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Tag: Wike

  • Wike is enjoying immunity, says Fed Govt

    The federal government said yesterday it could not probe the assassination allegation made by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike because the governor enjoys immunity.

    Minister of Information Lai Mohammed  told reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja that for the fact that Wike is enjoying immunity, he would have been invited over his allegation that the Federal government was planning to assassinate him.

    Mohammed said: “As for the question about the allegation by the governor of Rivers that he has information that he will be assassinated by the federal government in a crowd.,”I think the beauty of being a governor is that you enjoy immunity from prosecution and arrest.  Because I remember a couple of years ago when I made a similar allegation, I was invited to the Force Headquarters.”

    But Wike in a statement accused the federal goernmenty of caring less about human lives especially when people are being killed daily across the country.

    Wike said because the Federal Government had relegated the sanctity of human lives, that is why they give conflicting reasons for the security challenges that have led to wanton killings in different parts of the country.

    “They don’t care about the issue  of the protection of lives and property. That is why people are killed in their numbers everyday.

    ”But I will not be slaughtered easily. They will not succeed in their plot”, Governor Wike said.

    The governor expressed shock   that  rather than  say that this weighty intelligence report will be duly investigated , the Minister of Information is struggling to trivialize the matter.

    He said there are laid down constitutional processes of handling weighty issues of this nature, pointing out that it is unfortunate that the Federal Government had refused to follow the  constitutional path.

  • F-SARS chief seeks N2b, apology from Wike

    THE Commander of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) in Rivers State, Mr. Akin Fakorede, an assistant commissioner of Police (ACP), is asking for N2 billion damages from the Rivers State government.

    He has given seven days’ ultimatum to the government to retract the libellous publications against him, and demanded an unreserved apology from the state government.

    Fakorede said the apology must be published on the front pages of national newspapers that carried the false advertisements.

    This, he said, should be published twice the number of times the advertisements ran in each newspaper.

    Fakorede’s lawyer, Ayodele Akintunde, in a 10-page letter, dated May 22, and addressed to Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Emma Aguma, yesterday in Port Harcourt, accused the state government of deliberately lying against his client.

    The F-SARS commander approached his lawyer after the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, authorised him to sue Governor Nyesom Wike and the government for the malicious, false and libellous publications against him, having been exonerated by the IGP of allegations levelled against him.

    Akintunde said: “The allegations that our client is an election rigger and an enemy of democracy, and that our client is recruiting, training and arming a special squad to rig the 2019 elections in Rivers State though violent means are totally false and baseless.

    “In the consequence, our client’s reputation has been seriously damaged and he has suffered considerable distress and embarrassment. We hereby demand that you retract the libelous publications contained in the national newspapers within seven days of the receipt of this letter and tender an unreserved apology to our client for the damage to his reputation and the distress and embarrassment caused him by the libelous publications.

    “The retraction and apology must be given as much publicity as your libelous advertisements and they must be inserted on the front pages of the same newspapers, in as large a type and in as prominent positions as your advertisements. The apology must also be printed/published twice the number of times your libelous advertisements were published in each of the national newspapers.

    “The Rivers State government must also give a written undertaking never again to publish any similar libel against our client in future.

    “Take notice that if you do not cause to be printed/published, a retraction and an unreserved apology, in the manner demanded within seven days of receipt of this letter, and pay an agreed amount as damages for the libel, we have our client’s instruction to commence legal action against the Rivers State government for N2 billion as damages for libel. You have been warned.”

    Fakorede’s lawyer faulted the government’s claim on the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the December 10 legislative rerun.

    He said: “The words contained in all the advertisements are clearly intended to disparage our client in his duties as an ACP in the Nigeria Police Force and particularly as the commander of F-SARS, Rivers State and expose him to hate, ridicule and contempt.

    “All the allegations contained in the publications, including the report of INEC, are false, malicious and completely unfounded. During the 2016 Rivers State rerun elections, our client never assaulted Mary Tunkayo, Dr. C. Odekpe or any INEC staff. This is clear from all the written statements obtained from the relevant INEC staff.”

  • Wike needs help, say Amaechi’s men

    A foremost pan-Rivers State group, the Inter-ethnic Network for Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (INCRA), has said Governor Nyesom Wike needs help.

    It slammed the governor for accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of plotting to assassinate him, saying it was an attempt to incite public rage and crisis.

    INCRA, yesterday in Port Harcourt, through a member of its Interim Management Team, Innocent Mbata, described as reckless and unfounded, Wike’s statements on Sunday during the third anniversary thanksgiving of his administration at the Living Faith Church, aka Winners’ Chapel, at D-Line in Port Harcourt.

    It said: “It is unfortunate that a sitting governor (Wike), who is occupying such an exalted office and constantly in the eyes of the public, would recurrently make unverifiable and unobjective statements capable of inciting public rage and crisis.

    “We are very familiar with Wike’s antics and artifice. As such, we are not perturbed over his ruses. Our concern is particularly on the gullible members of the public, who are not immune to his cheap lies.

    “This is not the first time Wike would raise a risk-suggesting trigger, even when such risks are not truly there, in a bid to garner public sympathy, score cheap political points and pit unsuspecting citizens against the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

    “On several occasions, Wike had raised the alarm over imminent attacks on him, without providing any corroborative proof. His recent outcry was that the Federal Government was planning to plant arms around him abroad and give him the Alamieyesiegha treatment.

    “In the $48 Ikoyi saga, Rivers governor claimed the money discovered by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Osborne Towers belonged to Rivers State government, but he failed to provide proof of ownership before a Federal High Court, when invited. There is no grounds for any rational and unbiased member of the public to continue to believe and give heed to Wike, who has ridiculously reduced himself to an alarmist.

    “When Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was Governor of Rivers State, everyone knew and saw clearly the gang-ups and subtle plots against him. His public outcries were verifiable and based on real-time intelligence and not actuated by impulses, caprices and political gimmickry.”

    The group also reiterated that Amaechi, as a serving governor, was blocked from entering Ekiti State on the orders of the Federal Government, when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was President, while the Rivers government’s aircraft was grounded twice, on flimsy grounds.

    It noted that the then Rivers governor’s colleagues visited to show him solidarity, but they were pelted with stones and their vehicles damaged at the Port Harcourt International Airport, on the orders of Wike, the then Minister of State for Education in Jonathan’s government.

    INCRA stated that Amaechi’s re-election victory as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) was not recognised by Jonathan’s Presidency and he was openly harassed by the police and other security agencies, denied statutory allocations by half and stripped of his security details at some point.

    It said: “Wike’s public outcries are unreal and exist only in his imagination. We wonder what he is really afraid of.

    “Rivers governor should desist  from misleading and beguiling the public by stirring up religious sentiments against the Buhari-led Federal Government, using church platforms.

    “The same Wike, who is busy criticising President Buhari on the grounds of his ethnicity and faith, is going about shopping for a Northerner as the presidential candidate of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 election. We expect Wike to support former President Jonathan, his boss, for the PDP’s presidential ticket, instead of settling for a Northerner.”

    The group also asked Rivers governor to produce proofs of any planned attack on him/plot to assassinate him by the Federal Government or cover his face in shame.

  • Wike, Fed Govt in war of words

    •’Governor judging others by his standards’

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike alleged yesterday that the  Federal Government was plotting his assasination.

    The governor spoke at the third anniversary thanksgiving of his administration at the Living Faith Church in D-Line, Port Harcourt.

    He said: “Intelligence report available to us as at this morning indicate that they are plotting to assassinate me in a crowd and claim it was accidental discharge.”

    The governor said the plot of the APC Federal Government and its associates will not intimidate him as he remains committed to the defence of democracy and Rivers State.

    He said the plot would fail, because God would continue to defend him.

    “The level of conspiracy against Rivers State is unfortunate.  Instead of focusing on governance, they focus  on how to assassinate me or frame me up.”

    Wike claimed the APC Federal Government, through the inspector general of Police, plotted to plant millions of dollars and AK 47 at his Abuja residence, when the Police sought search warrant from an Abuja court.

    But Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina said: “It is not in the Buhari administration’s character.

    “Wike is judging others by his own standards. Rivers State has witnessed in recent times gruesome murders which the state has not been able to explain.”

  • We didn’t endorse Wike, says Rivers Ijaw

    The Ijaws in Rivers State under the auspices of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide at the weekend said there was no time they endorsed the second term ambition of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

    The IYC Spokesman, Daniel Dasimaka, in a statement said they never muted the idea of endorsing any politician ahead of the 2019 general election.

    He said such endorsement was never part of discussions in any meeting involving stakeholders of Rivers Ijaw.

    He said: “For the sake of absolute clarity let it be stated that the IYC, whose Boro Day procession is said to be the occasion where the governor was endorsed is not a political group and therefore could not have endorsed anyone for the 2019 governorship election in Rivers State.

    “So the personal endorsement of the governor by our elder should not and must not be construed and announced as the views of the generality of Ijaws in Rivers State which the IYC Eastern Zone represents.

    “Therefore, the said endorsement is the personal opinion of an individual.  As eminent Ijaws, they have every right to endorse anyone they deem fit but that is in their private capacity and not in the name of Ijaws in Rivers State, IYC or the Ijaw National Congress (INC).

    “For the records only the National Spokesman of the IYC or INC could make a definitive declaration on behalf of the Ijaw nation after due consultations from every quotas.”

    Dasimaka said although the IYC recognised the strides of  Wike, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths is not a political organisation to endorse candidates.

    He thanked the governor for his warm reception of the Boro Day procession party his promise to remain steadfast in the protection of the interests of the people of Rivers State and the Niger Delta.

  • Wike ‘stop insulting F-SARS chief’

    Senator Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East) has urged Governor Nyesom Wike to stop his war on the Rivers State  Commander of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) Akin Fakorede, an assistant commissioner of Police (ACP).

    He said Wike should stop undermining and abusing Fakorede,  a ‘professional’ police officer and a man of integrity.

    Uchendu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday in an online statement by his media aide, Solomon Okocha, said the spurious allegations by Wike against Fakorede were irritating and childish.

    The senator said: “Wike has no moral right to accuse a professional police officer like Fakorede of rigging or planning to rig elections in Rivers State.

    “I have observed with disgust, the bizarre attitude of Wike in constantly casting aspersions on a well-trained police officer like Fakorede, all in a bid to destroy his career. It must stop.

    “Are there no more better ways to expend the scarce resources of Rivers people than to keep wasting millions of naira on the publication of devillish propaganda on newspapers, just to embarrass Fakorede?

    “Was Fakorede among the six police officers dismissed from service and their families suffering today, because Wike used them to invade the Rivers East Senatorial District’s collation centre in Port Harcourt, under heavy gunfire, during the December 10, 2016, legislative rerun election in the state?

    ‘’Was Fakorede the person that ran away with results from Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State? Was Fakorede the person, who ensured that all election results from Ikwerre council were not collated?

    “Has Wike forgotten his leaked phone conversation with certain electoral officers who he was instructing to manipulate my election? Was it Fakorede that caused the sack of 23 officials of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who confessed to have received N360 million bribe from Wike to rig the polls?

    “It is quite clear Wike is not in a position to throw mud at Fakorede or any other person in terms of election rigging. He who comes to equity must do so with clean hands.

    “Instead of these senseless and fruitless attacks against Fakorede, as Wike’s elder brother, I will advise him to go down on his knees and plead for forgiveness from God and all the lives that have been negatively affected by his unbridled lust for political power.”

    The representative of Rivers East noted that the governor is fighting the Rivers commander of F-SARS because he refused to assist him in altering the outcome of the legislative rerun in favour of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator George Sekibo.

    He said: “Wike is against Fakorede because he is unable to manipulate him. Wike wants another Mbu Joseph Mbu (former Rivers police commissioner) he can use for dirty jobs. Wike has failed. Let him use the funds of Rivers State for more meaningful things and on productive ventures.”

    Uchendu declared that there is no election manipulator in the history of Nigeria as ruthless as Wike.

     

  • Wike, Peterside trade words on 2019 

    RIVERS State Governor  Nyesom Wike and the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, are trading words over Wike’s performance.

    Wike, yesterday in Port Harcourt, described himself as a peaceful politician, and  will continue as governor beyond 2019 because of his impressive performance

    Peterside, deputy leader of APC in Rivers, described Wike, ex-minister of state for Education, as a harbinger of violence, who will either return to his Rumueprikom village in Obio/Akpor council or go to jail in 2019.

    Wike, through Information and Communications Commissioner Emma Okah, said: “Peterside is a child, who should not be taken seriously.

    ‘’He always talks before thinking. Bitterness over the loss of 2015 governorship election should not prevent Peterside from speaking the truth. Peterside will still lose in 2019. Rivers remains a PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) state.

    “Governor Wike cannot lose the governorship in 2019, because he is performing well, receiving awards all over the world and his administration has projects in the 23 councils.

    ‘’Peterside and other APC leaders should show Nigerians their projects in Rivers State. Governor Wike won in 2015 and he will win again in 2019, because Rivers people want him to continue his good work. Nothing like hopelessness in Rivers State and the people are not in bondage.

    “That Peterside and other APC members are freely moving about in Rivers State, without being harassed or molested, is an indication Governor Wike is not a harbinger of violence.”

    Wike alleged that leaders of APC in Rivers were using operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) to intimidate and harass PDP members, which he said must stop and that violence during congresses of APC in Rivers should not be repeated.

    Peterside, who is director-general of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said: “Wike is holding Rivers people in bondage with his maladministration and bad governance. Rivers people are tired of the hopelessness of Wike’s administration. I have not seen development in Rivers State that is commensurate with the state’s funds.

    “I got report from persons that I trust their integrity, that prominent members of the PDP led the protest (last Friday at the Rivers High Court, Port Harcourt). They were captured on camera. Wike’s allies were physically seen at the court, directing the protest

    “Wike’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) called Promise, a police officer, was physically directing the PDP protesters at the court (on Friday). Wike is a painful reminder of how far we (Rivers people) still have to go.

    “I do not see how we (APC leaders) owe anybody any apology over the protest (at the Rivers State High Court Complex in Port Harcourt on Friday). The people have the right to protest. I am a man of integrity. On my honour, I am not aware that any property was vandalised or damaged at the court premises.”

     

  • Why Wike is at war with his conscience, by Senator Uchendu 

    Senator Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East) has said Governor Nyesom Wike is at war with his conscience because he betrayed his benefactor, Rotimi Amaechi.

    Uchendu, in a statement by his media aide, Solomon Okocha, described Wike’s decision to work against Amaechi as shocking.

    He was reacting to Wike’s allegation that he (Uchendu) was at war with his conscience over the sack of Senator George Sekibo by the Court of Appeal.

    Uchendu said: “I am not at war with my conscience over my electoral victory because the same judiciary that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the George Sekibo’s certificate of return declared Wike governor of Rivers State, even after the Supreme Court described the 2015 election as a theatre of war.

    “If there is anybody who is fighting with his conscience, it should be Wike who, after so many years of eating from the same plate with his former master, Amaechi, betrayed him like the Biblical Judas Iscariot because of inordinate political ambition.

    “After treating Amaechi in such a manner, Wike has no moral right to talk about who has conscience or not. Wike’s conscience is also troubling him, because the six police officers, who he used to invade the Rivers East collation centre, to ensure I was not declared the winner of the rerun, have all been dismissed.

    “The sack of the 23 INEC officials, who confessed to have received N360 million from Wike to rig the polls must be a terrible burden on his conscience.

    “It is unfortunate that Wike, who did not contest any election with me, has continued to wail on my opponent’s behalf. This is simply a case of one crying more than the bereaved. If Wike is not satisfied with the court’s judgment, he should get ready to meet me in the field, if I eventually get my party’s ticket to contest in 2019.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Wike: workers ‘ve failed by not showing concern about insecurity

    RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike yesterday accused labour of failure by refusing to act in the face of killings in some parts of the country.

    The governor said it was uncharitable for labour to be only concerned about salary increment when their  kith and kin were being killed daily.

    In an address during the 2018 Workers Day in Port Harcourt, Wike said: “Labour is only after the increment of wages and emoluments without showing concern for the mass killings going on across different states of the federation.

    “Labour is quiet in the face of deaths. Of what benefit will increment of  salaries be when all your children, friends and relatives are killed in the course of this national insecurity?  It is incumbent on labour to rise up in defence of Nigerians by demanding for immediate cessation of killings.”

    The governor said labour has a duty to work towards the progress of Nigeria as they  battle for their welfare.

    He added that labour must rekindle their pre-2015 posture when they participated  in occupy Nigeria during the Jonathan era.

    The governor urged labour to defend the nation’s democracy,  which, he said, is under threat by the alleged failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-Federal Government to respect the rule of law and democratic tenets.

    He said the state was investing in building a strong economy that would enable workers earn decent wages, empower entrepreneurs to create jobs and provide improved livelihood opportunities for Rivers people.

    He said: “We have  approved an interest-free revolving loan scheme for civil servants. The annual sum earmarked for this programme is N1, 200,000,000 only, with a monthly disbursement of N100, 000,000.00 only.

    “We have also approved another interest-free loan for owners of small businesses to access to enhance their businesses, create jobs and grow the economy. An annual sum of N2, 400,000,000.00 only has been set-aside for this purpose with a monthly disbursement of N200, 000,000.00 only.”

    The governor said his administration was already working to fix some of the subsisting challenges, including the contributory pension scheme, the contributory health insurance scheme and the payment of gratuities to retired civil servants.

     

     

  • Wike should stop fighting me, says Senator Uchendu

    • Gov: he’s at war with his conscience

    Senator Andrew Uchendu(Rivers East) yesterday told Rivers State Governor to stop fighting him.

    But the governor replied the Senator was at war with his conscience, saying he had nothing to do with him.

    The Senator spoke at a thanksgiving service at the First African Mission Church in Port-Harcourt for emerging victorious during the bloody legislative rerun.

    He also declared power must rotate in the multi-ethnic Rivers State in 2019 to ensure peace, harmony, justice, equity and fairness.

    Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; wife of Transportation Minister, Dame Judith Amaechi; a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari and Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Chief Victor Giadom among other eminent Nigerians attended the thanksgiving and reception.

    Uchendu said: “Please, tell Nyesom Wike to stop fighting me and face governing Rivers State.

    “I am an anointed son of the Lord. I will continue to serve Rivers people. I have anointing of God to be in politics.

    “My people also called on me and I answered their call. I was in the House of Representatives three times of twelve years. I never said I wanted to contest.

    “God again used Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (former Rivers governor). Throughout the period, we were working with somebody called Nyesom Wike. Finally, the bubble burst.

    “My younger brother, Wike, continued to harass me over nothing. Amaechi and I begged the people of Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State for Wike to go for second term as council chairman.

    “I ran the longest election in the history of Nigeria. I, members of my family and many people in the senatorial district could not vote during the 2015 election because of violence and massive rigging by PDP members.

    “A month after my inauguration as a Senator, I had a major attack and God used a lot of people, particularly Amaechi, his wife and my wife to save my life.

    “I was flown out of the country unconscious. After two and a half months by God’s grace, I returned to Nigeria stronger. It is good to thank God for His mercies.”

    The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who was represented by the National Auditor of the ruling party, Chief George Moghalu, described Uchendu as a senator in whom members of the APC were well pleased.

    But Wike said the senator was at war with his conscience.

    Speaking through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Chief Emma Okah, the governor said: “Wike is not fighting Senator Uchendu. He (Uchendu) is at war with his conscience because he knows that the position he is occupying today, he is reaping the fruit of another person’s (Senator George Thompson Sekibo of PDP) labour and it will continue to haunt him.

    “Senator Uchendu is running a hostile agenda against Governor Wike, who is always saying that all Rivers people should first think about Rivers State.

    “All members of the National Assembly from Rivers State each recently got brand new 2017 model of Toyota Land Cruiser Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) from the Rivers State government. Only Senator Uchendu refused to take his jeep.”