Politics
NEW Rivers: The Beginning Of A Historic Revival
From whatever angle you view the Rivers story, you will eventually come to the conclusion that Rivers State is on the right path, craved by the people when they first opted for Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, as their Governor in 2015.
As a reporter/observer who has witnessed this life-changing relationship between Governor Wike and Rivers people, I will take the next few weeks to discuss key aspects of this phenomenal drive to re-position Rivers State.
It is necessary to start this narration from the beginning. Governor Wike was drafted into the leadership race by Rivers people in response to the worst political and economic treachery against the people by the immediate past APC Administration in the state.
Rivers people co-opted Governor Wike to place a derailed state back on track. Between 2013 and 2015, the failed then outgoing administration had weakened the foundations of governance, destroyed the fabric of brotherhood and sold the soul of Rivers State to external political marauders . Rivers people needed a political tactician and warrior to save the state from total political slavery and economic damnation.
Therefore, the preference of Wike ahead of 16 other Governorship Aspirants was for the reason of rebuilding and re-positioning Rivers State from the ashes of failure imposed on the state by the immediate past APC Administration. From the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State, leaders opted to elect Governor Wike and entrench the PDP in the state. They fought against the huge financial war-chest of the immediate past APC Administration.
On December 8, 2014, PDP Delegates from all the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State unanimously voted for Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2015 election in the state. On April 11, 2015, the good people of Rivers State overwhelmingly voted for Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as their governor. He polled 1,029,102 votes.
This was fundamentally the people’s project. It has always been driven by the people. That is why the entire structure is impregnable from within and without. True, some political engineering has been deployed, but the strength of Rivers people is deep and solid. It cannot be swept away easily.
Once the Rivers decide to flow, no quantum of machinations, no matter how well crafted can stop the flow. In the beginning, Rivers people set on a mission in one voice and they have remained undefeated ever since.
In the decision to create a new Rivers State, people came from the 23 Local Government Areas. They defied the riverine and upland divide and placed Rivers ahead of other reasons. They refused to hand their destiny into the hands of a treacherous few. Collectively, Rivers people became their own godfather. They handed over the state to God on the platform that: “the voice of the people is the voice of God “.
Despite the overwhelming victory in 2015, officials of the defeated APC moved from court to court shopping for illegal injunctions to stop the oath taking ceremony. Where ever they went, the hand of God frustrated Governor Wike’s first duty after taking over the reins of governance on May 29, 2019 was to restore the institutions of governance and democracy destroyed by the immediate past APC Administration. This is one of the most vital actions taken to kick-start the process of development in Rivers State.
Governor Wike re-opened the courts and appointed an Acting Chief Judge and Acting President of the State Custumary Court of Appeal. The Judiciary which was castrated by the past administration was revived. The Rivers State House of Assembly which relocated to the Government House, Port Harcourt under the previous administration was duly proclaimed and given the rightful autonomy to carry out its legislative functions.
According to the Former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the State had collapsed irretrievably at the time Governor Wike was handed the mandate by Rivers people.
Amaechi said, ‘’ I’m not joking, we have no money anywhere. In Rivers State, no money. I think Nyesom Wike is coming, we are waiting. He will look for money for salary; there is none. So, he will have to manage. But when he pays out salary, we will see whether they can build the schools, the roads, even to get a loan”.
Governor Wike inherited four months of unpaid salaries and three months of unpaid pensions. Governor Wike cleared these salary and pension arrears. The weakened economy was duly reflated, with mass economic activities set in motion.
Ever since, the Rivers economy has been on the ascendancy. It is a given that workers and pension welfare take precedence over other considerations .
Steps were taken to revive the state’s security architecture which was destabilised by the failure of the immediate past APC Administration to fund monthly financial obligations for security operations. With this, Governor Wike rebuilt the security infrastructure of Rivers State.
After reviving the state, Governor Wike set out to implement the New Rivers Development Blueprint. His careful implementation of this programme has seen Rivers State emerge as the country’s headquarters of projects and progress.
The Wike administration ended the misery of Rivers people and set the people on the path of development.
He has used Rivers mandate to create an atmosphere of hope where the people genuinely yearn for more. In every community, Rivers people have keyed into the season of stability, prosperity , new vision, new thinking, and better possibilities.
Governor Wike has planted the process of purposeful and rewarding leadership propelled by a dynamic team.
He has delivered on the social contract he entered with Rivers people in 2015. The people have renewed his mandate because they want him to Consolidate on the gains of his first term. We shall provide details of his outstanding accomplishments in his first term .
Nwakaudu is Special Assistant to Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media.
Simeon Nwakaudu
Politics
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
Senegalese politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, (44), is set to become the youngest elected leader on the African continent.
While Faye’s main rival, Amadou Ba, from the ruling coalition had said a run-off might happen to determine the winner, at least five of the 19 candidates in the race had issued statements to congratulate Faye as of early Monday.
“For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst case scenario, we will go to a run-off,” Ba, a former Senegalese Prime Minister, had said.
But as Faye’s lead got wider, Ba called to concede victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, BBC quoted a government official to have said.
Faye’s lead had spurred his followers to troop out in celebration on the streets of the capital, Dakar, on Sunday.
Reports revealed that millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal’s fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that triggered violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.
Faye is a Senegalese politician and a former tax inspector, who also served as the General Secretary of dissolved PASTEF.
He contested the highest political position in the West African country in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese voters had a choice among 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Sonko.
The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.
In a country of over 18 million people, 7.3 million people were registered to vote, and about 71 percent voter turnout was recorded, Senegal’s State TV reported.
Politics
Writing Judgment For Presidential Election Tribunal Allegation, FG Arraigns One
The Federal Government has arraigned one Chike Ibezim for allegedly defaming Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Works and Housing.
Ibezim is one of three individuals who alleged that Fashola had written the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ibezim was arraigned on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
The matter is before Bolaji Olajuwon and has been adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”
However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”.
The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.
Politics
Soludo’s Performance Assessment, APGA Tackles LP Chieftain
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has faulted a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Valentine Ozigbo, over his comments that the performance of Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after two years in office, was “not impressive.”
Mr Ozigbo, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 Anambra State governorship election, now a chieftain of the LP, stated during an interactive session with journalists last weekend that he was not impressed about Governor Soludo’s performance and has therefore decided to contest the 2025 governorship election in the state.
He said, “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years, and some of you may be impressed, but I am not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on, and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I am not impressed, and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I am here to share my thoughts with you, what I think, and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I am a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.”
Mr Ozigbo said further, “I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia State will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Peter Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
But reacting to the development in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source on Monday, APGA spokesman, Tony Olisa-Mbeki, dismissed Mr Ozigbo’s utterances, insisting he has nothing to offer the people of the state.
Mr Olisa-Mbeki said, “He is a political stooge. What could he possibly bring in? Last I checked, he only managed Transcorp Hotel. Is that a qualification to be a governor in Anambra State? Soludo runs an inclusive government in Anambra; that is why he holds town hall meetings with different sectors. What other approach to governance is Ozigbo talking about?
“Anambra State governance is not for learners like Ozigbo. Ozigbo can’t even give a good lecture; he would be better suited working as a PA to any governor. Ozigbo’s aspirations in the previous gubernatorial contest in Anambra found him trailing in third place under the banner of the PDP, despite the staunch endorsement from former APGA governor, Peter Obi.
“That alone should tell him that APGA is like an apostle’s creed to Ndi Anambra. However, what reforms could Ozigbo propose? Anambra State, under Governor Soludo’s leadership, is a testament to political and socio-economic ingenuity.”
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