdom whose sheer magnificence had indeed captured the imagination of Portuguese explorers more than 400 years earlier; but also mindless looting of artifacts for which it had become renowned relative to other notable civilizations.

    Of course, on return to London, the conquering generals declared some of the cultural loot from Benin to the British government. Some of them are presently put on display without shame in British museum, while others have been traded off in the United States and Germany.

    Still fresh in the memory, for instance, is the dust raised in 2016 over the “Okukor” bronze cockerel at the Cambridge University. Following an advocacy mounted by a group of conscientious students that it be returned to its origin in Benin, the university authorities had to quickly remove the statuette from the dining hall.

    So, had Prince Charles summoned the political courage to visit Bini kingdom last week, he would certainly have been received by perhaps the third and fourth generations from the Ovonramwen lineage still exuding royal aplomb and a people whose cultural fraternity remains unbroken, even 120 years later.

    He would also have heard in Benin the court of palace chiefs resplendent in white garments amplifying, perhaps more militantly, the message earlier delivered by Oba Ewuare II: please return the artifacts stolen in 1897

     

  • Wike: give key jobs to host communities

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said the refusal of multi-nationals to employ people from host communities has also created crisis in Niger Delta.

    Speaking when the leadership of Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) visited him, Wike said local content participation was key to harmony and sustained development.

    He said: “I urge the multi-nationals and the NBC to encourage Rivers people through local content participation .

    “Part of the crisis in the Niger Delta is that some companies relegate the people of the area in the allocation of management positions “.

    He said the ugly situation should be checked  to stop avoidable conflicts as noticed in the relationship between Shell and some host communities.

    The governor, however, hailed NBC for expanding its operations in Rivers State.

    “This expansion will create more employment and internally generated revenue.  This state is peaceful for investments”,  he said.

    The governor said the documents for the land acquired by NBC would be granted by his administration.

    NBC’s Chairman Segun Apata said the company was working towards building a mega plant in Port Harcourt.

    He said the new plant would be a hub for the zone with new jobs added across the board..

    The NBC chairman  appealed to Wike to approve a governor’s consent for the acquired land when the company makes its application.

    “We want to double our production to 75 million unit cases”, he said.

  • Amachree commends Wike for hosting NAFEST

    Nigeria’s father of tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, has commended the Rivers State government for recently hosting the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) in the state.

    Chief Mike Amachree made the commendation when he played host to a team from the National Council for Arts and Culture, led by its Director General, Otunba Segun Runsewe , at the  Brooklyn Tourists Centre, Rumuosi Port Harcourt.

    Welcoming his guest, an elated Amachree said the commendation has become necessary in view of several national and international events that the Rivers State government had attracted to the state within the three years of its inception to foster economic growth of the state.

    He challenged Runsewe not to relent efforts and to  persuade the different tiers of government  on the need to  provide an enabling environment for  tourism to thrive in the country.

    According to him, tourism promotion and advancement is entirely private sector driven hence the government should provide the necessary infrastructure and enabling environment for tourism growth in the country enjoining the director general to use his good office to liaise with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to enlist the Owu Waterfalls in Kwara State and Wase Mountain in Plateau State among the wonders of the world which is already exhibited in his Museum of African History and Culture in Port Harcourt.

    Earlier, Otunba Segun Runsewe  intimated Amachree of the significance of his visit which he said was long over-due.

    Otunba Rusewe asserted that Chief Amachree has used his youthful age to set a pace in the tourism industry in Nigeria urging all and sundry to imbibe his shining examples.

    Runsewe assured Amachree of his determination to make the culture cum  tourism sub-sector contribute to the economic advancement of the nation. He  promised that before long, Amachree’s recognition as father of tourism in Nigeria will be extended to the African continent and prayed God to grant him more years to enjoy the fruits of his labour.

  • Wike smacks his lips

    Governor Nyesom Wike remains a fixture of both affection and controversy in his party, The PDP. Those who love him, especially in his state, swear because of what they consider his earthy virtue, his folksy voice and visceral effusions. Those who don’t like him consider him a boor.

    But the Rivers State governor is anything but boring. Not when he is sparring with his favorite foe, the transport minister Rotimi Amaechi, whose fight was thankfully kept alive recently for having a second life after surviving a giddy air experience in a flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos.

    But the most potent battles he has had of late has been within his party. The latest is the charge that the Ikwere man picked the feminine-voiced Peter Obi as the running mate of Atiku Abubakar, the party’s flag bearer. It gave Wike a sort of larger-than-life image, the man who was only just a junior minister under the shadow of Jonathan and also in good spirits with the former first lady, Patience, has suddenly morphed into a party titan?

    But Wike would not take credit, and rejected any role in vaulting Obi to the party’s presumably number two spot when some of his colleagues even within the same region had their eyes set on that fleshy prize. He was also a butt of outrage from Obi’s kinsmen, especially the governors. Some of them thought the River State governor was presumptuous for going out of his natural zone to foist a man out of the comfort zone of the south-eastern elite.

    He was unmistakable in his rebuttal: “I never nominated Obi. But the mere fact that the vice presidential candidate is coming from the southeast does not give the zone the sole right to nominate a person, since the entire country will benefit.” If you thought he prevaricated a little, hear this: “when the southeast said they were not consulted before Peter Obi was nominated, when did we meet as a party that the vice president must come from the southeast? But we said if the presidential candidate believes he has somebody to work with, so be it.” A bit of a lawyerly logic here.

    But it all began since he wanted to host the PDP convention in the garden city that ultimately picked the party presidential torch bearer. Wike was resented by those who feared his muscle as the landlord of Port Harcourt. With that clout, he would pick the candidate. He was oil-rich, he was a bulldozer and an underrated chess player. They did not want to mess with him, and that would amount to keeping the fish in the custody of a cat.

    He used all the tools of power player. He cajoled. He threatened. He teased. Eventually he triumphed. He brought dollars and political sense to his city, and bested his foes. Is he doing all these at the expense of his friends within the party, or his stature only grows in the PDP by default. Time will tell. But Wike seems to be enjoying the theatre at some people’s expense. That, we agree, is how the political cookie crumbles.

     

  • I didn’t nominate Peter Obi, says Wike

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has denied nominating Mr Peter Obi as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice-presidential candidate.

    Wike said the visit of four Southsouth governors to President Muhammadu Buhari had no political connotation, noting that the governors were in the Presidential Villa to discuss the development of Niger Delta.

    He spoke in an interview with Channels Television Roadmap 2019.

    Wike said: “I never nominated Peter Obi.  But the mere fact that the Vice Presidential Candidate is coming from the South-East does not give the zone the sole right to nominate a person , since the entire country will benefit.

    “When the South-East said they were not consulted before Peter Obi was nominated, where did we meet as a party to agree that the Vice Presidential Candidate must come from the South-East. But we said if the Presidential Candidate believes he has somebody to work with, we said so be it “.

    On the new minimum wage, Wike said the review could only be sustained when the nation’s revenue sharing formula was reviewed.

    “I will never oppose the upward review of minimum wage  for workers. But the revenue sharing formula must be reviewed. Assuming a state like Zamfara gets N3 billion monthly, and their monthly wage bill is N4 billion, then the state will not survive.  Labour should understand the situation.’’

    “You cannot talk of sustainable new minimum wage when you have not reviewed the revenue sharing formula.  More of the money should be moved from the Federal Government to the states that bear the burden of governance.  If there is no review of the revenue sharing formula, then we are not being fair.”

  • Wike lauds Okey Wali

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has described ex-President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Chief Okey Wali (SAN) as a man of integrity committed to societal growth.

    Speaking during the 60th Birthday of the former NBA president and presentation of his autobiography: “A life of perseverance”in Port Harcourt yesterday, Wike said Okey Wali had lived  a life of service to the country.

    The governor said the former NBA president influenced Nigerians  positively, including himself.

    He said: “As a student of law at the State University, I benefited from the law chamber of Okey Wali. It placed me ahead of my peers at school.

    “Since 1998, Okey Wali has supported me politically.  He stood by me all through  my political journey, never wavering at any point.

    “He is my friend and I will always stand by him at all times. He is one person I can take a risk for, without looking back”, he said.

    He congratulated Okey Wali for turning 60 years, noting that Rivers people are proud of his achievements.

    Okey Wali said God has been kind to him by blessing him with a successful career and beautiful family.

    He said: “My grandchildren are a fulfilment of God’s promise to me. That I will see my children’s children”.

    He urged prominent Nigerians to always write their autobiographies as a way of inspiring young people to greatness.

    The former NBA president advised young lawyers to pay their dues through hard work, rather than placing money ahead of professional competence.

    Chairman of the occasion Chief Moses Wifa (SAN) said that Okey Wali  was worthy of being celebrated.

    Earlier, a thanksgiving service was held at the Rivers State Ecumenical Centre to praise God for the 60th Birthday of Chief Wali.

    Wike with his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette, and top government officials attended the church service.

    Prayers were said for the family of Okey Wali and the government.  Songs of thanksgiving were rendered by the Choir and the congregation.

  • Real reason my convoy clashed with Amaechi’s in P’Harcourt –Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State was recently a guest of The Platform, a weekly programme on Television Continental (TVC) anchored by the Chairman Editorial Board of The Nation newspaper, Sam Omatseye, where he spoke about his quarrels with his ex-political mentor and Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and while reconciliation between him and Amaechi has been difficult, among other issues.

    You have been in the saddle for about three years now as Rivers State governor. How would you sum up your stewardship so far?

    I would say in just one sentence that it has been very expensive, very good, very challenging but worthwhile. When you are serving your people, no matter the challenges, you feel happy that you are given the opportunity to serve. I would say that it has not been easy but we have made some remarkable successes that people can see and know that we have not disappointed our people. So, generally, it has been very fruitful.

    Recently, you undertook what was almost a month of commissioning. It was an experience some people even said you politicised; that you brought people from different places to come and commission and so on and so forth…

    Sometimes, when you talk about what you have done, people say they are television talks, newspaper talks or radio talks. So, one of the things you should do is not just saying what you have done but bringing prominent Nigerians to come and see for themselves whether the activities that are shown on television are real. And irrespective of the political divide you belong, if you watch during that period of commissioning, traditional rulers were involved, former heads of state were involved, governors were involved from the two political parties, members of the National Assembly were involved and the judiciary was involved. So, it would be difficult for you to say, ‘Ah, it is just politics they are playing.’

    For example, we built the National Industrial Court here. There was no industrial court in this state. The National Industrial Court that we built was approved but the former governor did not give attention to it, so they moved it to Bayelsa State. And 80 per cent of the cases that are in that court emanate from this state. So, when I came on board, I said, ‘Look, it is not necessary. How can we take the risk going from here to Yenagoa with the financial implication and the kind of inconveniences litigants and counsel would face?’ So, I told the President of the National Industrial Court that I was going to build an Industrial Court that would be here so that it would save our people from going to Bayelsa. And within one year, even though it was completed in record time of seven to eight months, the CJN commissioned it.

    The court of appeal – if you’re a current visitor to Port Harcourt and you go to that court of appeal, you will cry. For us, it is our own contribution. Like the Federal High Court, we built the Federal High Court and it was commissioned by the former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Auta, now retired. And we said if we have done this, even though they are federal courts, who are those who will benefit? They are people from the South-South and people who are in the state here. And we have said we would make Rivers State the judicial hub of the South-sSouth, knowing that this is the centre of the oil industry. So, it means that if we wait for the federal government to come to our aid, it would not be possible. So, we used our own funds and wrote to the President of the Court of Appeal, and she said okay, the state can give support. So, what we did was totally remodelling it, and the CJN came. So, it is not something anybody would say, ‘Oh, it is not true. You know these politicians, they always tell lies.’ So, those at the helm of affairs who were in charge of the judiciary came and saw it.

    Again, look at the Cultural Centre. It was started by my predecessor but was only about 30 per cent done when it was abandoned. I now said, ‘Look, do I need to go and start a new cultural centre?’ Part of the problem we have in governance is people not being able to continue projects started by their predecessors. Everybody wants to say I am the one who started this. That is why sometimes, you have white elephant projects littering everywhere.

    But when you were doing the commissioning, your predecessor was saying that the projects you said were your own were actually his own.

    Well, first of all, it is not his private funds. Should I have abandoned it? No. The Ooni of Ife came and commissioned the project. The Trans-Amadi Road, which was awarded by the previous administration for N47 billion was awarded in 2009. I came in 2015, six years after, to Reynold Construction Company, RCC, and what they have paid was about N12 billion out of N47 billion. And people said how do we do this? I said well, this is a major road and it is the industrial hub of the state. We cannot abandon this project. We were paying RCC N1 billion every month from internally generated revenue. So, we paid over twenty-something billion to RCC. So, if we could cough out twenty-something billion, would somebody now say, oh, it is our project and we’ve almost completed it when we have not less than twenty-something billion to pay?

    So, you’re saying that well, he might have started some of these projects, you would rather rejig them?

    Yes.

    Or there were so much to be done that you had to take over…

    Of course, you cannot allow the community to suffer. But the point I’m trying to make is that I couldn’t have brought a former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to commission a project that was not in existence. That is the point I’m trying to make. The Speaker of the House of Representatives came to commission Aboloba/Woji/Elelewon Road. I remember when this state hosted the Guild of Editors., they came and undertook inspection. They told me you cannot do this road. It was not awarded by me. It was awarded by my predecessor and it was 30 per cent (complete). The contractors had abandoned the site. It was a bridge. In fact, if you don’t have the mind, you won’t want to continue with the project.

    So, the guild of Editors who came went there. Led by the president, Funke (Egbemode). They said, look, how can you say you would complete the project? Where would you get the money to complete this kind of project? I said, ‘Don’t worry, God willing, we’ll do it and we’ll invite you to come.’ When NBA had their general conference in 2015, I took members of the NBA, the president-general then, Alegeh, and Mahmud Mohammed went there. They said this is not possible. I said I would invite them. To the glory of God, Dogara Yakubu came and commissioned it. So, for us, those ones that have direct impact on the economy and the lives of our people, we’ve said we must continue whether we awarded the contract or not.

    What of the mono-rail?

    Yes, now that is what we are saying. I called stakeholders meeting. What is the mono-rail? Where did it start? How many kilometres? 1.5 kilometres. What is the purpose? When I was in government as chief of staff, we opposed it. But people have this mentality: I’m the one who brought this concept. So many of us opposed it because it is of no significance. Where are you carrying passengers from? To where? But when we looked at it, the government had paid not less than N54 billion. I called the contractor and he said he would need something in the neighbourhood of thirty-something billion to complete it, and I said no, I cannot do this. To put thirty-something billion in a project of 1.5 kilometres? I called the stakeholders and said no, it is not important for now. I’m sure that if we had even taken the risk of looking for money for it, they would have said, no, it was done 99 per cent as usual. So people can now come and see this one whether it was done 99 per cent.

    So for us, those ones that have direct impact on the economy and on the lives of our people, we said we must continue, whether we awarded the contract or not.

    So, you are saying the mono-rail is a sort of white elephant project?

    Of course.

    But it cuts across town…

    Which town? To where? That’s what I said, from where to where? From Aggrey Road to UTC. There’s no traffic. You have the secretariat this way. So, even if you want to carry passengers or workers to work, the mono-rail would not stop anywhere. It would pass the secretariat down to UTC, then you still have to go back. So, it doesn’t make any sense to us.

    You were chief of staff to Rotimi Amaechi. People still wonder, a chief of staff is almost like the blood brother of the governor. How did it come about, because there’s been some stories. It’s good for you to say it in your own words. What happened?

    Well, I don’t know. I have told people that I cannot really say. It’s just like what we have in the country today. There are those in the system who wants to outsmart some people or who want to outdo some people and will think, ‘oh, if this person is pushed away, you may have the opportunity’. Somehow, that’s what I think happened. And probably the leadership or the head bought the idea. So, I don’t want to go into they said this, they didn’t say that. But the point of the matter is for me, there was no need for what happened to have happened at all. But it’s like when you’re a leader, you must understand in the system, you must avoid these gossip that can destroy a political team.

    That means there was intrigue

    Of course, there was intrigue, but you must be careful. It’s just like what is happening in Nigeria today. In the government of Buhari, this person outsmarting this person, all those kinds of things. And before you know it, that name will bring down the system.

    So, are you saying that because you were away from Rivers, you were in the centre?

    Part of the reason for me not to be there was to push me away. That’s the point I’m trying to make. Let him not be here. If he’s here, he would have so much influence. Push him away.

    Have you tried to really reconcile, to say, look, this thing they are telling you is not true? Did you ever?

    Everything was done. So many prominent people. But like you know, when people have decided what to do, when people believe that whatever they say, that’s what would happen and whatever they decide, that’s what would happen. It’s not about yourself. You look up to God.

    It has become something like tit for tat between you and the Transport Minister. Sometime ago, there was this real show of power in Rivers where your vehicle and that of the minister met and it turned out that probably both of you were not in the vehicles. Is that a reflection of two strong people holding a state to ransom?

    Again, that tells you people can be power-drunk, impunity. You know what protocol is all about. When a governor’s convoy is coming, the expert drivers are in front. That gives it signal that the governor is coming. They move in front and then when they are at a junction, they stop for all vehicles to stop for the governor’s convoy to pass. That was what happened. But being in federal government, having soldiers with him, having federal SARS with him, they refused to obey that. And that was the crisis. I was at the back. I didn’t know what was happening. It was when the vehicles were no longer moving that I asked, ‘What is going on?’ Then my orderly came down and went outside. He thought probably that they hit the expert driver down. He drove by himself. Like I said…

    ‘He’ meaning Rotimi Amaechi?

    Yes. He drove by himself. The soldiers and police and the rest to show federal might. That was what happened. You know, impunity. People forget protocol. You’re no longer a governor. Somebody is a governor whether you like it or not. But in this case, ‘no, I will not obey. After all, we are in power. I would not listen.’ That was what happened. And you know, we complained to the federal government. What did they do? Nothing. The same impunity we’re talking about.

    When you said there was a plot to bring federal might to impose APC governorship in Rivers, Delta and in Akwa Ibom, where did you get the facts from?

    But, it is very clear. Even when we went to Ekiti, the security people were saying it. Now, we’re done with Ekiti, it’s Rivers.

    But in Ekiti, there was no show of force…

    You wouldn’t say so.

    There was no evidence. Everywhere was calm. The allegation people made was that a lot of money was changing hands…

    But that does not mean… we also watched on television where voters were running away. But, of course, where they were scattering Ado-Ekiti.

    Yes, but most of it was calm…

    But that does not mean that nothing like that happened. It happened.

    So, you expect that?

    For Rivers, if you see, even when APC talks, when they make statements, even from the President, all they will tell you, ‘We must take Rivers, we must take Rivers.’ I don’t know how they will take it if not by force. If it’s by people voting, I don’t think we have fear, because something you must also ask, there must be something you would show to the people of Rivers State why Rivers people should vote for the party. In the three years of governance, what has Rivers State benefited from the federal government? There’s nothing. Is it the international airport where you landed? Is it the East/West Road? Is it the Onne Seaport and Port Harcourt Port that they have killed? So, there must be something that would entice the people. Is it Ogoni clean-up that has been finished and the people are drinking good water now? There must be something. Like I said, it’s not every time you come and tell people lies. The only way and they know is by force. If it is by the people voting, we can go home and sleep with our two eyes closed. So, if they can come and tell us Rivers people, these are the promises we made to you – one, there would be employment, two, the naira would be equal to the dollar, we would fight insecurity, the airport would be standard, in fact, it would beat Atlanta Airport, Onne Seaport will be the busiest, Port Harcourt Seaport here will be the busiest. Which one have they really done? It’s not to bring sentiments at these people. Let them tell me one that is working.

    So, what would happen in 2019 if, as you have suggested or predicted, they want to bring federal might to Rivers?

    Oh, you know, the people would resist.

    How would they resist?

    How would they not resist

    How would they resist federal might?

    But why won’t they resist? They did it in National Assembly. People resisted. You saw a Rivers girl, what she did. It’s a Rivers girl. You see, you must know that people…

    How would they resist? Will they resist with arms too?

    We don’t have arms. But if that be the case, so be it. We don’t need to go and carry arms. But if that’s why you want to kill everybody, so be it. So many things are happening. Police invaded House of Assembly in Benue State and the president said they would not support anything that is unconstitutional. Yes, so what has happened? But now the SSS own has happened. You took him back. Fine. But I cannot be deceived by that. It’s an internal politics that is going on. And now, just because they wanted to take that action to show that they are serious in fighting impunity against rule of law. Look at EFCC. What can be more impunity if you’re saying that SSS invaded National Assembly which is an arm of government? What can be more impunity when an agency would shut down a tier of government of a federation? To freeze the account of a state. What coup can be bigger than that?

    They have denied it?

    Denied what? How can you deny that? So, that is why you see me in the system. Today, you’re punishing the DG SSS. But EFCC is doing what they are doing. And I can tell you, the target is not just those states. The target is against Rivers State. We know. I’ve never seen a system that believes in impunity (more) than this government. This state government in 2006 went to court against EFCC under Governor Peter Odili and the court gave judgment that you have no business with the financial transaction of a state. It is the state house of assembly that can query the financial transaction of a state. The money of Rivers State is not federal government money. It’s money that was shared in the federation account. Federal government took their own money. Rivers State took their own money like other states took their own money. You cannot come now to say you’re investigating the financial transactions of the state. And the court gave the judgment, no, it’s unconstitutional. EFCC filed an appeal. As I speak to you, EFCC has not been able to set aside that judgment. They went and appealed.

     

    •The interview was conducted before the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Port Harcourt.

  • 2018 PDP Convention: Wike welcomes delegates

    Ahead of the 2018 PDP National Convention, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has welcomed all delegates of the party to the state .

    In a statement signed by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Governor Wike assured the delegates of a memorable stay in the state.

    He said: “The good people of Rivers State are most delighted and honoured to play host to the distinguished National Delegates of our great party as we elect our Presidential flagbearer this weekend and collectively work towards rescuing our nation from the brink of collapse.

    Read Also: Buhari meets Anyim, Uduaghan, Marafa in Aso Rock

    “As we gather for this all-important national convention, I assure all delegates of our great party of their security before, during and after the convention. Working with the security agencies and other stakeholders, we will ensure that your stay in Port Harcourt is memorable. ”

    The statement further quoted the Rivers State Governor as saying: “Once again, I welcome all delegates, journalists, observers and other visitors to Rivers State, the Treasure Base of the Nation. While you are here, enjoy the peace, love, cuisine, heritage and hospitality of Rivers State and her people.

    “I pray for journey mercies as you return to your respective destinations. I welcome you.”

    The National Convention of the PDP hold between October 6 and 7, 2018 at the Adokiye Amasiemaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.