The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party Campaign Organisation says there is no iota of truth in the allegation by the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi while speaking at the South-South Rally of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Port Harcourt, that its Governorship Candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike’s In-Laws ambushed his wife, Judith, during an APC programme in Ahoada, Rivers State.
The PDP Campaign Organisation in a statement by the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Barr Emma Okah said such claim is ridiculous, cheap-blackmail and unfounded, describing Gov Amaechi as a man who talks before he thinks.
” Amaechi is showing signs of aggravated desperation everyday and he hangs on to any like a drowning man gasping for life. That is why he is employing all ignoble tactics including deliberate false allegation and lies as his last minute arsenals”, he said
Wike’s In-laws according to the Campaign Organization are well educated, decent and responsible people. They are no rascals and have no history of odd behaviours and certainly not in their old age. They have a pedigree of sound moral and Christian background that abhors such unholy act, wondering what could have prompted the Governor to make such grave and calumnious allegation against such a family.
What Amaechi has done, the Party believes, is ungodly and smacks of his usual disrespect not only to Chief Wike’s In-laws but to the entire people of Rivers State.
The PDP is of the view that rather than waste the short time he has castigating and maligning people and personalities, the outgoing Governor should first clear himself of the several corruption charges against him, ranging from the illicit collection of special interest of N800M every month in addition to security vote and Government House administration allocations, divestment of some State-owned properties to cronies and family members, obscure transactions in government institutions and awards of juicy projects and contracts to himself, family members, including the Clinotech (Karibi Whyte hospital) contract saga.
The PDP expresses worry over the billions of naira Governor Amaechi gave to an APC chieftain, and former Governor of Kwara State, Sen. Bukola Saraki for the construction of Eliparonwo road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State which till date has remained a mirage. In awarding the contract to a sitting Governor then, Amaechi was seeking to succeed Saraki as Chairman of Governors Forum, a project that has failed woefully. “Amaechi needs to make clarifications but he is pretending not to hear”, Okah said
The Party therefore, calls on Governor Amaechi to stop the lies about its highly respected and winning flag-bearer, Chief Barr. NYESOM Wike, and begin to dust his files for a smooth handover to the PDP government on May 29, 2015. Therefater, he will begin to answer questions relating to the many corruption issues of his regime and address the loses caused by his financial wastages in all public sectors in the State.
The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has condemned the outgoing Governor, Rotimi Amaechi for alledgely breaking into the make-shift House of Assembly at Government House, Port Harcourt and forced himself into the hall to present the 2015 budget.
Rotimi Amaechi
The Chairman of PDP, Bro Felix Obuah while reacting to the report that Governor Amaechi personally broke the doors and forced his way inside to present the budget describes Amaechi as lawless, childish and irresponsible.
“Amaechi is lawless and acts with impunity. It is indeed very shameful. It further shows that Amaechi lacks character” the PDP Chairman said.
Aggrieved Rivers State House of Assembly workers locked the door of the make-shift House of Assembly at Government House Port Harcourt and barricaded the gate, following the refusal of Amaechi to pay their salaries and allowances for 3 years.
Amaechi who arrived the venue of the Assembly at about 11am personally broke into the Assembly to the dismay of workers and ordered some lawmakers who were outside to come inside and presented the 2015 budget.
GOVERNOR Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was recently appointed Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation. At an interactive session, Amaechi among other things, reels out plans of the campaign organisation and also clears the air on knotty issues. Excerpts:
Why Jonathan is in trouble — Gov Amaechi
Says he didn’t fund Buhari’s campaign
By Dapo Akinrefon
Rotimi Amaechi
IS it true you funded the Buhari campaign for the primaries?
I did not. Buhari did not spend money for the primaries. Anybody who said they spent money should come forward with evidence. We have maintained consistently that Nigerians would fund us and that is why we have launched our campaign we are hoping that people will contribute. It is there on our website; you will just look at the account and go and pay.
And we are making sure that we convince General Buhari to be the sole signatory to that account. That is the way we would raise our money. We would not depend on rich men. You can’t fight the president on funds. See how much he raised from people who some of them collected the N2.3trillion on oil subsidy and are yet to pay back. If he is not prosecuting them for oil subsidy, why shouldn’t they pay for his election?
Symbol of change
The president is trying to raise over N200 million for power and then those people he is helping to raise the money are giving him N500million. We can’t fight the president with money, we will fight him with the people. We will fight the president by telling Nigerians that they have to vote for change and the symbol of change for us is the APC and General Buhari. I will like to reiterate again that General Buhari did not pay anybody to vote for him at the primaries and he won because Nigerians want change.
How do you intend to combine your duty as director-general of the APC presidential campaign with your duties as governor?
We will try. That is why there is a deputy governor. I have a deputy who is efficient and I will also from time to time go back to the state. But we need to deliver and we are all making sacrifices ?to deliver this change. I don’t know how people feel. The president and the federal government have not denied the fact that N2.3trillion was taken for oil subsidy and that was six months in 2011.
Oil subsidy before that time was N300billion, so how did it rise to N2.3trillion and the people are not afraid? The federal government and all its agents were not afraid that N2.3trillion was taken. So, basically, I don’t mind what I can do legally to make sure that there is a better Nigeria.
What about the controversy that you have not paid eight months salaries?
Anybody who said I have not paid him salaries should come forward. We have paid up till December; you can call Rivers State to confirm. I got a Blackberry message on Tuesday, saying; “Thank God, we are going home with our salary before Christmas.”
Payment of salaries
What we agreed in the cabinet was that we should make sure that everybody goes home with his salary before Christmas because as a Christian, I know that December 23 and 24 are the two days that Christians like to shop. I do not owe salaries in Rivers State. I am proud to say that I will pay salaries until I leave office and I will continue to pursue development projects in the state.
I was even surprised that the president’s spokesman even put it in one of his statements when he was responding to the accusation that the people who contributed to the N21billion are those plundering our economy and he said after all, Governor Amaechi funded the election of Buhari while he owes teachers eight months salary. And I asked the question, for you to be a presidential spokesman, facts and statistics must be on your palm; you shouldn’t joke with that. But the man was just reacting to gossip.
What are Buhari’s programmes for Nigeria if he wins the 2015 election?
The message is simple. Buhari chased away Maitasene while he was Head of State. Many Nigerians will remember that Maitasine was like Boko Haram and they were killing people in Borno and Kano and Buhari chased them away because he is a strong leader.
Strong leader
We need a strong leader now to chase away Boko Haram or it will chase us away. Buhari will deal with insurgency because he has done that before. Many Nigerians would remember that when Borno was attacked by Chadian rebels, Buhari as an officer of the Nigerian Army almost chased them into Ndjamena. He had crossed the Lake Chad when President Shehu Shagari called him back. If he didn’t do that, Borno would have been overrun by Chadian rebels and till today Chad has never crossed into Nigeria to fight us. It takes a strong leader to do that.
We will deal with insurgency. The country may be broke now because of two factors. The first which is very critical is the diversion of funds at the NNPC. That is the greatest factor for me. The level of diversion in the NNPC has affected everybody including me.
We will deal with power because if you don’t address it, you cannot tackle unemployment. The essential factor for industrialisation from elementary economics is power.
So, when you hear that people in the power sector contributed N500 million for the president’s re-election, where did they get it? First, you must pay your bill every month whether you like it or not; whether you have power or not. People are now being forced to pay N75 every month whether they use power or not. So, they are being punished for not having power.
How do you respond to the claim by the PDP that Buhari is a semi-illiterate jackboot?
Our campaign will be issue-based. The president has a PhD in Zoology, how many farms do we have and how many people has he employed? If you say the president has a PhD and Buhari does not have one, let him show us his thesis. You are bringing yourself to the level of those who are making those allegations. Don’t bring yourself to that level, remain focused on the issues and let the president meet you there.
Many have defected from the PDP to the APC and as soon as they move they become progressives. What exactly does the APC stand for and what is the ideology of the party?
How many people would say that when I was in the PDP, I wasn’t a progressive? Those who left the PDP are the progressive wing of the party.
Please tell me what else I need to do to become a progressive. The ideology of progressivism is about the people and I bother about them a lot. That is why there is free education in my state which is not part of the PDP manifestoes. While in the PDP, I introduced free education and health care. What else would I need to become a progressive?
Those who studied at the University of Port-Harcourt will say that I have been a Marxist from my university days till today. APC stands for a progressive ideology and you can see that in our manifestoes.
What is the assurance that Buhari will win the presidential election?
The simple electoral arithmetic is that before the president had the South-south and Southeast 100 percent, but now there are problems for the PDP in Cross Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States. It wasn’t like that before.
By this time the PDP would have been dancing but have you seen them doing so? When they were doing the Transformation Ambassador of Nigeria (TAN) rallies, I knew that it will get to this point.
You have not seen the PDP dancing or doing any major campaign because there are problems everywhere. There is problem within the party in Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia States. So, it is no longer the same. The electoral map appears to have changed.
If we go to the north, does the APC have problems in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and Sokoto? Did we have problem in Lagos State? No, it is the PDP that has problems in those states. So the political map has changed and that is why I believe that by God’s grace, Buhari and the APC will win. I am a Christian and I think positively.
I am not from the north; I am not from the south. I am a Nigerian. I don’t believe in indigeneship, but in citizenship. Buhari will win the 2015 presidential election by God’s grace and he will also win because the political map does not favour the president anymore. In 2011, in the South-South and Southeast, we said he is our brother and now we are saying he is no longer our brother.
Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, has been described as a strong factor in determining who occupies the Aso Presidential Villa after the 2015 elections. Amaechi, according to former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has over the years acquired the requisite political stature to influence the outcome of the current jostling for who succeeds the outgoing President of the Federation, President Goodluck Jonathan.
Amaechi at the mega rally
“Although Amaechi is eminently qualified to be President and would make a good one if given the opportunity, his preoccupation at this moment is to flush out the evil regime of PDP come 2015 but if the All Progressives Congress (APC), of which he is one of the pillars, decides to support him for any elective post, so be it,” Eze said in a statement in Port Harcourt.
Chief Eze, a political ally of Rt. Hon. Amaechi, described the Governor as a political genius with a Midas touch. “His mobilisational and organisational expertise account for why he has been able to serve as a two-term Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), his feats as Rivers State Governor and APC’s deep penetration of Rivers State and other parts of the South-South in so short a time. Amaechi’s key roles in stabilising and repositioning APC and his contributions towards the growth of the party speak eloquently of his relevance,” Eze said.
The Ex-New PDP Spokesman opined that a ticket of retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Amaechi is the best APC could possibly present for the 2015 presidential election but quickly added that it is left for the party’s delegates and leaders to do the right thing with regard to who flies the party’s flag in the election.
“I have read a lot about a probable Muslim-Muslim ticket in the party but that is not advisable in the present circumstances in the interest of a united Nation and mission to rescue Nigeria from the shackles of the impunity experts in PDP ruining our nation. The winning ticket is one that features a strong candidate of Muslim extraction and a strong candidate of Christian background. A Buhari-Amaechi ticket would just be perfect. I don’t see how Goodluck Jonathan and whoever is paired with him can survive in a free and fair contest against Buhari and Amaechi,” Eze said.
He pointed out that APC stands on a two-legged stool – Legacy Group and New PDP Group. According to him, “We of the New PDP Group have conceded the National Chairman’s seat to the Legacy Group (Chief John Odigie-Oyegun) and if Buhari, who is also a member of the Legacy Group, gets the ticket, then it becomes imperative that we in the New PDP must be given the Vice President’s slot. However, if Atiku Abubakar or Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso who are also members of the New PDP gets the ticket, we of the New PDP family should graciously concede the VP ticket to the Legacy Group in the spirit of equity, justice and fairness which are the principles in which APC was established.”
The above calculations notwithstanding, Eze further counselled that it is imperative that the APC Leadership must unite to rescue our nation from the hands of the evil cabals that have hijacked governance in the country? “The fate of our country can only be ratified and put back on track if APC Leadership and members unite to get PDP sacked by 2015. If not, the woes ahead on all of us may not be described. We have done too much talking! The fact remains that should APC lose out in the 2015 general election, but God forbid, the true colour of President Goodluck Jonathan will be revealed to Nigerians. And the heat may be unbearable. The ball is now in the court of APC leaders to do that which is necessary to rescue our dear nation from the imminent doom that awaits her, should we fail in this mission”.
Eze congratulated Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal the Speaker of the House of Representatives for his statesmanship conduct by withdrawing from the Presidential race of the party to ensure that we as a party unites to rescue Nigeria from the hands of misguided PDP Leaders holding our nation hostage. He urged all APC members to emulate and compact themselves with the wise counsel contained in the Speaker’s speech, “To all my associates, colleagues, friends, admirers across Nigeria who have faith that I am that instrument for the change we all desire, I assure you that your faith is not in vain, it is noble and will endure until this great nation of ours is rescued from the clutches of institutionalized corruption, gross incompetence, greed and divisiveness. I charge you to be comforted that your strength lies not in the limited capacity of a single leader, but rather in the collective capacity of the millions of great citizens of this nation. One day, and I believe not too long away, this formidable collective capacity will be ignited and the good Lord will lift Nigeria high up where she belongs.”
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says it can never be business as usual for Gov Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in next year’s general elections in the State.
Rotimi Amaechi
The PDP stated this while reacting to Amaechi’s self indictment that he never knew how the result of the voting that brought him into office came about while he was a member of the Party.
In a statement signed by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media to the State chairman of the Party, Bro Felix Obuah, the PDP said if he (Amaechi) was not given to rigging, he should not have accepted the result of the election which he suspected was manipulated, stressing that no amount of self righteousness will change him from his real person in the estimation of the right thinking Rivers people.
“Amaechi is only worried because he has never naturally won any election on personal merit.
“He is either riding on the back of a political master or through intense lobbying which he has discovered is no longer tenable”, the PDP remarks.
The PDP dares Gov Amaechi to keep for once his promise of one man one vote in the upcoming elections and see whether he will not be amazed by the voice of Rivers people who are eager to be redeemed from the state of hopelessness he has plunged them into.
Reassuring the embattled Gov Amaechi and his All Progressives Congress, APC, of meeting their political waterloo in 2015, the PDP said it’s leaving nothing to chances to ensure that the stolen mandate of the party is recovered legitimately as has always been the case.
“If Amaechi is ever dreaming of a repeat performance in the fraudulent act of cutting corners during elections as he has confessed, he should as well throw in the towel before the contest proper because rigging is an impossibility this time around.
Stopping him in 2015 is a task that must be accomplished legitimately,” the PDP declared.
The immediate past Minister of State, Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, in this interview with OLALEKAN ADETAYO, speaks on his ambition to become the governor of Rivers State, his quarrel with Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his stewardship as a minister
Nyesom Wike
How will you respond to those who hold the view that by resigning your ministerial position for your governorship ambition, you are leaving certainty for uncertainty?
If you say I left certainty for uncertainty, you are asking whether I am sure of winning the election. What you should understand in life is that there is nothing that you partake in that does not involve risk. Every human endeavour involves taking risk. However, this type of risk, I can tell you, is the one that has a success rate of 80 per cent and a failure rate of 20 per cent. So I will say that I am not leaving certainty for uncertainty.
The Peoples Democratic Party is the predominant party as far as Rivers State is concerned. So there is no fear for anything. The structure is on ground. What we need to do is to work with everybody to ensure that the All Progressives Congress does not go back to the Government House although we know that it was the mandate of the PDP that the governor took to the APC.
The current governor is said to be doing well. What new things are you planning to bring on board if elected governor of Rivers State in 2015?
We are bringing so many things. We will ensure good governance. Good governance is not only about constructing roads. Good governance also includes or respect for the rule of law. Look at the state House of Assembly, today, state lawmakers sit in the Government House. So they are at the beck and call of the governor. Whenever he wants them to sit and approve something for him, they sit in the Government House and do it. Thereafter, they adjourn.
That is not democracy. We will give the legislature the required independence.
We will also give the traditional rulers their deserved respect. We will also give attention to infrastructure. Take for instance, there are only two roads in Rivers: Ekwere Road and Aba Road. Port Harcourt roads are bad, go and check. Look at the schools too. As the Minister of State, Education, I had to apply to the Presidency to intervene in some schools. We have been able to intervene in not less than 20 schools in the state.
So, as far as education is concerned, the state government will just build one modern primary school along the road and showcase it to every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes into Rivers State. Meanwhile, these schools are not in the rural areas. What the governor does is to build some of these schools on the road to deceive people that more schools have been given a facelift. Look at the health sector, all the general hospitals are dead. No one is functioning.
Look at how the government has wasted millions of naira talking about the mono rail. Is that what the people need now? What traffic are they going to curtail From what point to what point? Where the mono rail is, there is no single traffic. There is no population there and it is not more than 2km. As I speak to you, the mono rail is stalled. Each day, they advertise that they are on course. As I speak to you now, when they read this interview, they will tell workers the next day to move there so that people will see them working.
Look at the Karibi Whyte Hospital, the governor demolished the teaching hospital we used to have in Port Harcourt and said he was going to build a 1000-bed hospital. As I speak to you, nobody knows where that hospital is located. We have a lot of things to do, particularly in building our people’s confidence. Everybody has lost confidence in Amaechi’s administration. That is where we are. So, there are so many things that we are going to do and we are going to drastically pursue them. I have talked about the education sector, health sector, judiciary, etc.
We have a stadium within the city, he abandoned that stadium and said he was going to build a new stadium where there are no people living yet. That is to just let it be that he built a stadium, meanwhile there is Liberation Stadium in the city.
How will you react to reports that the political calculation in the state does not support an Ikwerre man becoming the governor after Amaechi who is also from Ikwerre?
Who does the calculation? Politics is all about propagating theories. If you say it does not favour one area, which area does it favour? I do not want to become governor because I am an Ikwerre man. It has to be put in perspective that I want to become governor to redeem my party, to make sure that APC which has no business to be in Rivers State is gone forever.
I don’t want to see myself as running because I am an Ikwerre man. I want to see myself as running because I have something to offer, to make a change for Rivers State to become the state that people want it to be.
PDP is not the ruling party as it is today in Rivers State. As an opposition party, what you are required to do is to field a candidate that has the capacity to match the ruling party for it to be able to take over the machinery of government. Opposition parties do not talk about whose turn it is. You only talk about whose turn it is when you are in government. The circumstance the PDP found itself today is such that it must go for whoever has the capacity and the confidence of the electorate to win the election. That is what the PDP needs.
All these talks are the imagination and propaganda of the APC government in Rivers State because they know who to be afraid of. They have said bringing out Wike is a walk-over for them, so we are helping them to win. They should not bother themselves.
How will you rate your performance as a minister?
How will I set examination for myself and mark it? Those of you who are out there should be able to know. When we were given the opportunity, did we make any impact? But as a human being and with the kind of support I got from my colleagues and the President, I think we did make a lot of impacts, particularly at the basic education level.
You can see it everywhere. Take for example, when we came on board, how many people wanted to go to Unity Colleges? But now, look at the huge number that apply to go to the colleges, not less than 200,000 for only 20,000 capacity. That confidence has been brought back. There were so many changes brought to the colleges, employing new teachers, putting basic infrastructure that were hitherto not there.
It was when we came on board that we pursued the issue of almajiri education; it was not there before. The issue of girl education was tackled. We are not saying we have achieved what we ought to achieve but we can see the progress that we have made. Look at the issue of vocational schools not only for skill acquisition but also for basic education. Fundamental changes and innovations have been put in place during our administration.
What were the personal efforts you put in to resolve the crisis between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities?
For me, it is not a personal thing. It was a collective effort put together by the government. The President in particular played a lot of role; although it was when I was there as the Supervising Minister of Education that the matter was resolved. Prof. Ruqqayatu Rufai did a lot before she left. I continued from there. We thank God that we were able to resolve it but I cannot say it was my personal effort. But as the then Supervising Minister, obviously, I did make a lot of impact to see that the strike was called off. But fundamentally, the President played a very crucial role in resolving that impasse.
How do you feel when people speak harshly about the quality of Nigerian graduates, describing them as half-baked?
Well, because of the quality of education we have had, you know that education was bad in the past 10 to 20 years. That is why it is not easy for you to see a turn-around immediately, it takes time. That is why the Federal Government is injecting fund to revitalise not just the higher institutions but also the primary education because if you get it wrong at the primary education level, it will be difficult at the tertiary level.
Lack of basic infrastructure is a problem. Lack of qualified teachers is also a problem. The Federal Government has been able to focus on these issues: infrastructure and quality of teachers. Training and re-training of teachers, making sure that teachers are availed with current happenings and are able to compete globally with their colleagues. You can see today that out of 13 centres of excellence by the World Bank, Nigeria alone has 10. Ten Nigerian universities are centres of excellence for research purposes. It has never happened before.
Back to Rivers politics, is it true that Governor Amaechi was instrumental to your appointment as a minister?
It depends on what you mean by being instrumental. He sent more than 10 names to the President for nomination and my name was one of those names. The word “instrumental” may be difficult because people have submitted names and Mr. President rejected such names.
He may be right after all by accusing you of stabbing him in the back?
That is a laughable thing. When you say “betrayal” and “stabbing,” we must have agreed on something. Maybe he said when you go to that place, do this and now you are not doing that. Or that there is something we agreed on that I refused to implement, that is when you can talk of stabbing or betrayal. Did he tell me that as I go to the Federal Executive Council, I should oppose Mr. President’s policies and I am not doing that? Did he tell me that as I get to that place, he will leave the PDP and I will have to join him? So when he says stabbing and betrayal, one should ask what actually he is talking about. Or is he expecting that as he is taking on Mr. President and ridiculing the office of the President, I should have supported that? Is it that because I did not support him in abusing the President and his office, I have stabbed Amaechi and betrayed him?
Look at the person talking about betrayal. Everybody in this country knows that Governor Amaechi was not in the state, he was in Ghana. Most of the people who are running around Amaechi now were nowhere to be found. I challenge anybody. I know that when I did my thanksgiving, when God saved me from the hands of those who wanted to assassinate me, the governor said one quality I have is that I am a man of character. He is on tape. He said this because when he was in Ghana, I championed his fight here. I knew what was on ground. There was everything for me to have betrayed him and I did not do that. So is it when he became a governor that I will start betraying him? When I had all the opportunity to betray him, I did not do that. It is laughable. I championed his re-election, I did not betray him. It was a big hell. You see, in politics, when you disagree with somebody, the only way you describe it is that the person has betrayed you. Where is the betrayal? If you hear the circumstance of my appointment as a minister, you will know who really betrayed who. If not by God’s grace, I won’t have been a minister. You can submit somebody’s name and go back to say that he is not the person you want. You can submit somebody’s name and the State Security Service will disqualify the person and you will come back to tell the person that it is no longer your business since it is the SSS that disqualified him. We know what happened in my case. So who actually betrayed who? Amaechi stabbed me in the back after I had passed through what I passed through for him and with him. When he got the power, he now saw that I was a threat. People started telling him that this man that did everything and made sure you became a governor, what you should do first is to edge him out.
You worked with the governor as his Chief of Staff and the Director-General of his campaign organisation, what is the cause of this current disagreement?
When he saw that I was to run for Senate, he denied me that with the hope that he was going to run for Senate in 2015. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, he became the chairman of the Governors Forum. He then saw the forum as an avenue to really launch his political aspiration in the country, which is now manifesting. The whole essence of Amaechi was not really to make me a minister, he believed that if he sent me out of the state, my influence would be cut and I would lose the support of the people because I will not always be there. He does not understand that God does not work that way. While he pushed me away so that I would not be relevant in the state, he did not know that God had a different plan. God said you are not just pushing him away, you are making Nigerians to know him more. Before he knew it, it was too late for him.
So it was like ‘let me push him out’ and God turned it around. He lobbied that I should be given a Minister of State. Of course, as a Minister of State, what are your powers? But God does not work that way. The whole thing is ‘take him out of the state, I will see how he wants to do whatever he wants to do. I will be free to put anybody I want to be the governor. If this man is in the state, he will likely give me a problem, so let me push him out.’ But pushing me out even became more problem for him.
With this glaring difference between you and the governor, is there any possibility of the two of you reconciling and becoming best of friends again?
The issue of best of friends is neither here nor there. We are both in different political parties. I think one day, he will realise that he has made a mistake and come back to the party that produced him. The party that made him to be speaker for eight years, the party that made him to be governor for almost eight years and the party that made him whatever he is today. I believe knowing him well, at his most quiet moment, he is regretting. Also knowing him well for his ego, he will say instead for him to do that, people will now know that he has lost his conscience, so he will remain where he is. If not that, if you ask him very well, he knows that he made a terrible mistake.
Like I said, PDP is a family, we will welcome anybody, prodigal sons can change. There is nothing wrong in forgiving him.
The Grassroots Development Initiative is an association you are sponsoring in the state to add to the political strength of the PDP. Do you think the group is achieving this aim?
Absolutely yes. That is what you can see today. Before now when Amaechi was in the PDP, we knew it, we saw it coming. We did not have the capacity to use the PDP to mobilise. So we formed this association to use it to mobilise, knowing well that he would one day jump ship. We want to ensure that the PDP does not die. So when he was moving out, the GDI became the strength of PDP. That is why we can talk about PDP in Rivers State. A party that has no governor, a party that people thought it was over when the governor jumped ship. GDI has done tremendously well.
How do you react to reports that the group is responsible for some of the political violence recorded in some of the local government areas of the state, especially in Obio/Akpor, Etche and recently in Port Harcourt and of course in Abuja?
What was the violence in Obio/Akpor? APC wanted to hold a rally and the police said they did not obtain permission, which is the normal thing to do. Where is the violence in Port Harcourt?
In Abuja, we came here for the reintegration committee. I was there and those who petitioned were there. A BoT member was there, former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, was there, all National Assembly members were there, all assembly members were there. They were there to make presentations to the committee. Where was the violence?
You know that in politics, we can be here discussing while supporters may be quarreling outside. So where is the violence? Of course, they may be struggling to come in. Those are natural things in politics. Did it affect us not to do what we were doing? Did it stop the panel from taking reports from people? It did not. So I don’t know the violence they are talking about. GDI is not a violent group.
What is your response to insinuations that you are a stooge to the President and his wife?
What is the meaning of a stooge? Stooge to do what? Do I need to wait for the President to tell me that somebody wants to cut short my political participation? Do I have to wait for the wife of the President to tell me that I should participate actively in politics? We are not kids here. Does the President need to tell me to go to court to realise our mandate? So, if I am the President’s stooge in Rivers State, who are his stooges in other states? I am very happy with the kind of President we have: very calm, very humble. We decided not to even tell the President when we were fighting this war because he is somebody who does not believe that there should be crisis.
But for us, we know Amaechi very well. My father tells me that when a mad man flogs you, one mistake you must not make is to start running. When you are running, the mad man will continue to flog you. But if a mad man flogs you, take something and hit the mad man back. He will feel the pain and he will start running. That is what is happening in Amaechi’s case. One mistake you must not make is to allow him intimidate you. So, I am not a stooge to anybody. Mr. President has never called me one day to go and fight Amaechi, neither has his wife done that.
As the primaries of the PDP draw nearer, what are you expecting as an aspirant?
You don’t prepare for examination because it holds tomorrow. You start preparing for examination from the day your lecture starts. The problem of most people is that they only prepare for election when the timetable is out. For those of us who know politics, we have been involved in it. We have started participating from time, to make ourselves available to the party, to make sure that we build the party to make it strong. You can see the difference. A student who starts preparing from the first day of lecture and a student who starts preparing because there is examination cannot be the same.
I have never asked anybody to impose me and I don’t want any imposition. What I want is for people to test their popularity; that is internal democracy. But a situation where somebody will come and tell you that it is his father’s turn, therefore somebody should not run for election, is that democracy?
Our team is quite sure today that if they do free and fair election in Rivers State, we will win very well. We are ready to face anybody in the election. Even at the general election, we are ready for the APC. They know we are ready, that is why APC people cannot sleep. The members can’t sleep and so they planted their moles in the PDP to cause problems, to say that it is the turn of A or B, when they know that we are in the opposition.
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi for ordering the shut down of all markets and shops in Port Harcourt on Saturday over a personal mega rally.
Rotimi Amaechi
Governor Amaechi had in a separate statement, given a directives to close all shorts in Port Harcourt to celebrate his seven years of Supreme Court Victory and swearing in as Rivers State Governor in 2007.
In a statement made available to NAIJA CENTER NEWS signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the State Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah, Jerry Needam, the PDP said “it’s insensitive and smacks of unconcern for the welfare of the people by coercing them to remain indoors simply because an uncaring governor wants to celebrate a controversial court victory that took place seven years ago which has causd the people more pains and backwardness.”
The party accused Amaechi of hiring crowd who were said to have been paid N20,000 each to pose as his and his party, All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters in the State.
The Chairman of the state PDP expressed shock that the governor could starve the civil servant and hold on to their salaries and allowances for several month, yet spending recklessly on such a jamboree with the state resources, adding that the hundreds of millions of naira budgeed for what it referred to as “meaningless rally” could have been more judiciously used to pay the civil servants their salaries and attend to the nemerous internal roads begging for attention across the state.
“It’s also surprising to the PDP that Amaechi who had wasted huge resources of the State in legal battles in defense of his faulted participation in the April 26, 2011 governorship election, claiming that his first tenure actually terminated on May 28, 2011, is still laying claim to October 25, when the controversial Supreme Court ruling was given as the date he took over the reins of office and power in the State.”
“This is nothing but self deceit, a feature of a warped mind,” the PDP declared.
The PDP however enjoined the Rivers people and residents not to be swayed and downcast by the arbitrary, illegal and coercive order, but to remain steadfast in their firm belief that this is only but temporary, pray and believing God for a quick change with a more progressive and humane administration which the PDP is poised to offer.
The Rivers State Government has inaugurated a committee charged with organising the mother of all rallies to mark the seventh anniversary of the October 25, 2007 historic Supreme Court verdict that enthroned Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as the authentic, duly elected Governor of Rivers State instead of Sir Celestine Omehia, the imposed PDP gubernatorial candidate during the February 2007 polls.
Rotimi Amaechi
The mega rally which is scheduled to hold October 25, 2014, at the new 65,000-seating capacity stadium in Port Harcourt constructed by the Amaechi administration to boost sports in Nigeria, will have Governor Amaechi give an account of his stewardship to the people of Rivers State, who renewed his mandate during the 2011 elections.
The 2014 Solidarity Rally Convention Initiative Organising Committee inaugurated on 14th October, 2014 to mobilise Rivers people as well as well wishers of the State for the big event, has the State Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru, as Chairman of the Central Committee, with the State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Barr. Chuma Chinye, as Secretary. Inaugurated on behalf of Governor Amaechi by Deputy Governor Ikuru at the Banquet Hall of the Rivers State Government House, the Committee has the following sub-committees: Mobilisation with Chief Tony Okocha, the Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi, as Chairman; Publicity with Commissioner of Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, as Chairman; Health with Dr. Sampson Parker, the Hon. Commissioner of Health, as Chairman; Venue with Hon. Igo Aguma as Chairman; Security with Chief Ade Adeogun as Chairman; Traffic with Hon Confidence Eke as Chairman; Protocol with Hon Henry Halliday the Government House Chief of Protocol as Chairman; and Entertainment with Hon. Aye Atamah Pepple member respresenting Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Asembly as Chairman.
Gov. Amaechi charged members of the Committee to work assiduously to ensure that only true sons, daughters and friends of Rivers State are mobilised and not those who share out Rivers land and oil wells to other states. He, however, explained that the rally is being organised for the progress and development of the State and not for political campaign or anything of such.
Responding on behalf of the Committee, Chief Tony Okocha noted that the members were carefully selected and assured that they will surely deliver.
In his remarks, the Rivers State Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, expressed delight and commended Governor Amaechi for his feats, transparent leadership and commitment towards the emancipation of Rivers State and her people. “We are proud for having Gov. Amaechi as our leader,” he stated.
The administration of Governor Amaechi has embarked upon many projects unprecedented in any other State in Nigeria that includes, setting up of the Songhai Farms and the N20B Agric Scheme that revolutionised agriculture in the State, starting off of the billion Greater Port Harcourt city to decongest the present Port Harcourt City and construction of one of the best stadia that hosted the last Sports Festival in the new city. Building and equipping 180 health centres across the state, constructing many roads and schools, embarking on a monorail first of its kind in Nigeria which the Governor has promised the completion of the first two phases by 2014. Upon completion, the monorail would transport 40,000 passengers daily. Offered scholarships to over 2,000 students in Nigerian Higher Institutions and spending of about N5bn for her students in foreign Intuitions. Building a world Class University which when completed will turn out well equipped graduates that will hold their own in any field and compete with the best in the world. Offers free education and free health delivery to its people but stands apart as the only State offering free education, free sandals, free books and free uniform in Nigeria. About 200 primaries schools have been set up in 200 communities, a feat that no other state is yet to accomplish.
The Rivers State Government has invested over N100b per year from 2008 till 2011 in provision of roads, bridges and Social amenities. In this regard, the Government has engaged in the construction of 800km roads with 250 already completed. 10 major bridges under construction with 3 already completed. 20 minor bridges under construction with four completed, 2flyover/interchange under construction. 6 Land reclamation/shore protection projects at Andoni, Opobo, Buguma, Abalama, Olombie/Owukiri Island, Oba Ama, Okirika with 1,1400,000km 2 completed. 2 major markets and a shopping mall under construction (phase 1 of mile 1 market housing 960 shops and two banking halls completed). Apart from all these the Rivers State Government has built three power stations built at Omoku (150 Mega watts), Trans-Amadi (130 Mega watts) and Eleme (75 mega watts). By June, 2011, capacity will be increased to 500 Mega Watts under the $195 million dollars 180 MW gas turbine awarded to Saipem. Seven Transmissions stations (132/33 kilo volts) and 7 Distribution injection sub-stations 33/11 Kilo Volts built. The security and freedom the people of Rivers State are now enjoying can only be appreciated if the scenario and state of Rivers State before Gov Amaechi assumed office can still be remembered by our people.
Rivers State Governor and chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum(NGF) Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has dismissed comments by the infamous and draconian former Commissioner of Police in Rivers State Joseph Mbu, who while apparently referring to Governor Amaechi described himself as a lion who tamed the Governor in Port Harcourt.
Rotimi Amaechi
Mbu, who was recently promoted Assistant Inspector-General of Police, said this while handling over to the FCT Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, on Monday in Abuja.
However, Governor Amaechi scoffed at Mbu’s claims to be a lion. In a statement by his Spokesman David Iyofor in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the Governor described Mbu as a puppet who completely lacks the steel and strength of character of a lion, and is rather a shameless, corrupt puppet and toothless attack dog of a woman.
How can a man who willingly submits himself to serve as the puppet of a woman call himself a lion? How ironic! Mr. Mbu, no lion behaves like that! You are a disgrace and shame to the Nigerian Police Force.”
Amaechi recounted that when the former Rivers police commissioner finally left the state, Mbu disobeyed the instruction of the Inspector General of Police to pack out of his official residence in Rivers State.
“Mbu refused to pack out because he said he would come back here (to Rivers State) as the Commissioner to organize the 2015 elections. When eventually he packed out and this is a long time after his successor had resumed here, he took everything including the carpet and nothing has happened to him, nobody has punished him for that. During his time here, when we hold Security Council meetings in Rivers State, he goes to report the proceedings of the meetings, what everyone said, to his woman puppeteer.
The statement concluded that a thousand Mbus can neither “tame”(using the word of Mbu) Governor Amaechi nor the people of Rivers State to surrender their constitutionally guaranteed democratic rights to anyone, no matter how highly placed.
Even though there have been consistent conflicting reports by government authorities about the status, spread and number of victims of the dreaded Ebola virus disease since the announcement of its outbreak in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital last week Wednesday, August 27, 2014, one good thing is the consciousness of personal hygiene the fear of the virus has engendered in the people.
Rotimi Amaechi
Apart from reasonable efforts to keep their immediate surroundings clean and regularly disinfected, there is now regular washing of hands and use of sanitizers to keep the ‘no cure virus’ under cheek among the populace. But of greater concern is, whether the government and the relevant authorities are really serious about containing the spread of the Ebola virus.
According to reports from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), there’s hardly anything on ground to show that the government is ready to face the challenge posed by the disease against the bogus and repeated claim by Gov Chibuike Amaechi that the State is ready and has put adequate measures in place to fight the scourge.
All that has been witnessed on daily basis in the past one week are regular press briefings by Dr Sampson Parker, the Commissioner in charge of health in the State during which he has dished out over three different number of persons already traced and captured for having contact with the late Dr. Elenmuo, who treated the alleged Nigerian diplomat and friend of Patrick Sawyer, the American Liberian who sneaked into Port Harcourt from Lagos and through whom the virus entered the State.
Dr Parker gave the initial number of those traced and captured as 50 persons and later 160 to 200, which later dropped to 60 and again 50.
According to him, by Monday, three of them had been quarantined for testing positive, and by the following day (Tuesday) the number reduced to one as two had been discharged from the health control centre located in Emohua.
While the people were still grappling with this confusing information, report came in that the alleged Ebola importer to Port Harcourt, Mr. Odukoya said he was never in Port Harcourt let alone receiving treatment in a Port Harcourt Hotel and, or clinic.
That notwithstanding, what is of utmost importance is making conscientious effort to contain further spread of the virus as its presence in Nigeria is no longer a matter of conjectures by settling down for business and not leaving the ‘call to duty’ to mediocres, opportunists and political jobbers who may not understand the grave implication of gambling with the lives of millions of Rivers people and other Nigerians resident in the State.
There is no doubt that some misguided elements will see this glaring threat to human lives as yet another opportunity to enrich themselves not realizing that you must be alive to enjoy such loot.
This warning becomes pertinent and timely because the claim by the State government through the Governor himself who is not directly involved in the management and disbursement of funds for the procurement of the necessary facilities and checks that the sum of three hundred and fifty million naira (N350m) has so far been spent on the control of the Ebola virus disease is suspect.
One begins to wonder on what such huge sum was spent aside the intervention funds only in one week when Lagos State government that has been battling with same scourge in the past one month has not spent such amount.
It should also be noted that organizing workshops for the health controllers is important but is never the crux of the matter especially when organizers seen to outnumber the trainees. This must be guided against as the funds meant for the facilities could be channeled ungainfully salaries and allowances approved/unapproved.
This reminder may have prompted the State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the State government and all relevant authorities charged with the control of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease in the State to be cautious and see this call to duty as an assignment that requires total commitment devoid of personal interest and extraneous influences.
While praying for a very successful fight and God’s guidance in the early control of the killer disease, the PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah,in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Jerry Needam, warned against the attempt to use the Ebola disease to loot the State treasury by those in charge.
The Party said the charge becomes necessary in view of the alarming sum of N350m claimed by Gov Chibuike Amaechi to have already spent on containing the spread of the disease in the State only in one week.
This to us, the party notes, appears gravely bloated against the backdrop of the information from the Rivers State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that the State presently lacks the requisite facilities to put the Ebola scourge under check which is a direct contrast to the claim of Gov Amaechi.
“This is a very serious issue because it has to do with life. The earlier the better and does not call for politicking. The killer disease is not a member of any political party and spares, none based on political affiliation. So all hands must be on deck to ensure that our generation is saved from total annihilation”, the PDP remarked.
The Party however enjoins all Rivers people, residents in the State and indeed, all Nigerians to pray with faith, believing that God does not abandon His people not even in the fight against Ebola.
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to provide proof that the APC Government in the State inflated the cost of the Automated Road Analyser (ARAN) commissioned on July 18 by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
APC vs PDP
“We are shocked that instead of joining the rest of Rivers people to celebrate the purchase of this scientific device to be used in monitoring road quality so as to ensure that dubious contractors do not rip off the State, PDP leaders are questioning this wise investment by the visionary government of Rt. Hon. Amaechi,” APC said in a statement issued Friday in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
The party said that by opposing the purchase of the road analyser, PDP has left no one in doubt that it is a party of blind critics and enemies of progress. “Contrary to PDP’s claims, the purchase of the road analyser by the Rivers State Government was done in a transparent manner and followed due process. Each of the two machines cost N109 million, making a total of N218 million for the two machines. The figure was not inflated in any way and any right-thinking person would appreciate this wise investment which will not only ensure better road quality but also save the State hundreds of millions of naira,” APC said.
The party challenged PDP leaders to provide proof that the cost of the machines was inflated “as it is not enough to make wild allegations in a failed bid to tarnish the image of a transparent administration.”
APC insisted that “Governor Amaechi, instead of being criticised, should be commended and congratulated for ensuing that our funds are judiciously utilised and that contractors do not defraud the State by means of poor quality road projects.”
The party advised Rivers PDP Chairman Felix Obuah and his spokesman Jerry Nedam to stop ridiculing themselves through frivolous allegations that cast them in the mould of blind critics and present PDP as a party of jokers and unserious minds. “This does not in any way do any good to PDP in its doomed mission to gain a foothold in Rivers State as we count down to the 2015 general elections, at which PDP will be totally rejected by Rivers people,” APC said in the statement.
The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has observed with utter disgust the political tension building up in the State following the ongoing campaign tour of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi under the pretext of tour of Local Government Areas across the State.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi
This is a clear case of arrant disregard for the rule of law and violation of the Electoral Act as Gov Amaechi and his political office seekers are using the tour to the communities, wards and villages to campaign and solicit for votes from the unsuspecting members of the areas visited for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The open campaign and appeal by Gov Amaechi and one of his Senator-allies in some villages in Ikwerre, Oyigbo and Opobo Nkoro Local Government Areas are an eloquent proof of kick-starting political campaigns against the rule.
In those areas visited, they have openly called on the people to vote for the APC, cast aspersions on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
We view all these as undemocratic, deviant and trampling on the provisions of the Electoral Act and worse still, provoking the people to cause crisis ahead of the 2015 general elections.
We are hereby calling on the State Commissioner of Police, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and all relevant security agencies to stop Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his cohorts from continuing with this campaign tours as it is a threat to the existing peace being enjoyed in the State.
In Oyigbo and Opobo for instance, inducing materials like supper print wrappers were distributed to women and in the process of scrambling for them, fighting ensued and some of the causalities are being hospitalized.
The PDP condemns sharing of wrappers in place of development and constituency projects like provision of learning facilities in our schools, good medical facilities, potable drinking water and good roads that would have benefited majority of the people as of right and not a favour.
The current Local Government campaign tour by Governor Amaechi is obviously a threat to the peace and security in the State; therefore we enjoin the police and other security agencies to put a stop to this ill-timed voters drive and waste of tax payers’ money.
We regret that while the PDP has remained law abiding, Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the APC have continued to be lawless and driving processes that threaten the peace and security of Rivers State.
If Governor Amaechi and the APC are not stopped now, we foresee a situation where other political parties would capitalize on the inability of the police and other security agencies to stop them to commence campaigns when the time is not ripe.
Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has received commendation from communities in the Ikwerre ethnic nationality on the provision of infrastructural and human capital development by his administration since he assumed office in October, 2007.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi
The Communities include, Aluu, Omagwa, Isiokpo, Elele and Apani among others. They made their remarks during the governor’s “Meet the People tour” to rural communities in the Ikwerre Local Government Area on Wednesday.
An address presented by Mr. Garshion Benson on behalf of the Aluu Clan says: “We congratulate you for your forthrightness, vision and courage that have unarguably made you the ‘face of true democracy’ in Nigeria. The Aluu Clan has over 50,000 registered voters over the years to consistently deliver the highest vote to our course. Sir, the support and commitment of the Aluu Clan have been with you since you started your political carrier in the 80’s and we believe Your Excellency recognizes this fact. We wish to commend you for the quality of work so far done on the Mrs. Matilda Nnodim road project; the surfacing from the Uniport axis is just nearing the first community on that route.”
At Omagwa, the Chiefs and Elders also expressed appreciation to the governor for providing them with democratic dividends.
In their address read by High Chief Bright Kpalukwu, they said: “Omagwa is among the numerous clans in Rivers State that has achieved democratic dividends. Your Excellency, Sir, Omagwa Clan has two Model Primary Schools within her confines. In sequence too, you have remembered Omagwa by making her a full beneficiary of an Ultra-Modern Health Care Centre. You have also given the town a face lift by awarding contracts for the building of roads. We are aware of the difficulties you are passing through in the State and the Nation at large. We are assuring you that, we have taken a positive stand to be with you come what may. Be assured that Omagwa people are solidly behind you. We
shall not forget you in the days of reckoning.”
The Omagwa council of Chiefs and Elders also awarded Governor Amaechi the Chieftaincy title of ‘Ome-Kwa-eli of Omagwa’.
At Isiokpo, the headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area, the people described the governor’s visit as home coming. “Your Excellency, your coming to Isiokpo is home coming, you have fought the good fight, and indeed, creditably well. We strongly appreciate your giant strides that can be measured to former Military Governor, King Alfred Diette-Spiff. We are proud of your developmental strides in the areas of Education, Health, Urban development, Model Primary and Secondary Schools, road networks, employment of Rivers
indigenes and other human capital development.”
In Elele, the people said: “Since the assumption of office by Governor Amaechi, Isiokpo has been peaceful and devoid of rancour and acrimony, as the commercial nerve centre of the Ikwerre local government area. This administration has provided us with Model Primary Schools and Health Centres. Our illustrious sons and daughters have been appointed into positions of leadership. Your administration also constructed the Elele-Owerri road and
other internal roads for our communities. We are indeed grateful.”
Apani Clan also expressed their gratitude and support to the governor. Speaking on behalf of the community, Hon. Azubuike Nwajoku, Lawmaker representing the Ikwerre constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly said, “We are grateful to Governor Amaechi for the numerous developmental strides that have been attracted to Apani. We have three Model Primary Schools, Model Health Centres and Roads that have paved way for neighbouring communities to benefit from these facilities. We assure you of our continued support anytime
you need us.”
Responding during the visit to Aluu clan, Governor Amaechi said his administration would build two model primary schools of 20 classroom blocks each to accommodate the rising population count in the community and urged them to declare their votes for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He also emphasized his administration’s commitment to construct and complete all internal roads as well as the on-going Model Primary School with ICT facilities.
“This is not time for politics, this is time for governance. When we start our political campaigns, we should be able to stand and say, this is our development for the Aluu community. When investors commence the building of industries at the Greater Port Harcourt City, job opportunities will be created and development will come for you to benefit more,” Amaechi said.
At Omagwa, Amaechi promised to upgrade the Chieftaincy Stool of Eze Jacob Wagorchi Orji to be recognized, gazetted and pronounced as “His Royal Highness” (Nye-Nwe-Ali).
He promised to complete the Agwawirie Omagwa road, and build a Model Primary School for the community and also fund education projects in the area.
At Adanta Isiokpo, Governor Amaechi thanked the people of Isiokpo for supporting his administration and promised to complete the building of the Model Primary Schools, adding that the resurfacing of Isiokpo internal roads will be given priority.
Amaechi urged the people to actively participate in the upcoming voters registration exercise in August this year and obtain their permanent voters card for the 2015 elections and vote for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In Elele community, the governor said: “I thank the people of Elele for the understanding during the construction of the Elele-Owerri road. I have done a lot in Elele. Elder Chidi Wihioka is one of the loyal politicians from Elele and his contributions and support has helped this government. He is a loyal son who has been following me since I assumed
office in 2007. My government has shown presence in Elele.”
He promised to build more Model Primary Schools in the area, and provide a transformer to improve their power supply; same for Apani community where he also assured of the
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, has strongly condemned the reported threat to the life of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, by the Federal Government.
The party in a statement by the Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, described the development as evil, horrendous, unjustifiable and provocative.
“We have noted the alarm raised by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Service Matters, Hon. Andrew Uchendu that the life of the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has come under threat from the Federal Government and its agents. We condemn this reprehensible plot on the life of an innocent man whose only offence is that he is fighting for the rights of the people who elected him their Governor. Rt. Hon. Amaechi has not committed any crime deserving of death and we wish to warn that no such harm must come to him,” Dr. Ikanya said in a statement issued today in Port Harcourt.
We have noted with dismay and astonishment that Governor Amaechi apart from being ambushed and refused entry last week into Ekiti by military personnel acting on orders from above was made to turn back and return to Akure where his chattered aircraft was parked but was chased and rounded by armed soldiers and security personnel in Odudu, Ondo state.
According to the captain who led the operation, he had orders not to allow the governor entry or exit. The detention attempt and incident at the Kano International Airport last two weeks are still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. Also, the call to put Gov. Amaechi under surveillance (or is it house arrest?)
The Rivers APC Chairman advised the Federal Government “to rechannel its energies towards finding a solution to the incessant bombing and killing of Nigerians like chicken by Boko Haram and leave Amaechi alone.”
Amaechi, according to Rivers APC, has suffered enough in the hands of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and should be given a break.
“The Federal Government should understand that Amaechi was duly elected Governor by the good people of Rivers State. Any attempt on his life would rightly be seen as an attack against Rivers State and her people. That PDP has lost Rivers State is not a good reason why our Governor should be singled out for attack and harassment every time and definitely certainly not a justifiable reason to seek to terminate his life,” the statement said.
The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, to immediately commence investigations into the financial activities of the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, following spontaneous outcry and revelations on cases of corruption against the administration.
Rivers Stae governor, Rotimi Amaechi
The Party feels strongly concerned that a government which receives the second highest monthly allocation from the Federation Account coupled with huge internally generated revenue which amount to over four trillion naira, which he has reneged on giving account of to the people as promised, stressing that the governor does not have anything on ground to justify such financial recklessness.
More worrisome, the PDP notes, is the ill-gotten affluence currently being displayed by Commissioners in the administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
The Peoples Democratic Party notes several complaints of Rivers people about serving Commissioners who are swimming in massive ill-gotten wealth and are living above their means.
The Party observes with great concern how serving Commissioners, aides of Governor Amaechi, immediate past Local Government Council Chairmen and other appointees of the Governor have acquired posh houses and other properties in choice areas in Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos, and in other States of the federation, and even outside the shores of Nigeria through burgled tax payers’ money.
The invitation of the EFCC is to look into the financial records of the Amaechi administration has become apparent following the near cave in of government in Rivers State, the default in the payment of teachers’ and lecturers’ salaries, pensioners entitlements, lack of good roads in Rivers State, lack of potable drinking water and above all, using Rivers tax payers money to advance the cause of the APC and APC Governors Forum in addition to the just concluded governorship election in Ekiti State.
The PDP insists that the Amaechi-led government is corrupt, and launching an investigation into the financial transactions of the administration will save further looting of tax payers’ money in Rivers State.
PDP calls on the EFCC and other relevant organizations to invite the Commissioners of Agriculture, Transport, Education, Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Social Welfare, Water Resources, amongst others for investigation.
….Congratulates Ekiti State Governor Elect, Ayodele Fayose
…says Ekiti Election, Big Lesson to Rivers APC Followers
The Chairman, Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bro Felix Obuah has congratulated the Governor Elect of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, on his well earned victory at Saturday’s Governorship Election in Ekiti State.
“We also commend the good people of Ekiti State for voting out of power the All Progressives Congress government, by resisting to be influenced by the billions of naira earmarked for electoral fraud by the leadership, including that of Governor Amaechi.
Similarly, we applaud the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Security agencies for ensuring a fair, just and violent- free election in Ekiti State,” the Chairman said on behalf of the Rivers State PDP.
The PDP Chairman in Rivers State, in a press statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media, Jerry Needam, while reacting to the victory of Ayodele Fayose lambasts Governor Rotimi Amaechi for spending five billion naira Rivers tax payers’ money in executing the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship election in Ekiti State, all aimed at getting at President Goodluck Jonathan, in a desperate effort to destabilize the PDP led government in Nigeria.
The PDP says the people of Ekiti have by their action, sincerely expressed their opinion which clearly humiliates the like of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and the APC, who squandered N5b Rivers Tax payers money on the election, adding that Fayose’s victory has further established that APC is a failed party on arrival in Nigeria, as the APC lacks democratic principles and operates as a private enterprise of former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.
The PDP therefore urges the few Rivers people who are still being carried away by Governor Amaechi’s boasting and lies peddling to come to the PDP as the APC would loss all elections in Rivers State.
The PDP further urges Governor Amaechi to hide his face in shame and seek credible ways of redeeming his battered image and stop causing political crisis in his desperate effort to pull down President Goodluck Jonathan.
A plot to use six renegade members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesome Wike, to embark upon impeachment procedure against Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, the Executive Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has been brought to our notice. To us, this is ridiculous, the highest form of impunity, an invitation to anarchy and a booby trap which could truncate our nascent democracy.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi
That six rebel troublemakers in a House of 32 lawmakers should talk of impeaching a sitting Governor is not only absurd, undemocratic but illegal. We wish to reiterate that this unwarranted plot is an evil scheme against the people of Rivers State which is capable of not only truncating our hard-nascent democracy but also throwing the entire nation into unprecedented political crisis of which consequences maybe hard to be determined.
This plot termed, ‘WHY AMAECHI MUST GO’, arises from the fear by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders that if Governor Amaechi stays in office till next year’s elections, President Goodluck Jonathan winning the next presidential election would become an uphill task.
Hastily trying to justify this illegal act, Chief Wike had declared in Port Harcourt some days ago that Amaechi had committed many impeachable offences and should be removed. We understand that these rebel lawmakers have met in the private home of one of the PDP chieftains in Old GRA in Port Harcourt and will regroup at Krisdera Hotel owned by the State Chairman of PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, in Omoku, headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Rivers State, on 26th June, 2014, to pass a ‘motion’ to impeach Governor Amaechi.
What a ridiculous move by a misguided group! Nobody should, however, dismiss this plot with a wave of the hand in view of recent happenings in Adamawa State, an another All Progressives Congress (APC) State where the account of the State Government was frozen without the Governor of the State being impeached. It would certainly be naïve to say that this cannot happen in a nation where some sitting Governors can be stopped from attending a fellow Governor’s rally not minding their immunity as contained in the country’s constitution! A nation where Ekiti Commissioner and APC leaders were arrested and branded as terrorists! A nation where a corrupt Minister can dare the National Assembly and refused to present herself for investigation!
The decaying and dying PDP Government at the centre, seeing its rejection by Nigerians come 2015, is capable of doing anything to retain power should Nigerians watch some of these undemocratic acts without any condemnation. We therefore appeal to past Presidents, Nationalists and Traditional Rulers to call the Presidency and PDP Agents to order before they plunge our nation into a mighty chaos that may consume all of us before it is too late.
We can now understand why the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) is hell-bent on imposing Justice Daisy Okocha as the Chief Judge of Rivers State in disobedience of a High Court judgment that she should not be considered or renominated for the office of the Chief Judge of Rivers State. The insistence of the NJC to impose this woman on Rivers State is an affront to the Nigerian Constitution. Such an appointment is null and void and of no effect. It is sad that NJC should allow itself to be messed up in this form by ungodly politicians, knowing very well that there was a judgment of a competent court headed by Honourable Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, upon which the State House of Assembly and Governor Chibuike Amaechi acted in clearing and swearing-in Justice Peter Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State. In the said judgment, NJC was a party. NJC has a right of appeal but under Part 1, Section 21 (d) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the NJC has no power to suspend Justice Agumagu or impose Justice Okocha on Rivers State.
We view the move by NJC as expectant and in lieu of the current madness by this six rebel and renegade lawmakers but, sadly for them all, we cannot accommodate or accept six confused lawmakers whose leader, Evans Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo Constituency, was cautioned by a High Court to stop parading himself as a Speaker. Hon. Bipi is obviously playing with fire as he has been barred from parading himself as Speaker by a court of competent jurisdiction. The order of the High Court of Rivers State, Ahoada Judicial Division, given on December 16, 2013, is unequivocal. He should also note that none of his undemocratic sponsors will come to his aid when he is committed to prison. His Lordship Hon. Justice C. N. Wali in his judgment did not only bar Hon. Bipi but also declared that we have one single House of Assembly in Rivers State under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Amachree. We expect the rebel lawmakers to fall in line and respect the leadership of the House and avoid further heating up of the polity. They should come to terms with the fact that their plot has failed like a pack of cards.
We are at a loss that instead of Mr. President and his cohorts preoccupying themselves with rescuing the over 200 abducted Chibok girls and arresting the menace of Boko Haram, the Presidency is busy fuelling crisis in APC states such as Adamawa, Rivers and Edo, inducing the lawmakers to start impeachment procedures against their Governors. This is madness and must be stopped before the nation is plunged into a monumental political crisis from which it may never recover as one united entity
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described the allegation by the Rivers State Government of a purported impeachment plot against Gov Amaechi as untrue and an issue not yet contemplated by the Party.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi
The PDP wonders why a government that claims to have a clean hand, without even an iota of corruption, should be expressing fears of possible impeachment of its principal head, the Governor.
To set the records straight, the PDP emphasizes, that at no time had it conceived, nurtured and expressed such intention to impeach the Governor, neither does it intend to attack him in whatever guise.
According to the Party, it’s presently concerned with a more serious issue of repositioning the party for the coming elections to enable it win and liberate the State from the mess it has been thrown into by the heavily funded All Progressives Congress, APC.
The PDP says understandably, the State Government and the Governor must be confused and seems to have set out to also confuse and divert the people’s attention from core issues of corruption and financial recklessness characterizing the Amaechi administration including the current crisis rocking the State Judiciary, which he (the governor) has stubbornly trample on the relevant constitutional provisions by disrespecting the directive of the National Judicial Commission (NJC) on the appointment of a Chief Judge for the State.
The Party however says even though the impeachment of the Governor is presently not on its agenda, it is constitutionally right and proper to impeach any erring chief executive of a State, particularly those involved in glaring cases of corruption.
The PDP therefore calls on Nigerians, especially Rivers people not to take the Governor’s claim seriously as there is no such plan by the Party.
The Party also urges the people to resist being deceived by the antics of the Rivers State Government as many of such false claims have been initiated to be made and published in the media in the coming days by the Governor and the APC leadership.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party strongly denies attempt to attack Gov Rotimi Amaechi as alleged by the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, saying the party has a responsible corporate citizen of Nigeria has seen no reason taken such uncivilized action on the Governor.
The Party also warns the Commissioner to stop peddling lies and insulting the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan with the aim of achieving their selfish and unpopular ambition, stressing that if she does not desist from carrying out such act of calumny and misrepresentation of fact on the President and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the party will have no other option than to engage the Rivers State Government according.
