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Wike, Committed To Governance – Emeh

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The recent return of former Transport
Commissioner in Rivers State and ex-Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Emeh Glory Emeh, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, has  triggered  a gale of decampment from the embattled All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
This development has turned the GRA, Port Harcourt, residence of the consummate politician into a Mecca of some sorts for scores of disillusioned’ APC faithful from across the state’s 23 local government areas.
In this encounter with The Tide Political Editor, Victor Tew and Chief Correspondent, Ike Wigodo, Emeh speaks on the development and the Governor Nyesom Wike administration, declaring the APC as dead and buried.
Excerpts:
You have been in the news recently about your return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). How did it happen?
First of all, I left PDP to APC owing to the attitude of some of the people in the party as at that time. But all that is in the past now. A combination of what I found is that the APC is not organised; there is no structure, no leadership and nobody is directing. The second one is that a lot of pressures from my political leaders and mentors. I could not resist them. Barrister Celestine Omehia, Prince Uche Secondus, former Governor Peter Odili, Governor Wike himself, Austin Opara. When you put them together, it was too much for me to resist. I have to return.
Where these the only reasons you left APC?
The APC lack leadership and the party knows that. APC knows that it has no focus and plan. They used my house for six months to do their meetings. Until I brought Sampson Ngeregbara and Chibudom Nwuche to the party, they do not have any qualitative contributions, except people like Lolo Ibienenye. But generally speaking, you can finish an APC meeting without anything to go home with. If they ask you: ‘What did you discuss in the meeting?’ You may not have anything to say.
Do you think that the PDP will comfortably accommodate you, having worked against it in 2015?
I have never worked against PDP, I was not part of the election. I just left the party because one person in the party did not show me love, but when greater persons in the party showed me love, I came back.
Do you think your coming back to PDP will increase its fortune?
There is no doubt about that. I am not supposed to sing my praises. They are doing a write up on my capability, capacity and ability. Those who have worked with me know that I contribute my small quota and my small quota is always adding up. I have the latitude to do what I can do to assist the party. The Governor has said to me to deploy my wealth of experience and assist the party where I can and I will try my best to do so. I believe that my contribution will assist the party one way or the other.
How would you assess the present administration in the state?
For the short period I have followed Wike, you can see commitment in governance, I am not a novice.  I had worked with Odili and Omehia; I have been in the corridors of power for a long time.  We know when a governor is performing. I visited several project sites, both completed and ongoing. Few days ago, we went to the Ecumenical Centre, a project for all the Christian denomination’s in the state, and you see what he is doing. For the first time in Africa we are seeing an Amusement park that is of a world class. Then the schools, the hospitals, the renovations. Everything Wike has been doing in this town was also noticed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he visited, such that he has to christen Wike Mr Project. Indeed Wike has turned Rivers State  to a project site. So, I think, hate him, love him, you can see a man that is desirous to help the people. You can see a man that is working towards redefining the infrastructural development of the state. I am proud that I came at the time I came to embrace him. I hear that by what transpired in the meeting APC held penultimate Thursday, the party has been finally buried in the state. I count myself lucky to have left  APC when I did. I am planning to do a thanksgiving that I left the time I did.
Do you think the Pleasure Park project will boost the economy of the state?
It is better to go there to see things for yourself. There is one particular area of the park that will bring people even from Brazil because it replicates what they have there, where water changes to seven colours. So when you go, you see the water changing from blue to red and other colours. It is a site to behold. You will ask: ‘How did Wike come about this’ and the answer is that he is proactive. The government is presently making ways to increase what it has and what it inherited from zero to something bigger. Wike is determined to improve the revenue base of the state.
Given the dwindling allocation to the state, do you think some of the projects will be sustained?
It is only when you take projects like Monorail and Gas turbine without plan that you will talk about shortage of funds. Wike thinks before he leaps and for few times I sat with him, I see him computing-this is what I have and this is how I want to distribute it. This, in financial management is known as financial analysis. You have to look at the cost effectiveness of every project and when you begin to implement them, you would not have any problems. For me, I think he is doing well in managing the little funds his having and by so doing, the like hood that he will complete each project he has ventured on. It is not debatable.
What can you say about Wike’s approach to the development of the state?
Managing the poor situation is more difficult than managing the boom. But Wike has shown that the ability to perform should be the pre condition for putting anybody in power or office. He has promoted fresh commitment to efficient performance and because of the problem of economy and recession, he prescribes solutions to problems within a frame work of more ideological perspectives such that he has to weight the options. His major consideration is what the economists call the cost benefit analysis. So, it is cost effectiveness analysis. No project is taken just because the project is elsewhere. He looks at the cost, the benefits and the interest of our people before embarking on any project.
How can the  government and the people of the state consolidate on the peace and level of progress already attained?
The peace of the state is already cemented. The bond of fraternal co existence is being cemented and the barrier of separatism is being fine-tuned by group known as Rivers Elders Consultative Forum and we are happy with what they are doing. I believe by the end of this year they would have put all the warring groups together and we can have a lasting peace in the state.
Since your return to PDP your residence has become Mecca of some sort to many politicians especially from the APC. What is responsible for this?
First, everybody is disillusioned about the poor and lackluster leader of APC. I cannot say they are coming because of me; they are coming because they have also seen in Governor Nyesom Wike  a man they can trust; a man that cares for the people. Is not just Emohua, the entire state. I have received people from Khana, Tai, Oyigbo, Omuma, Ahoada West,  Ahoada East and Abua/Odua. I have also received APC people from Ogba Egbema/Ndoni, Degema and Asari Toru. I read in the papers that about 220 councilors of APC who are in court against PDP have signed up a paper to debrief their lawyers to withdraw the case from the court. I was told that their reasons is because nobody cares about the case in court. They did not know their counsels and they continue to tell them about the case every day. Meanwhile somebody is telling them unrealizable stories. So, I told them that Wike is not arrogant. He has a listening ear and ready to receive them when they are ready.
What is your message to Rivers people?
To  continue to be peaceful and law abiding and appreciate that in Governor Wike there is a leader that they can trust and those of us who did not support him from the beginning regret it. But we thank God. Let’s work together as one state, one destiny. We will not have difficult if we trust Wike to manage us. He has done well so far.

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Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar

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In a renewed effort to deepen Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has announced the commencement of its Zonal and National Public Hearings across the country.

A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.

The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.

The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.

It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.

“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.

The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.

 

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Tinubu’s Contribution To Buhari’s Presidency Marginal – Ex-SGF

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Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, has stirred fresh political controversy by dismissing claims that President Bola Tinubu was highly instrumental to former President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence in 2015 after the merger of political parties that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).

For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.

He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.

Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.

In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.

According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.

“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.

“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.

“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.

“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.

In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.

“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.

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Your Lies Chasing Investors From Nigeria, Omokri Slams Obi

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Former Presidential aide, Mr Reno Omokri, has accused Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, of spreading false information about Nigeria’s debt profile, claiming it is deterring foreign investors from the country.

Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.

Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.

“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.

“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.

To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.

“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.

“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.

“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.

 

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