Impressed with the landmark achievements of Governor Nyesom Wike led-government in Rivers State in less than one year in office especially in Road Infrastructural Development, the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, Bro Felix Obuah says he is ready and will appreciate a facility tour of these numerous completed and commissioned road projects by the minister of transportation, and former State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
The State PDP Chairman stated this while taking inventory of the achievements of Governor Wike one year after being voted into office in April 2015.
The reconstructed roads he said, include the Abonnema/Obonnema Link road/bridge, Eagle Island/Iloabuchi road/bridge, Abuluoma – Woji Link road/bridge, the Oyigbo Market Road, the Nkpogu – NLNG road/bridge, the reconstruction of Igwuruta – Chokocho Road etc.
According to the State PDP boss, over 120 kilometers of these roads have so far been constructed and rehabilitated across the State since May 29, 2015 when Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike took oath of office as the executive governor the State.
The facility visit and, or tour has become necessary not only to show the immediate past government and its functionaries led by Rotimi Amaechi as governor and Dakuku Peterside as his works commissioner how to prudently use scarce resources for maximum output, but also to prove that the popularity and goodwill being enjoyed by the Wike administration is not based on fallacy but concrete achievements, Bro Obuah noted.
The PDP State chairman believes that given the rancour free environment by cynics, distracters and self-seeking politicians, the Wike administration will no doubt raise the bar of democratic dividends beyond measure for Rivers people.
“We are also inviting all stakeholders at home and in the Diaspora for on-the-spot assessment of these roads already completed and commissioned by Governor Wike in the State besides other breakthroughs in the health, housing, judiciary, education, empowerment/poverty alleviation, transport and sports sectors etc, and they will be amazed at what the governor has been able to do with the little resources at his disposal and will regret and agree that the eight years of Amaechi administration in the State despite the huge resources he controlled was a colossal waste”, Bro Obuah declared.
The Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, said its attention has been drawn to a press statement by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, on behalf of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, accusing the APC of sponsoring groups to raise frivolous petitions against PDP members to have them arrested by security agents.
Nyesom Wike
This according to the APC “is the inglorious height of falsehood and propaganda by the corruption-ridden PDP house of shame in Rivers State.”
“While the APC cannot put itself in the way of any issues between the PDP and its dubious partners in crime, we make bold to state in clear terms that we find neither the PDP nor its criminal partners worthy of any patronage or collaboration with the APC for anything noble. The difference between light and darkness is never in doubt and PDP is the darkness here” Senibo Chris Finebone said in a press statement.
The APC advised the Rivers State Government and the PDP to seek the face of God for forgiveness so that they can overcome the trauma and fear of their shadows occasioned by their evil deeds and killing of innocent souls in Rivers State directly or through their franchised killing gangs.
“The APC is well aware that the reason for this recent propaganda is to create a smokescreen for the insidious plans the PDP hierarchy is busy hatching towards the suspended rerun elections whenever they are re-scheduled. Their schemes will fail.
Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP must know that what is happening to them is simply the fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures in Proverb 28:1 which says that, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth” the statement averred.
The Chairman, Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bro Felix Obuah says there is no truth in Mr. Rotimi Ameachi’s statement, describing the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a threat to democracy in the country.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
The PDP Chairman notes that former Governor Ameachi is only struggling to divert attention from his abominable atrocities, rebellious activities and breach of public peace and security in the State and the nation at large, stressing that it is he (Ameachi) that has become a threat to democracy and peace in the country.
He expressed disappointment that rather than help President Buhari to proffer solution to the numerous problems on his head, particularly the deteriorating economic situation and apparent lack of focus of the APC-led government in the country, Mr. Amaechi is busy blackmailing a focused and development-sensitive Governor (Wike), and causing trouble in Rivers State.
Bro Obuah emphasized that Amaechi’s statement was undoubtedly a cover- up, distraction and attempt to subvert the truth about who he is and what his activities in the State portend, recalling how Amaechi flooded the State during the re-run elections with soldiers to rig the election, kill innocent voters and intimidate the citizens while exercising their franchise.
Rather than admitting his failure as a governor for eight years and ill- preparedness for his new office as Minister for Transportation, Mr. Amaechi has resorted to pulling down the good foundation of the Wike administration, a mission and task he cannot accomplish.
Bro Obuah is therefore calling on the former governor to settle down for business as a minister and allow the peace in Rivers State to be, reiterating his earlier appeal to President Buhari to call him (Amaechi) to order, before he completely destroys the already rough image of his government.
The PDP chairman also urges the people to ignore Amaechi’s lies and deceitful claims, adding that nothing good and meaningful can ever come from Amaechi who failed as a governor, and APC leader in the State, as he could not deliver his party at the polls, failing even in his polling unit.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, of playing politics with the lives of the people of the state.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
He also accused Wike of not taking the development of the state seriously.
Amaechi, a former governor of the state, said this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
He accused Wike of “twisting, butchering and turning the truth upside down; and in most cases telling outright lies in his failed bid to denigrate, tarnish and rubbish his towering image, person and laudable, landmark achievements.
He said that most troubling was Wike’s alleged propensity, without any qualms whatsoever, to play politics with the safety and security of the lives of Rivers people.
This, he said, was indeed most worrisome.
Amaechi said, “It is no secret that Wike plays politics with the development, welfare and well-being of Rivers people.
“But no government should play politics with the safety and security of its citizens like Wike is sadly and shamelessly doing.
“Governor Wike claimed that the brutal political killings and murder of the All Progressives Congress members and other hapless citizens in the state are cult-related or a result of cult clashes.
“What cult wars is he talking about? Since he claimed to have security reports, we challenge Wike to tell Rivers people the cult group that Franklin Obi, the APC Ward Chairman in Omoku, belongs to, that led to his being gruesomely beheaded and butchered, alongside his pregnant wife and teenage son.
“Or did Franklin suddenly become a cult member because he had the guts and courage to host a resoundingly successful ward meeting of APC faithful in the same ward as Wike’s Peoples Democratic Party State chairman, Felix Obuah, just a few days to the rerun elections?”
The former governor challenged Wike to tell Nigerians the cult groups and the cult wars that led to the killing of the innocent youth corper, Chukwudumeibi Okonta, on the day of the last rerun election on March 19.
“Was the youth corper a cultist or a victim of cult wars or yet another victim of politically-motivated killings in Rivers State?,” he asked.
He also said that Wike must tell Rivers people the cult wars that led to the brutal murder of hundreds of Rivers people since the election that made him governor was held, and the cult groups that all those that had been murdered, belong to.
He said that Wike’s cult wars/cultists claim was akin to insulting and spitting on the graves and memories of all those murdered and their families.
Amaechi said, “With pity, we watched as Wike tried to compare the political killings of the late Okonta and Independent National Electoral Commission ad hoc staff on the rerun election day in Rivers State to the fire accident that occurred at the home of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano State days after the elections of 2015.
“How pathetic! Even for Wike, this is a new low.”
On the Rivers Monorail project Amaechi started, which Wike said that he would abandon, the former governor said Wike needed to know that the monorail belongs to Rivers State and not his “Amaechi’s” private monorail.
He said, “Pray, Governor Wike, which Rivers people told you not to touch the monorail project? Is it the same Rivers people that have consistently praised the project and see it as a catalyst to jump-start the local economy and place the state at the forefront of transport infrastructural development in Africa?
“Or is Wike aggregating the jaundiced views of the coterie of court-jesters that hang around him daily, as the opinion of the entire people of the state?
“It is sad, very sad that Wike has elected to play politics with this laudable project that was almost completed before Amaechi left office.”
He said that Wike also described several ongoing projects in the state when he (Amaechi) left office as ‘abandoned projects’ that the former governor claimed to have completed or about to complete.
The former governor said Wike specifically mentioned the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity Road that connects the Island of Opobo to Andoni and the rest of the state.
“What a shameless lie! This project was ongoing and was almost completed as at May 29, 2015. May we also remind Wike that the Eagle Island- Diobu Road that he once claimed to have been abandoned was 90 per cent completed with just the final course of coal tar remaining as at when he succeeded Amaechi,” the former governor added.
The RIVERS State Government may have abandoned the multi-billion naira monorail project embarked upon by the immediate-past administration.
Nyesom Wike
Governor Nyesom Wike, who gave this hint on Monday while speaking on a national television programme,Sunrise, said the people of the state did not want the continuation of the project.
Wike explained that in spite of his administration’s commitment to the completion of the projects abandoned by the Rotimi Amaechi administration, the monorail would not be one of such projects.
He said, “Rivers people have told me not to touch the monorail project left behind by the other government.”
Wike said his administration had taken measures to improve the security of the state through funding of security interventions and provision of logistics for security agencies.
The governor lamented that the state had been affected by the regular transfer of security chiefs from the state, blaming Amaechi for the development.
He said, “I won’t make a promise that I will not fulfill I don’t politicise development. My interest is to deliver the best for Rivers people.
“In spite of distractions, we have succeeded in completing many projects abandoned by the previous government. We also have cleared the backlog of unpaid salaries and pensions left by the previous government.
“We have succeeded in restoring the judiciary and reopening courts shut down by the previous government. The Federal Government needs to allow security chiefs remain in Rivers State to do their jobs and ease tensions.
“I have had over three Commissioners of Police removed since I became governor,” Wike, who lamented the death of a corps member in the state recently, added.
Reacting to the position of Wike on the monorail project, the immediate-past state Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Tolofari George, said, “The monorail is a laudable project that should be continued because it is a catalyst to jump-start our local economy and place Rivers State at the forefront of transport infrastructural development.
“The vision is to take the monorail up to the airport in future traversing the city. A lot of River’s taxpayers’ monies have been sunk into that project that it should not be allowed to die. But Wike has chosen to play politics with that project and it is most unfortunate.”
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has queried the hurried release, by security agencies, of aides of Governor Nyesom Wike who were arrested for malpractices and violence during during the State and National Assembly rerun elections in the State.
APC Rivers State
The party equally raised eyebrows about the speed with which Wike’s aides arrested for attempting to assassinate the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Rivers APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and the party’s deputy governorship candidate in the 2015 elections, Hon. Asita O. Asita, were allowed to go home and continue with their normal businesses.
“We are shocked and left speechless by the speed with which the Secretary to Rivers State Government, Mr. Kenneth Kobani, Wike’s Special Assistant on Special Projects, Mr. Cyril Dum Wite, and Wike’s Chief of Staff, Emeka Woke, were released and allowed to go home despite the overwhelming evidence against them,” Rivers APC said in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Ikanya.
It recalled that Mr. Kobani was caught red-handed aiding rigging during the Saturday, March 19 rerun polls while Wite was caught with N40 million, arms, Police and Army uniforms in his car. The party also recalled that the next day, gunmen operating in two jeeps belonging to Woke opened fire on a vehicle conveying Peterside, Ikanya and Asita, who were on their way from Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa. “Our hopes were initially raised when Wike’s implicated aides were arrested for questioning as we thought that justice would be made to take its source. We are disappointed that these men have been hastily released and left off the hook instead of being vigorously investigated and charged before courts of competent jurisdiction. This is sad and unfortunate,” Rivers APC said in the statement issued Thursday in the State capital, Port Harcourt.
The party challenged security agencies in the State to conduct their activities in a way that would convince everyone of their impartiality and advised them not to allow themselves to be bought by Governor Wike in his desperation to completely conquer and possess Rivers State by hook or by crook. It described the rerun elections as a violence-ridden sham and demanded its total cancellation by the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC).
Rivers APC also appealed to its members and supporters not to be demoralised by the turn of events but to remain steadfast in their support for the party, knowing that those with God are in the majority and that evil will never outshine good. “We wish to remind Wike and his collaborators that one day the blood of those wasted to install and perpetuate his for his evil administration will speak and exact vengeance. Wike and his cohorts that are now celebrating and drinking the blood of seemingly hapless Rivers people will one day give an account of all their evil deeds either here on earth or hereafter before a just God that cannot be bribed,” Rivers APC said.
President Muhammadu Buhari is conscious he has approximately three years left in office. Even more, he is aware he has so far not quite justified his election or the abundant goodwill and trust reposed in him by those who voted him last year. Addressing the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Thursday in Abuja, he promised real and substantial improvement in the circumstances and welfare of his people. He did not quite give a speech, for apparently, he was always hobbled by the gravity of formal occasions. What he gave instead were remarks that came across quite well, and in which he admitted his failings where he needed to, refused to excuse his mistakes, and promised to meet his longsuffering compatriots at their points of need on account of the more than three million naira the Treasury Single Account (TSA) had enabled his government to save.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
Before last week’s APC NEC meeting, President Buhari had given scores of formal and boring speeches, including his inauguration address, and a couple of wisecracks, some of them, especially those given during his foreign trips, misspoken. In none of those speeches and brief remarks did he come across as a politician or conciliator. In one breath, he would speak candidly, forcefully and sometimes unreflectively of how fortune and fate in equal measure dealt him a cruel hand regarding the limiting effects of his age and the falling price of crude oil. And sometimes exhilarated, he would speak wistfully from the hangover of his regimented background, attempting to juxtapose his nostalgic past with what he feels is his unresponsive and frustrating present. On Thursday, however, he spoke as a politician and conciliator. If he can act his newfound speech and press the spirit of his rhetoric, who knows, he may yet save his presidency.
But whatever he does from now on cannot save his party from defeat and humiliation in Rivers State, and indeed in most other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) states. He will in fact struggle to sustain his party’s hold on some controversial and borderline APC states, many of which he has neither shown commitment to nor displayed affection for. The rerun elections in Rivers were enveloped in violence, with many murdered before, during and after the polls. A party’s defeat may admittedly sometimes be explained in terms of who is the more disposed to violence between two leading political gladiators in any election. But in the case of Rivers, neither former governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is now Minister of Transport, nor APC chairman, Odigie Oyegun, conducted himself in such a manner as to engender victory for their party. However, ultimately, the responsibility for the party’s defeat in that state lies with the party leader, President Buhari.
This column indicated immediately after the Supreme Court validated Nyesom Wike’s election as governor that the APC would have a tough job winning a substantial part of the rerun polls. Except perhaps to the APC, the reasons were clear. Mr. Amaechi may be popular in the state, and may even have governed well, but Riverians are not so stupid as not to recognise that voting for APC lawmakers would prolong and entrench the stalemate in the state and predispose it to more violence. In the opinion of this column, Mr. Wike had not always acted with the maturity and brilliance expected of a governor, but having been installed as governor, it was unlikely that the structure of Nigeria’s unitary and patronage-ridden economy would lead the state’s electorate to repudiate him. They longed for peace, but would not mind submitting to the more practical and debilitating purveyor of evil among their political leaders.
In addition, rather than speak loftily, and perhaps dreamily, of the Rivers State of their vision, the APC chairman and other party officials had spoken deprecatingly and materialistically of the state as that oil-rich state, almost akin to how the president himself later described the Niger Delta as a lucrative part of Nigeria. Together with Mr. Amaechi’s impetuousness and Mr. Oyegun’s materialistic view of politics, it was impossible to imagine that Riverians would be enamoured of the APC, or feel indebted to its misbegotten principles and values. The president should do all in his power to bring to justice all those who fomented violence in Rivers State, including those who inspired it, but he should do nothing to interfere with the composition and inauguration of the state legislature. The civilised world may have reservations about how Mr. Wike conducted himself before and during the polls, but it is not enough to halt or abridge any of the processes leading to the inauguration of the House of Assembly if a quorum is formed.
As crucial to APC’s defeat in Rivers as the widespread violence in the state was, and not ignoring the orientation and conduct of Messrs Oyegun and Amaechi, probably the most important other reason for the debacle is the president’s inattentiveness to politics, in substance and ornamentation. However, it seems the president may just be starting to appreciate politics, if his remarks at last Thursday’s APC NEC meeting in Abuja is anything to go by. He had misrepresented politics when he suggested in his inauguration address that he belonged to everybody and to nobody. He had at the time unbelievably given the impression he became president by dint of his own hard work, appeal and merit, and would therefore not be beholden to anybody. He couldn’t be more wrong. If it were left to him and merit alone, he would have retired from politics long before 2015.
Not only does the president in fact belong to his party and individuals who broke their backs to ensure his victory, he needs them to sustain himself in office, entrench and protect his legacy, and run for a second term, if he desires one. But with a divided party and an apparently disenchanted following, it is not surprising that his party has fared badly in most of the elections that have taken place under his watch. It could get much worse, and not simply because of violence or the Independent National Electoral Commission’s inability to get its act together. The reasons are nuanced. First, since he assumed office, President Buhari has done precious little to instill confidence in the nations laws, constitution and processes. He has dithered badly on the rule of law in his anti-corruption campaign, thereby giving the opposition the impression he had no regard for due process and seemingly suggesting that the fittest could always take the trophy regardless of what the law says. In addition, he has behaved awkwardly and intimidatingly to the judiciary, again convincing Mr. Wike and others like him that whatever they needed should be taken by force, perhaps extrajudicially and remorselessly.
Second, by repudiating and even denouncing the politics of accommodation and consensus, the president virtually told indigenes of the South-South and Southeast geopolitical zones that they should look elsewhere for affiliation and attention. He would not offer them sop on the scale he would give his avid supporters meat and delicacies, he had whined incredibly and paradoxically as a victor. Then he worsened an already bad situation by his unsympathetic approach to the Biafra idea vis-a-vis other rebellious groups in the North, and gave ministerial portfolios considered of little influence to the region. The implication is that with two swift blows to the head, the two regions swore to close ranks and shut down their politics against the APC. The president needed to woo his ‘enemies’; instead he harangued them. Thus APC lost Bayelsa and the rerun polls in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, and had any other poll been called for anywhere else in the two geopolitical zones, the party would have lost woefully. In the circumstance, the best the president can do leading his troops to the next polls is to mitigate the scale of his party’s defeat, for that defeat will surely come. The presidnt must also rue how the momentum the APC carried into the 2015 polls came barely a few months later to a wrenching and agonising stop.
Third, in order to gain in stature and earn respect in hostile states, the president needed to act subliminally as a statesman in almost everything, from elections to judicial proceedings and respect for the laws of the land, and from inter-party politics to inter-ethnic relations. Instead, he seems to have foresworn that sublimeness. He should have acted decisively in arresting the political drift towards the unrelenting parochialism authored by his party in the Kogi governorship election; instead he has merely regretted the inconclusiveness of the poll, thereby giving the impression to the cognoscenti that he has no deep and abiding understanding of the principles of justice and equity. The president’s discomfort with the tenets of justice has emboldened politicians like Mr. Wike and Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, to embrace brinkmanship and flirt with dangerous and cataclysmic propositions. Messrs Wike and Fayose lack principles and political morality, but they will continue to dismiss President Buhari’s efforts as sanctimoniousness, and stiffen their increasingly contagious opposition to his ideas and policies.
Fourth, it was necessary for the president to travel to Rivers before the polls, meet with the gladiators, admonish them on peace and impactful politicking, address a town hall meeting on the values and virtues that must underpin Nigerian politics, engage traditional rulers and the youths, and encourage law enforcement agents to be fair and impartial. Instead, he said nothing to a state like Rivers so unused to the amenities of elections, and mobilised no one who could help to prod the state in the right direction. He is right to vow retribution against those who killed and maimed in the Rivers rerun, but the damage is already done, both to the state as a whole, and to the APC’s image in particular.
Fifth, unfortunately for President Buhari, he has not articulated any lofty idea of the economy, politics, and society. He has spent about one year in office, but it is doubtful whether he has any convert to any great cause, for a convert must embrace an idea or a man of ideas. Though his APC NEC remarks are full of sensible ideas, he nonetheless seems to think once the economy is revamped his job is done. Both the president and his party must begin to come to terms with a different and more sublime reality. They can lose elections even with a growing economy, defeated Boko Haram, and low crime rate. Worse, like the PDP has shown, APC’s legacies (as a party, and as a president) can be subverted and pulverised if they are unable to enthrone enduring and endearing philosophy of government and society. This was why ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and his successors were a disaster despite growing economy, and their legacies quickly denuded and bastardised. They did not imbue the nation with an identity and character worthy of remark and attention. If President Buhari wishes to attract the respect and reverence of the country, irrespective of political, ethnic and religious affiliations, he must go beyond reforms to treat the legislature, judiciary and other groups in the society with veneration, in the process carefully calibrating the urgent need to midwife reforms vis-a-vis the constitutional obligation of building and strengthening institutions.
States and their leading politicians will not support President Buhari and the APC just because of who they are. They must first see the ruling party and its leaders as embodying inspiring ideas and principles before offering them the respect and support they covet. That Rivers State is PDP today does not mean it cannot be APC tomorrow. But before Riverians will pitch tent with APC they must see in the president and his party unusual and soaring qualities of depth and character, and of poise and carriage, something and everything beyond the mundane and mechanical. The president must learn to woo his enemies and opponents, nurture and retain his friends, exemplify great ideas and principles, build and sustain institutions, rise above his biases and prejudices, transcend his comfort zone, and situate his country firmly and regally not in the restricted confine of his own limited background but in the difficult, expansive, conflict-ridden and boisterous global context that continues to demean the black man and treat many African nations contemptuously.
If despite their towering statures and achievements great historical personages could lose elections, both President Buhari and the APC must acknowledge that their puny statures, poverty of noble and catalysing ideas, poor appreciation of and relationship with national institutions, and general and dangerous parochialisms, make them exceedingly vulnerable. Rather than blame the judiciary and violence for their electoral reverses, they should help Rivers back on its feet. The fault for the political morass in which Nigeria is immersed at the moment lies with the president and his party. The buck stops on their desks. To return to winning ways, the party and president should rise to the occasion by imbibing the skills and discipline necessary to deal with cantankerous foes like Messrs Fayose and Wike, and obstreperous and combative opposition party leaders like Ali Modu Sheriff.
President Buhari’s remarks at the APC’s NEC meeting last week indicate he may have begun to understand what should be done. If the transformation is real, he owes the amelioration of his stiff and unattractive politics to his critics, not his sycophants. And if the transformation is to endure, he should seek out more critics who will coax him back to nobility and mould him into a statesmanlike stature, a sculpture of him that many, because of his stiffness and intransigence, have long described as an illusion and given up on.
…Bribes NYSC with crocodile tears, increase in allowances
The Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, said it has taken notice of the pronouncement by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike that he has set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the violence and killings that occurred during the March 19, rerun legislative elections in the state.
Nyesom Wike
The APC in statement signed by its Spokesperson, Senibo Chris Finebone condemned the Gov’s action, describing it as “self-serving and a mere smokescreen” by the governor to rubbish his political opponents and divert attention from the violence and deaths he planted, nurtured and carried out during the Rivers State rerun elections.
The APC recalled that following the killings associated with the 2015 electoral violence in Rivers State in 2015, the then governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi set up the Prof Chidi Odinkalu Commission to unravel the issues behind the killings. Nyesom Wike and the PDP swiftly filed suit No. FHC/PHC/256/2015 at a Port Harcourt against the sitting of that Commission, adding that one of the arguments by the PDP and Nyesom Wike was that the former governor was an interested party in what happened during the elections and therefore should not have set up the panel.
This time, according to the APC, “Gov. Nyesom Wike is on record for having threatened violence and death to stakeholders long before and even during the rerun elections. There is no doubt that the several threats Nyseom Wike issued to his supporters and associates gave rise to the widespread and wanton killings by the PDP and their acolytes. Therefore, where lies the enabling neutrality and moral high ground for Gov. Nyesom Wike to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate a matter in which he is the mastermind-in-chief?”
The APC informed Gov. Nyesom Wike to consider the matter of the commission a total waste of time and resources, and dead on arrival. “Taking a look at the members of the commission, the APC would like to advise Gov. Wike to look for a more honest means of compensating his supporters and their relations rather than sending them on a journey to nowhere or one that will suffer a still-birth” the party declared.
Wike’s crocodile tears for the NYSC
In another development, the APC said it finds the attempts by Gov. Nyesom Wike to showcase himself as a friend of the NYSC following the killing of an NYSC member who served as an INEC ad-hoc staff, Okonta Samuel, with call-up number RV/15B/5539, and the increase of Corpers’ allowances announced by the governor as dim-witted actions aimed at bribing Youth Corp members for the suspended rerun elections not necessarily for the love of NYSC members.
The statement reads: “It is shocking that after Gov Wike created the atmosphere that led to the death of late Okonta Samuel, the governor has since embarked on shameless actions meant to deceive Corp members and other Nigerians.
“As an INEC ad-hoc staff, late Samuel Okonta and his colleagues were asked by Nyesom Wike to write their will because they might be killed during the rerun elections. After Wike’s threat materialised, it was shocking to see the governor rush to sign the condolence register of late Samuel Okonta. By signing the condolence register, the APC believes that Gov. Wike actually countersigned the will written by late Okonta on the advice of the governor.
“Not done with his familiar ego trip in political opportunism, Gov. Wike announced that the Rivers State Government will immortalise the dead Corp member. However, the APC wishes to advise Nyesom Wike that members of the NYSC and others who function as INEC ad-hoc and permanent staff would prefer to remain alive than to be sent to their early graves and later immortalised by Nyesom Wike and his government. No amount of monetary inducements and mundane accolades is worth the death of anyone under any circumstances.”
*Military plotting to declare state of emergency — Wike
*Wike is turning Rivers to another Somalia — APC
*Hold INEC, security agencies responsible —PDP
By Jimitota Onoyume, Kingsley Omonobi, Henry Umoru, Ben Agande & Omeiza Ajayi
PORT HARCOURT— THE Independent National Electoral Commssion, INEC, has said that it will not return to Rivers until the state is conducive to conduct elections.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu – INEC Chairman
The INEC spoke as the heavy shootings that characterised weekend’s federal and some state legislative re-run elections in Rivers, yesterday, petered out and became a verbal warfare among stakeholders in the polls as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, traded blames over the issue.
We won’t return to Rivers until there is peace – INEC
Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, revealed that INEC had scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to review the situation in Rivers, adding: “I don’t want to pre-empt anything ahead of the Wednesday meeting.”
Citing widespread irregularities, the commission annulled the election in eight local government areas and also suspended collation of results after declaring few results.
In an interview in Abuja with The Cable, yesterday, Osaze-Uzzi also said the commission would investigate the allegations levelled against it during the election. He said the decision on when the remaining results of the election would announced would be taken at the meeting.
Military plotting to declare state of emergency — Wike
Apart from attacking the APC, Governor Nyesom Wike accused the military of orchestrating violence in the elections as part of a plot to declare a state of emergency in the state.
The governor, who said no official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has power to cancel results already declared by the electoral umpire, stated that the government had video evidence of the ignoble role of soldiers during the elections.
Wike, in a statement by his media aide, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, said: “We have videos of the atrocities committed by the military across Rivers State. We shall release them at the appropriate time. There is an attempt to cause violence to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.”
He said the APC was not prepared for the elections, noting that it concentrated on propaganda instead of relating with the people for the elections.
This came as the Rivers APC called for the arrest of Wike over the alleged assassination attempt on Dr Dakuku Peterside and others and cancellations of the polls. just as the Rivers PDP attributed the cancellation of the election in parts of the state to use of fake electoral materials.
Hold INEC, security agencies responsible – PDP
The national leadership of the PDP said the INEC and security agencies should be held responsible, if there is a break down of law and order in Rivers State as a result of the failure of the commission to declare the results of last Saturday’s election.
In a statement, yesterday, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the conduct of polls fell short of the standard expected in view of the preparations put into it.
The position of the party came on the heels of a warning by the National Vice Chairman, South of the party, Dr Cairo Ojuogboh, that attempt by the APC to manipulate the outcome of elections would have dire consequences on the country.
Metuh noted that it was disappointing that since Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s appointment as chairman of the INEC, he had not been able to conduct any conclusive election in few constituencies and states so far and wondered what would be the case when the entire country is involved.
He said: “Also grossly unacceptable is the shoddy work by security operatives leading to escalation of violence, avoidable deaths and eventual cancellation of election results in eight local government areas of the state.”
On his part, Ojuogboh called on the APC-led Federal Government to allow Wike run the state government, saying after four years, he will be accountable to the people of Rivers State.
He said: “The entire idea of trying to take over the Rivers State House of Assembly by force by rigging the elections so that the lawmakers can oppose Wike in governance is a badly thoughout idea.
So we employ the Federal Government and the APC to advise the APC Rivers state to thread cautiously, because peace has no alternative.
If you do not prepare for peace, what you prepare for is war.” Also, the Rivers PDP said it was unfortunate and shameful that despite all efforts and assurances from security agencies and all stakeholders prior to the polls, some APC desperate and agitated political office seekers still went on to connive with certain electoral officers and military personnel to smuggle in fake election materials with a view to rigging the election, leading to the cancellation of election in some parts of the state by the INEC.
In a statement by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Rivers State PDP Chairman, Felix Obuah, the party blamed the precarious situation on the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, whom he said had threatened to use any means possible to stop the ruling PDP government in the state from winning the election.
Wike turning Rivers to another Somalia – APC
Countering, the Rivers APC expressed outrage over the assassination attempt on the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and the deputy governorship candidate of the party in the April 2015 elections, Asita O. Asita. Describing as “outrageous, an affront and condemnable,” the “brazen attempt to snuff out the lives of three key leaders of Rivers APC,“ the party in a statement held Governor Wike responsible for the assassination attempt.
It called on relevant security agencies to quickly arrest and interrogate him and to hasten to bring the full weight of the law on all those involved in the dastardly act.
The party, in the statement by Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, SSA Media and Public Affairs to the state Chairman, APC Rivers State, said: “We have often cried out about Wike’s bloodthirstiness but, unfortunately, nothing was done to keep him in check.
“Before last weekend’s state and National Assembly rerun elections in the state, we had openly cried out following Wike’s open threats on the lives of President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Those who thought we were shouting wolf where one does not exist now know better.”
The Rivers APC lamented that Wike, in only 10 months in office, is fast turning Rivers State into another Somalia.
The party said: “He is attempting to dwarf other evil and satanic regimes such as those of Mobutu Sese Seko, Emperor Jean Bedel Bokassa and Idi Amin Dada known for displaying optimum barbarism. Wike now hunts his opponents like a game, with many beheaded, clubbed to death or buried alive like chicken.”
Rivers APC call for cancellation of polls This came as the Rivers APC called for outright cancellation of the rerun election in the 23 local government areas of the state, saying it was characterised by violence.
State chairman of the party, Dr Davies Ikanya, who spoke, yesterday, evening at the state secretariat of the party in Port Harcourt alleged that the Police connived with the PDP to manipulate the exercise.
Wike is wrong, we‘re out to ensure peace, order —Defence hqtrs
The Defence Headquarters, yesterday, debunked allegations by Wike that the military orchestrated and supervised the violence that characterized the polls.
Acting Director of Defence Information, Brig-General Rabe Abubakar, told Vanguard last night: “Our (military’s) presence in Niger Delta is not exclusively for election but to ensure peace and order in the region and to ensure protection of lives and property of Nigerians.
“We also have oversight functions of protecting pipelines and ensuring that illegal economic sabotage activities do not take place. Kidnapping, piracy are also challenges we are there to checkmate.
So nobody can say we are tied down to any particular individual or certain group because of any election or interest. Regarding the accusation of Governor Wike, Abubakar said: “We are not joining issues with any personality. We are extremely professional; we are trained to maintain peace and orderliness. We will never join issues with any Nigerian. We are for everybody. We will checkmate anybody or group that wants to perpetrate crime or violence because that is why we are there. We belong to all Nigerians and cannot belong to a selective few.”
NYSC loses corps member
Meantime, the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has announced the death of a corps member, Okonta Samuel, with call-up number RV/15B/5539, during the re-run elections.
Mr. Samuel, who served at GCSS Ukpeliede, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Ahoada West Local Government Area. Vowing to assist in ensuring that the killers are fished out and brought to book, the NYSC prayed for the repose of his soul and for the family to have the fortitude to bear the loss.
NYSC also said two other corps members that were with the deceased at the time of the incident were rescued by security agents.
…arrest Abe, Dakuku, Mpigi, Ibim, Nwaeke, Other APC Leaders
…Condemns Assault, Assassination Attempt On SSG, Govt. Hse COS respectively
…Seeks Justice In Military Killings
…Uncovers Plan to frame Up PDP Leaders
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has calls for an immediate arrest and prosecution of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Mr Magnus Abe and Dakuku Peterside, Jukaye Flag Amachree and other APC chieftains for masterminding the spate of violence, killings and various cases of electoral malpractices during the Saturday re-run elections in some parts of the State.
PDP
The PDP chairman, Bro. Felix Obuahalso who demanded the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Barry Mpigi for hijacking electoral materials in Tai LGA to his home town, Koroma, with the aid of the military, and the former Commissioner for Youth in the State, Mr. Felix Nwaeke, who in connivance with an Army captain, also absconded with all electoral materials for ward 2, Obeakpu, in Oyigbo LGA, as well as Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, who he said has shown that she lacks manners and does not possess the honor of a woman, as she engaged in ballot paper hijack and falsification of polls results.
Bro Obuah says it is most disappointing and embarrassing that the APC chieftains preferred to act irresponsibly and undemocratically by engaging in electoral frauds and using the military to intimidate the electorate and INEC officials in some parts of the rather than embarking on intensive campaigns to make the party known and popular in order to be voted for at the polls.
He strongly condemned the involvement of the Army in the elections which heightened tension in the State and emboldened the APC chieftains to carry out nefarious conducts during the exercise in the State, including disrespecting State authorities, Court orders and rule of law.
The PDP Chairman also bemoaned the assassination attempt on the Chief of Staff, Government House, Engr. Emeka Woke, the assault on the Secretary to the State Government, Hon Kenneth Kobani and other PDP leaders, who had been marked for arrest and detention by the APC- federal government, using the Army and the DSS, on spurious allegations to ensure smooth sail by the APC in the elections.
Bro Obuah observed that all suppressive and oppressive actions by the federal authorities, which have been very obvious in the re-run elections, are aimed at getting Rivers State, unfortunately, by all means, and which the electorate have resisted through their votes at the polls.
Our understanding of all of this is that the APC is only trying to create a state of anarchy in this part of the country and then blame it on perceived political opponents, a development we have continued to abhor and will not be allowed to strive in the State.
The PDP is seriously pained by the continued killing of the electorate, innocent and law-abiding citizens of our State by the APC-federal government controlled military and security authorities in the name of politics and election.
“We, as a responsible party will continue to play by the rule, respecting all electoral principles and laws and to ensure strict adherence to the principles of free, fair and peaceful elections in the State.
“We are also aware of attempt by the APC-federal government to arrest some chieftains of the PDP on spurious allegations, following the arrival of a team from the Department of State Security in Port Harcourt, with a list submitted to them on which the arrest would be carried out in the State and the PDP leaders taken to Abuja.
“We therefore, reiterate our earlier and resolute call on the international community and all well-meaning citizens of Nigeria and the world over to impress on the Nigerian government and the All Progressives Congress to obey rule of law and to allow proper and free, fair and peaceful electoral process in Rivers State and other parts of the country.
While calling for thorough investigations into the assassination attempt on the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, and other cases of intimidation and assault on PDP leaders in the State, including killings by soldiers before and during the elections in the State, the party also appeal to President Buhari to call his APC leaders in Rivers State to order to allow peace reign in the State.
…Appeals to security agencies to act fast before he turns Rivers State into another Somalia
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has expressed outrage over the assassination attempt on the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and the deputy governorship candidate of the party in the April 2015 elections, Hon. Asita O. Asita.
The trio narrowly escaped death on Sunday afternoon after Peterside’s vehicle in which they were travelling from the Port Harcourt International Airport was attacked by gunmen in two utility vehicles belonging to Emeka Woke, Chief of Staff to Governor Nyesom Wike. They, however, survived by making a quick detour to the nearby DSS office to seek refuge.
“This brazen attempt to snuff out the lives of three key leaders of Rivers APC is outrageous, an affront and condemnable,” the party said in a statement even as it thanked God for safeguarding Peterside, Ikanya and Asita.
Rivers APC in a statement issued Monday in Port Harcourt held Governor Wike responsible for the assassination attempt, calling on relevant security agencies to quickly arrest and interrogate him and to hasten to bring the full weight of the law on all those involved in the dastardly act. The party said: “We have often cried out about Wike’s bloodthirstiness but, unfortunately, nothing was done to keep him in check. Before last weekend’s State and National Assembly rerun elections in the State, we had openly cried out following Wike’s open threats on the lives of President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Those who thought we were shouting wolf where one does not exist now know better.
“On the day of the rerun election, 19th March, 2016 the strategy of Chief Wike dressing his gang of killers in police and military uniforms was duly exposed when his Special Assistant on Special Projects, Mr. Cyril Dum Wite, was caught with N40 million, arms, police and army uniforms in his car. We were not surprised because to install Wike as a Governor, 100 APC members had to be sent to their early graves. In the countdown to the rerun elections, an army major and two soldiers, as well as an Immigration Officer, were killed in Wike’s desperation to install his stooges as members of National and State Assemblies. Also, an APC chieftain was beheaded with his wife and his son killed. Another APC chieftain was buried alive while yet another was burnt alive.
“Now that Chief Wike has fully crossed the line by attempting to snuff out the lives of our leaders in broad daylight, we call on the relevant security agencies to move in quickly to interrogate him and to bring the full weight of the law on his killer gang. Wike is being emboldened by the immunity he enjoys as Governor but he does not enjoy immunity from interrogation for murder-related crimes.”
Rivers APC lamented that Wike in only ten months in office is fast turning Rivers State into another Somalia. “He is attempting to dwarf other evil and satanic regimes such as those of Mobutu Sese Seko, Emperor Jean Bedel Bokassa and Idi Amin Dada known for displaying optimum barbarism. Wike now hunts his opponents like a game, with many beheaded, clubbed to death or buried alive like chicken. All these have further exposed Wike as being grossly unfit to occupy the exalted office of Governor. We hereby plead with the Federal Government to rescue us from Wike’s hands before he turns Rivers into a failed State,” the party said.
Finally, let us reiterate unequivocally that what we had during the rerun election was a sham, charade where PDP hoodlums had a free day intimidating voters to vote only PDP candidates or get killed with the Police looking the other way in order to secure their lives. We urge Nigerians to rise and condemn this act of wikeism where only blood is the only means to win elections.
For any meaningful election to be held in Rivers State or any part of Niger Delta, the President Buhari Federal Govt must completely dismantle the present police force and assembly a modern police force that will guarantee and protect the citizens of this country. Apart from this, all the militias in Niger Delta must also be dismantled and demobilized so that the region can breathe. The region is chocked up with armed gangs. These gangs have killed economic activities in the region thereby depriving the region of needed investment and employment. While the self destruction goes on, businesses move to the South west. The present way of playing politics in Rivers state and Nigerdelta in general must stop. The Rivers election is a big sore and a national shame.
The governorship candidate of the Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 11, last year election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, and some leaders of the party yesterday came under attack in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Hon. Dakuku Peterside
Peterside, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), was riding in a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with his former deputy, Asita Honourable and APC Chairman Daview Ikanya when they came under fire
Peterside’s Special Assistant (Media) Sylvester Asoya, in a statement last night, said his boss and other APC leaders escaped assassins’ bullets by a stroke of luck.
Governor Nyesom Wike’s Chief of Staff Emeka Woke was arrested over the attack. But Wike said Woke’s driver was killed.
Peterside said his vehicle was attacked by gunmen in two SUVs as they approached the city from the Port Harcourt International Airport. His orderly Emma Esi was said to have been hit in the leg.
Peterside said: “Two jeeps belonging to Emeka Woke, Nyesom Wike’s Chief of Staff, carrying two unknown gunmen, trailed us to UTC Junction (near Government House, Port Harcourt) and opened fire on my car. Our car, however, did a detour to the DSS (Department of State Services) office gate, where we drove to seek refuge, but the unknown gunmen opened fire again at the DSS men on guard.
“The exchange of fire between the DSS men and the assailants lasted for more than 30 minutes. This is a very ugly experience, but I thank God that my colleagues and I escaped unhurt.”
“Today’s (yesterday’s) experience is not only terrifying, but also shows the parlous state of security in Rivers State. If I can be engaged openly by gunmen for nearly an hour in the heart of Port Harcourt, only God knows the fate that will befall members of our party and those sympathetic to our predicament. What is happening today in our dear state is not only horrible, but also constitutes serious national security risk.”
The NIMASA boss, who was Wike’s opponent in last year’s governorship election, also stated that it was now evident that the governor wanted to kill him and that he (Wike) was prepared to do everything possible to eliminate him.
Woke was last night arrested ostensibly to explain his role in the alleged attempt to shoot at Peterside’s convoy, in front of the office of the DSS on Forces Avenue, Old GRA, Port Harcourt.
Peterside’s driver had driven into the DSS’s office but Woke and the two gunmen with him were not deterred.
The armed men allegedly continued to shoot at the DSS men.
Governor Wike accused Peterside and Asita of hijacking results from Isiokpo in Ikwere Local government yesterday.
The governor added that Peterside and his security detail opened fire and killed the driver to his Chief of Staff, Mr Emeka Woke.
Speaking to reporters at the Government House, he said: “Remember I warned that today’ s Nigeria is not yesterday’s Nigeria. Things that were done wrongly before cannot be done wrongly now. I warned that the people will resist any attempt to rig.
“Now they have the Federal might, army, police, INEC and DSS, but we have the people.”
Wike condemned what he called the desperation of some politicians to win the Assembly elections at all cost.
Wike said: “The driver to my chief of staff has been shot to death this evening, including others who were killed on election day. I am surprised to see the kind of desperation displayed by some politicians in this rerun election.
”I saw the military acting as if Rivers State is at war. I saw those working with me being harassed and arrested. My SSG, Commissioner for Environment Prof. Roseline Konya and some PDP members were arrested and manhandled.”
Dakuku Peterside, the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) narrowly escaped death Saturday afternoon after his vehicle was attacked by gunmen in two utility vehicles on his way from the Port Harcourt International Airport, his spokesperson, Sylvester Asoya, has said.
Mr. Asoya said Mr. Peterside was in his car with Davies Ikanya, chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, and H.O. Asita, Deputy Governorship candidate of the APC in the April 2015 election when the incident occurred.
The officials said they escaped the assassins bullets by a stroke of luck.
Mr. Asoya said, “Two Jeeps belonging to Emeka Woke, Nyesom Wike’s Chief of Staff carrying two unknown gunmen trailed us to UTC Junction and opened fire on my car. Our car however did a detour to first Aba road then old GRA with the two jeeps still trailing us. We drove to the DSS office to seek refuge and on getting to the gate the unknown gunmen opened fire again at the SSS men on guard.
“The exchange of fire between the DSS men and the assailants lasted for more than 30 minutes. In course of exchange of fire my Police detail Cpl Emma Esi was shot at and seriously injured . This is a very ugly experience but I thank God that my colleagues and I escaped unhurt”.
“When the DSS men demobilized the two jeeps we found out that the man at the back of the car who was identifying us to the assailants is Wike’s Chief of staff , Emeka Woke . He has been arrested by the DSS .
“Today’s experience is not only terrifying but also shows the parlous state of security in Rivers State. If I can be engaged openly by gunmen for nearly an hour in the heart of Port Harcourt, only God knows the fate that will befall members of our party and those sympathetic to our predicament. What is happening today in our dear state is not only horrible but also constitutes serious national security risk.”
Mr. Asoya quoted Mr. Peterside, who was Wike’s opponent in last year’s governorship election in Rivers State, as saying it was now evident that the governor wanted to kill him and that he was prepared to do everything possible to eliminate him.
….Describes Gov. Wike as the Chief “Insecurity Officer of Rivers State”
The Rivers State chapter of Progressives Congress, APC, said credible information available to it has unveiled the real reasons why Gov. Nyesom Wike emphasised that banks remain closed during the two work-free days he declared yesterday for Thursday and Friday.
APC data Centre
The APC in a press statement signed by its Spokesman, Senibo Chris Finebone said as part of ploy to woo voters across Rivers State; Gov. Nyesom Wike had repeatedly announced that N2bn has been set aside for disbursement to beneficiaries of the State microfinance loans in support of PDP candidates in the re-run elections of March 19, 2016.
Continuing, the party explained that, “however, with no fund available for the purpose, the governor ordered the 23 LG Council Caretaker Chairmen to deposit N4.5m each to the Chairman of Rivers State Microfinance Agency last week. But considering the paltry nature of the total amount collected compared to what is required, the governor and his men instead decided to announce Thursday and Friday as work-free days going into Saturday rerun elections. The idea is that prospective beneficiaries who already have been notified will be persuaded to still vote for PDP candidates believing that after the elections they will begin to collect their loans from Monday. “
Statement reads: “However, the government of Gov. Nyesom Wike has other plans for them. There will be no loan to be disbursed to anyone as fresh stories will be advanced after Saturday’s election and that will be the end of the loan arrangement.
“One vivid example that the loan is a hoax is how the disbursement was being speeded up before the Supreme Court judgment believing that there will be a governorship rerun election when it would have been used to get votes from beneficiaries for the governor. But as soon as the Supreme Court affirmed Wike’s election, all arrangements for disbursing the loan died only to be revived close to the legislative rerun elections. Unable to disburse the money two days to the rerun elections compelled the governor to declare Thursday and Friday work-free non-banking days just to fool the intending beneficiaries in exchange for their votes. The two work-free non-banking days will be advanced as the reason the loan disbursement has been shelved to Monday.
“But the APC can assure supposed prospective beneficiaries of the loan that with the election gone, the government will advance other reasons why the loan disbursement cannot happen. The question remains: why was the loan disbursement put off after the Supreme Court judgment only to be brought up close to the rerun elections?
“The APC wishes to appeal to all those who have been promised will benefit from the microfinance loan to forget it and vote for candidates of the APC as the governor of Rivers State and his henchmen do not intend to advance any loans to the people. It is a ruse only advanced to curry votes.”
In another development, the Rivers State APC has described Governor Wike as “the Chief “Insecurity Officer of Rivers State
This is contained in statement made available to NF-Reports.
The full text of the statement is here:
“The instinctive response of the Rivers State chapter of All Progressive Congress, APC, to Wednesday broadcast by the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike concerning the March 19 re-run elections, was to congratulate him for taking his first lesson in statecraft and governance. However, a critical examination of the message and the messenger indicated that such hurried accolade would have been a mortal error, undeserved and totally misplaced. And the reasons are many.
“The sudden realisation by the governor that he is the Chief Security Officer of Rivers State belies the doctrine of killing on which his politics is anchored upon. Evidence of this is glaring in Nyesom Wike’s actions and utterances, for example, his repeated threats that have driven his supporters to kill and maim innocent people and residents of Rivers State. His recent threat against INEC, the Army and everyone else is indeed not what is expected of a Chief Security Officer of Rivers State, nay any state for that matter. Succinctly put, Wike’s broadcast, at best, is a piece of hypocritical, staged and worthless message because it has no connection and resemblance with the persona of the messenger.
“The APC believes that if any politician deserves the warning the governor handed down in his broadcast on incitement and political violence, it is indeed Gov. Nyesom Wike who a day earlier had ordered his supporters to beat the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, to death on March 19. It is Nyesom Wike who promised INEC officials instant death on several occasions who deserves to be reminded that we are in the 21st Century in Rivers State.
“The APC is therefore calling on Gov. Nyesom Wike to also tell Rivers people whether he has eventually realised that killings and other forms of electoral violence are sins against God and unacceptable among men. If that is the reason for the broadcast, then the APC calls on Gov. Nyesom Wike to first tender an unreserved apology to Rivers people and seek forgiveness from God Almighty before it is too late for him.
Until the governor does the needful, the APC will continue to see the broadcast as the height of hypocrisy, treachery and facade meant to hoodwink innocent Rivers people and other stakeholders in the March 19 re-run elections in the State while he undertakes his vote rigging and killings which are his the stock-in-trade.
“Declaring Thursday and Friday public holidays smacks of either total ignorance of the cost of loss of man-hours on the State economy or done with bad intentions just to satisfy the myopic, whimsical and capricious political desires of the governor. While two days of no work on the part of the civil and public servants will result to enough losses, subjecting banks and other private sector organisations to remain closed for two days will put the already ailing economy of the State under further avoidable stress. Unfortunately, Gov. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike does not get it.”
….As Senator Sekibo, Militants Move against Embattled Governor
….Slams him for sending family abroad while stoking violence in the State
Embattled Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on Thursday came under fire from the State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for sending his family abroad ahead of the March 19 rerun State and National Assembly elections in the State. “By this action, Wike, who has been stoking violence in the State ahead of the rerun polls, is saying that the life of his family members is more important than those of the other millions of Rivers State people which he has put at risk,” Rivers APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said in a statement issued in Port Harcourt.
Nyesom Wike
He blamed Wike for the current crisis in his camp, which has reportedly seen some of his key allies such as Senator George Sekibo and Wike’s militant loyalists led by Chief Ateke Tom turning against him following his recent unguarded utterances against President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai.
Already, Senator Sekibo, citing insincerity in the actions of Governor Wike, has decided to part ways with his benefactor. The three-time Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was quoted as saying: “Wike who is my junior both in age and politically can’t endanger my political career with his unguarded and uncouth utterances against a sitting President with a military background. Look, I was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army and for a fellow to call a sitting Chief of Army Staff names, such a fellow is destined for doom and I don’t want to be a part of that.”
Wike had recently been reported to have said: “Let the Chief of Army Staff come on Saturday to dare the will of the PDP and let’s see if he will go back home alive.” He also was reported to have said: “Buhari as a Fulani President cannot take any security decision without my consent and if he does, I will personally send him to his ancestors.” He equally was reported to have said about his predecessor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi: “People of Ikwerre LGA if you see Amaechi in your polling unit, beat him up or kill him.”
Rivers APC condemned the utterances, saying that they have further exposed Wike as unfit to occupy the exalted office of Governor.
The party advised the electorate not to be intimidated by Wike’s threats but to come out en masse on Saturday and vote massively for APC candidates since their
Urges Rivers State People to vote out PDP Candidates in Saturday’s Rerun Elections
Former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his son, Chief Nyesom Wike the imposed Governor of Rivers State through their party, PDP have committed gross sins against Rivers State without any justification and should pay for these sins during the 19th March, 2016 rerun election, the Rivers Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said.
Nyesom Wike
The party in a statement issued Wednesday in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, listed 24 sins committed by former President Jonathan and Governor Wike through their party against Rivers State and her people, insisting that PDP will not be allowed to win any seat in the State during the March 19 rerun poll.
Ikanya listed the sins as follows:
1. President Jonathan failed to muster the courage and political will in a PDP-controlled National Assembly to see to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the over six years of his administration to demonstrate his hatred for the Niger Delta region knowing that communities in Rivers State will benefit from the bill.
2 The East/West Road, especially Eleme-Onne axis in Rivers State, was not only abandoned but was a nightmare to travellers and commuters.
3 Bodo-Bonny Federal Road was completely abandoned just because it is situated in Rivers State.
4. Refusal to refund to the State Government over 90 billion naira used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road approved by late President Yar’Adua and other Federal Roads in the State executed by the State to ease the sufferings of the people of Rivers State.
5. Wickedly stopped Train 7 at NLNG Bonny and the loss of jobs to our people and revenue to Government.
6 Non-implementation of UNEP Report on the clean-up of Ogoni land despite all the pleas by our people and the International Community – just to punish the Ogonis and Rivers State irrespective of their overwhelming support for him during the 2011 elections.
7 Lack of any visible Federal Government project in Rivers State throughout his over six years as President of Nigeria. Instructively, of all the states Dr Jonathan has visited in the course of his re-election campaign, it was only in Rivers that he could not name a single development project he initiated, not to talk of executing.
8. Ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa and Abia states to ensure that the revenue accruing to the State was reduced to nothing.
9. Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it. The airport has thus become an eyesore and the worst airport in the entire world. Pictures of the current state of the Airport attached explain the level of hatred Dr Jonathan has for Rivers State and her people.
10. Turning the Port Harcourt axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Express Road into a death trap. The pictures attached of the bad state of the road explain everything.
11. Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu during his inglorious days in the State.
12. Supporting the impunity of daily killing, maiming of members of Rivers APC by the Police under the watch of Dan Barure then Commissioner of Police of the State
13. Supporting every imaginable act of impunity in the State, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the Speaker in a House of 31 members.
14. Seizing and grounding the planes of the State for no just cause.
15. Harassing and intimidating the then Governor of Rivers State (Rt. Hon. Amaechi) for no just cause and even supporting the splitting of the Governors Forum into two just to ensure that Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, does not have an easy reign as the Chairman of the Forum.
16. Refusal to allow the then Governor of the state to construct the Federal Road that leads to the Kalabari Kingdom just to ensure that during the rainy season the Kalabaris will not have a road to their place.
17..Refusal to refund the State the money used to construct the smooth, beautiful dual carriageway from Omerelu to Port Harcourt – particularly up to the Airport Junction from Owerri in Imo State, which the Federal Government abandoned just because Rivers State people ply that road.
18. Refusal to refund the money used by Rivers State to construct the Ahoada/Elele Alimini Federal Road and the interchange (Flyover) at Obiri Ikwerre.
19. Refusal to attend to the poor state of the Onne – Port Harcourt component of the East/West Road. This is the road that services the Port Harcourt Refinery from where petroleum products are supplied to the South East and parts of the South South. That is the road that leads to the Onne Free Zone and to Okrika, the home Local Government of Dame Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s former First Lady.
20. Turning a blind eye while his party continues to kill, bomb and disrupt APC rallies.
21. Against the spirit of equity, unity, justice and fair play, Dr Jonathan and his wife, Damee patience Jonathan imposed Chief Nyesome Wike a cancellous fellow from the Ikwerre tribe as PDP candidate and Governor of Rivers State, knowing very well that the former Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, was also of Ikwerre extraction and that with Chief Wike as Governor that the Ikwerre tribe will governed Rivers State for 16 years to the detriment of other tribes and sections of the State. This shows that Dr Jonathan and his son and unjust party do not wish Rivers State any good.
22. Former President Jonathan released all the N25 Billion that accrued from the principle of derivation from the five Soku Oil Wells that rightly belong to Rivers State kept in reserve for Rivers State and Bayelsa State were all paid to Bayelsa State his home State to prove his hatred for Rivers State
23. As a President, Dr Jonathan continued to under fund the NDDC to ensure that Rivers State and in extension the Niger Delta region is not developed, till the time he left office, over N700B owed by the Federal Government was not paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
24. Refused to empower and fund the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs initiated by the Yar-Adua’s administration. The then Minister of Niger Delta once stated that the N41.7B due to the Ministry was not paid until Dr Jonathan left office to ensure that 90 percent of the projects initiated by the Ministry were not executed by the Ministry in Rivers State and other Niger Delta States
Ikanya said: “These, amongst other wicked acts against Rivers State for reasons only to be explained by Dr Jonathan are why no PDP should be voted for this Saturday’s poll.
For the record, Dr Jonathan is from Bayelsa, a sister State to Rivers. He is married to Dame Patience Jonathan, who is from Rivers State and having schooled in UNIPORT and lectured in the State before joining politics; one would have expected him to be a key factor in the development of Rivers State after the State gave him the highest number of votes in the 2011 presidential election though not shockingly, he was the greatest undoing of his party in the 2015 general election.”
…Wants Chief Of Army Staff, Bori Camp Brigade Commander To Respond To Amaechi’s Claim On Use Of Soldiers
The chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bro Felix Obuah says the planned monitoring tour of all the electoral units in the State by former Governor Chibuike Amaechi during the re-run election on Saturday, March 19, is not only provocative but also aimed at inciting crisis in the State.
Rotimi Amaechi
The State PDP chairman through a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam regretted that Amaechi after failing in his bid to orchestrate commotion in some parts of the State through the activities of cultists and compromised military personnel acting on his orders, he has decided to execute his last and final plot through the planned tour.
Describing the planned tour as unconstitutional and a direct affront on the electoral law, Bro Obuah warned that the boastful minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi should be held responsible for the consequences of such dangerous undertaking.
Also condemning Amaechi’s threat to begin his planned election monitoring tour at Governor Nyesom Wike’s unit, the State PDP chairman said there must be more in the tour than meets the eye.
He wondered why the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the president are keeping silent on such condemnable plot by one of their own, adding that they must be acting in concert with Amaechi but will fail.
More worrisome, according to Bro Felix Obuah is why Rivers State’s own re-run experience is so different that the threat to the lives of innocent Rivers people by Amaechi’s rascality and desperation does not matter to both the federal government and the APC.
“Are Rivers people sacrificial lambs for the failure of APC in other places or is PDP responsible for the hardship the APC has brought on lamenting Nigerians,” Bro Obuah queried.
Similarly, the State PDP boss wants the Chief of Army Staff and the Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army, Bori Camp to respond to Amaechi’s claimed planned deal with the army to flood the State with soldiers whom he boasted are more loyal to him than the police.
Bro Obuah said the way and manner Amaechi is carrying on and going about intimidating people with his claim of having the army in his pocket calls for caution and a clear cut statement from the Army high command and the Brigade Command whether Amaechi’s claim is true or not to disabuse the minds of the people.
The Rivers people, Bro Obuah said are getting uncomfortable by the rumoured complicity of the army in APC’s plot to rig the Saturday’s re-run elections in the State which he called direct invitation to anarchy if it’s true.
The Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned the underserved verbal assaults Gov. Nyesom Wike is unleashing on key stakeholders in the March 19 Rivers State rerun elections especially his accusations of partiality against Mrs. Amina Zakari, a National INEC Commissioner and the Nigerian Army.
APC Rivers State
The APC in a press statement signed by its Spokesman, Senibo Chris Finbone said it finds the accusation by the governor that Mrs. Zakari is on a mission to swap elections results with fake ones as outlandish and coming from a convoluted, polluted and troubled mind that lays claim to being a master of election rigging.
The party reminded Gov. Nyesom Wike that Mrs. Amina Zakari has an excellent record of supervising some of the relatively best elections by INEC in the past and no amount of frustration from politicians with fast declining fortunes and zero moral reputation like Nyesom Wike can tarnish her record or demoralise her spirit in conducting free, fair and credible rerun elections in Rivers State come March 19.
The recent attacks on Mrs. Amina Zakari by Gov. Nyesom Wike according to the APC, “seems to be a corollary to his earlier repeated death threats to INEC personnel when he advised them to write their will before coming to conduct the rerun elections in Rivers State. Therefore, his present vituperation appears to be the beginning of implementing his earlier threat. Wike had this to say yesterday: “All those who plan to swap result sheets, may their souls rest in peace. Nobody will rig in Rivers State.” He did not say that the law will take care of such violators of the law.”
The APC who noted that it abhors and does not engage in rigging and other electoral malpractices, said “our party fails to understand whether it is within the powers of Gov. Wike to apprehend, try and kill suspected violators of the law. What is clear from Wike’s threats is that killings have become his past time and that he can chose to visit death on anyone. Another glaring point from his utterances is that he is unwittingly exposing how he rigged elections in the past especially the 2015 elections. As a result, rigging has become entrenched on his psyche and the eternal fear of rigging throws him into fits of nightmare every now and then.”
The statement read further: “The APC believes that the Nigerian Army has taken due notice of the media war Gov. Nyesom Wike has launched directly and sometimes through paid agents against it just to stampede and demoralise the army from ensuring that criminality is checked in Rivers State. Rather than commend and support the Army for providing support to the Police who appear overwhelmed by the spate of violence by the governor’s supporters, Gov. Wike has decided to orchestrate a campaign of calumny and blackmail against members of the military who put their lives on the line to safeguard the citizenry and make Rivers State safe.
“Members of the APC have watched with consternation as Gov. Wike recklessly insults and assaults the Nigerian Army and sometimes threatening them.
“The APC can only offer Gov. Nyesom Wike a free advice. If he is serious about confronting the army on election day and forcing himself into INEC office, it might be needful for him to WRITE HIS WILL because the Army does not take prisoners very often.”
PORT HARCOURT— Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, weekend, traded words, accusing each other of corruption and mismanaging the resources of the state.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
Amaechi accused his successor, Wike, of allegedly squandering about N50 billion since he assumed office on May 29, while on his part, Governor Wike alleged that the Minister of Transport frittered away about N3 trillion as governor of the state, stressing that Amaechi’s administration had the highest record of abandoned projects in the history of governance in the state since its creation in 1967.
Amaechi, who spoke on a radio programme in Port Harcourt, said that the state will be flooded with security men on March 19, the day of the re-run election to guard against rigging.
He challenged Governor Wike to show Rivers people what he had done with money borrowed and federal allocation that had accrued to the state since he came on board. The former governor recalled several projects he executed in the state.
Governor Wike, who spoke through his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George, after the radio programme, cited the abandoned monorail project started by the former governor, adding that Amaechi allegedly awarded several contracts running into billions of naira to cronies without following due process.
The commissioner, who briefed newsmen in his office in Port Harcourt, also spoke on some of the successes so far recorded by Governor Wike since he assumed office, adding that they included rehabilitation of over 100 kilometres of roads.
His words: “Mr Amaechi should have used the opportunity of the live interviews to give account of his disastrous and visionless administration. Despite receiving over N3 trillion in revenue in eight years, Amaechi left the most abandoned projects in the history of Rivers State, since 1967.
“Amaechi awarded school contracts worth billions of naira to his cronies without following due process. Today, the abandoned monorail project for which Amaechi spent N60 billion stands out in its mammoth ugliness on Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt. It is a headstone to the corruption and waste that characterized his era.
“But since he assumed office eight months ago, Governor Wike has de-politicised development and reconstructed roads and other projects abandoned by Amaechi. Over 100 kilometres of roads across the state, including roads in Borikiri and Origwe, where Amaechi once lived, had been revamped.
“What were the state of the roads in Diobu and Okaki in Borikiri during Amaechi’s tenure? Today, those roads have been totally reconstructed by the Wike government. The school contracts and other projects with doubtful legality and value are being comprehensively reviewed by the Wike administration.
“Under Wike, 40,000 small and medium scale entrepreneurs are set to benefit from a N2 billoin Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, loan guaranteed by the Rivers State Government. Under the Amaechi administration, there is no record of how N4 billion agricultural loan granted by the CBN was used. No farmer benefited from a loan taken in their name.”
Meantime, Mr Amaechi said he had relocated to the state to mobilize members of his All Progressives Congress, APC for the rerun elections.
