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PHALGA 3 Bye-Election: PDP Demands Arrest Of Factional APC Chairman …As Wike Dismisses Flag-Amachree’s ‘N200m Bribe’ Claim
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has called on the police high command to immediately arrest and prosecute the factional state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Hon Ojukaye Flag-Amachree following the APC’s admission that its factional state chairman was physically present in Port Harcourt State Constituency 3, during the suspended last Saturday’s Port Harcourt State Constituency 3 bye-election.
The party said that Flag-Amachree’s prosecution has become imperative “to avoid further breach of the peace and public order in Rivers State, which is imminent should he be allowed to be freely going about, causing more trouble unchecked.”
In a statement in Port Harcourt, the state PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah said that “The APC had since after the election which was cancelled midway into the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), denied that Ojukaye Flag-Amachree was anywhere near the State capital on that election day.
“But in a stupendous self-contradiction, the APC in its official Twitter handle, @realAPCRivers, unwittingly claimed that Ojukaye Flag-Amachree was raised in Diobu which happens to be the nucleus of Port Harcourt 3 State Constituency and could not possibly be exempted from being in his neighbourhood, on that day of the bye-election.”
According to Obuah, “This corroborates the allegation replete in public domain and strongly upheld by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, with his team of thugs aided by men and officers of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) stormed various voting units, terrorising, coercing, driving away PDP supporters and agents, and snatching electoral materials from the electoral officers as a way of achieving electoral victory that fateful Saturday.
“Rather than acknowledge the obvious breach of the electoral law and accept the responsibility of the embarrassment suffered by the public, the APC denied the unwholesome show of shame and instead, has been trying to heap the blame on INEC and the PDP.
“The PDP believes that more facts as regards the aborted Saturday’s election will unfold in the coming days about the grand plot of the APC to wreck more havoc on Rivers people unless the party is allowed to have its way.
“The PDP is also surprised that Flag-Amachree, who is presently wanted by a court of competent jurisdiction over a murder case and consequent contempt of court is freely going about with security operatives turning a blind eye and even guarding him.
“The PDP is, however, excited that at last, the APC has admitted that its factional chairman, Flag-Amachree, who had earlier claimed he was in Degema, his state constituency last Saturday, was truly in Port Harcourt which has vindicated its (PDP) position that Flag-Amachree personally led the army of thugs and touts that disrupted the Port Harcourt State Constituency 3, House of Assembly bye-election same Saturday, August 18, 2018,” the PDP added.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has dismissed claims by the factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Ojukaye Flag-Amachree that he allegedly offered him N200million bribe to compromise last Saturday’s bye-election for Port Harcourt State Constituency 3.
It would be recalled that Flag-Amachree had alleged that the governor wanted his cooperation during last Saturday’s by-election for Port Harcourt Constituency 3 so the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate, Chiemeka Merukini, could win.
Wike, who spoke through the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barrister Emma Okah, described Flag-Amachree as a liar.
The governor said: “He should stop his cheap lies, meant to divert attention from the atrocities he committed during last Saturday’s bye-election in Port Harcourt Constituency 3. No matter how long he tries to run, the atrocities will continue to haunt him. Nobody offered him N200million bribe.
“Port Harcourt Constituency 3 is a stronghold of the PDP. Even if a goat is fielded as PDP’s candidate in the area, the goat will still win for the PDP.”
Flag-Amachree, who was a former chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government, had claimed that “as a loyal member of APC, he declined Wike’s bribe and promptly reported to the leadership of his party, while working for the success of APC’s candidate, Dickens Worlu.”
In a reaction, the state police command denied involvement in the disruption of Saturday’s by-election.
The state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, at a news briefing in Port Harcourt, denied the allegation, insisting the “police did not at anytime collude with any political party to discredit the political process as alleged in some quarters. Information at the command’s disposal, revealed the presence of political thugs at Miles II and III who were reportedly armed and were disrupting the voting process.
‘’The police in the wake of this information deployed more Personnel and Armoured Personnel Carriers to safeguard the election process, lives and property which was done most professionally.
“The INEC officials, who appeared to have been intimidated by the thugs were reassured by our presence. Accordingly, our counter measures against the thugs and the thuggery they exhibited, calmed the situation and the INEC officials left with some of the election materials and subsequently suspected the entire process.
“It must be emphasised that the timely action of the police in checkmating political thugs prevented the loss of lives and destruction of properties”, Zaki said.
Similarly, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has decried the use of security forces, including special police and military units, by the Federal Government during the last bye-election in Rivers State.
The main opposition party said the security agencies were used to subjugate Nigerians and provide cover for thugs deployed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to unleash violence, disrupt polling processes and foist fake results after the poll.
A statement, last Monday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said such brazen assault on the will of the people was completely provocative and incendiary.
The party added that such tendencies have unlimited capacity to elicit violent resistance from the people and derail the country’s hard-earned democracy, especially as the 2019 elections draw nigh.
The statement said, “We invite Nigerians to note that the use of security agencies by the APC to aid the subjugation of the people has become a regular practice as amply witnessed in the July 14, 2018 Ekiti governorship election, the 2016 Edo State governorship election, the bye-elections in Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina and Cross River and most recently, the River State Assembly bye-election, where special police units were used to manhandle voters, while providing cover for APC thugs to attack voters, snatch ballot boxes and disrupt the election.
“The APC, in its desperation, is resorting to this underhand means, because it knows that there is no way it can win in any peaceful and transparently conducted election in any part of the country, due to the public indignation against its dismal performance in the last three years.
“Our worry as a party, however, is that Nigerians are daily pushed to the wall and there is a limit to what they can endure, without resorting to violent resistance, particularly in the face of unrelenting subversion of their will and freedom to select leaders or representatives of their choice.
“The APC and its agents in the police and other security agencies should therefore bear in mind that they are on collision course with the people. Their eventual resistance, if such subversion continues, could come with very dire consequences.
“The PDP is aware that this resort to violence by the APC is to test-run its plans to rig the 2019 general elections and we ask, what shall it profit a man to gain political power and set his nation ablaze?
“The PDP cautions all those being used by the APC to know that history will never forgive them for these atrocities. They will forever be remembered for their ignoble past and have their places in the hall of shame”, the statement added.
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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