Featured
Wike To Amaechi: My Outstanding Records Made Rivers Vote For Me …Says Minister Can’t Boast Of Project In Rivers …Denies Attempt To Bribe GOC …Declares War Against Cultism, Kidnapping
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has declared that Rivers people overwhelmingly voted for him during the 2019 governorship election because of his outstanding performance and projects delivery.
In a response to false allegations made by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi during his appearance on Channels Television Sunrise Daily yesterday, Governor Wike said that the former Rivers State Governor failed in his quest to truncate his second term because Rivers people are happy with his work.
He said he wouldn’t have responded to the falsehood being peddled by the Minister of Transportation, but that he owes the public the duty to set the record straight.
He said: “It is unfortunate. I extended the olive branch and I meant every word of it. It was on that basis that the State Attorney General filed a nolle prosequi to withdraw the charge against Ojukaye Flag- Amachree.
”If I did not do well in my first term, PDP wouldn’t have given me the party’s flag to fly. In 2015, the same man vowed that over his dead body would I emerge victorious.
”I have done well for my people . It is for the people of Rivers State to decide. It is not in the place of Amaechi to decide.
”We have over 6million people and over 3million registered voters. Therefore, Amaechi cannot say I cannot go for a second term. He has only one vote.
”In the past, he said an Ikwerre man cannot succeed another Ikwerre man. Today, he is saying his grouse is that I cannot go for a second term. At every step, he has one story or the other”.
Governor Wike said contrary to the story that Amaechi peddled whilst he was on Channels Television, kidnapping raged during his tenure. He said it was so bad that the State Chairman of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission under Amaechi was kidnapped.
The Governor noted that despite the national high rate of insecurity, Rivers State is relatively peaceful, with very high ratings.
”Our internally Generated Revenue has improved due to the peace and security in the state”.
Governor Wike said that the political misfortune that befell the APC during the last general elections in Rivers State was principally due to the impunity of Amaechi .
He said: “It is because of this impunity that his party was not on the ballot. Because of this impunity, he has denied so many people their political future “.
He said that the plots by Amaechi to manipulate the Tribunal will fail like other previous plots. The Governor noted that Amaechi’s boast that he appointed the members of the tribunal and they would work for him remains one of his empty boasts.
Governor Wike said that Amaechi’s plot to use the police to illegally certify fake results as he did for Rivers East Senatorial District during the rerun elections tribunal would fail.
”The game he played in Rivers East of using the police to certify fake results will not work. During the rerun, the police certified fake results. That game will not work again. We have gone beyond that . We are waiting for the police to certify fake results for Amaechi “.
He stated that there was no way that the defeated AAC Governorship Candidate, Engr Awara would have been coasting home to victory when he neither campaigned nor printed posters.
He said: “Awara ran for the PDP councillorship in 2018 and lost. For this election, he did not campaign and never printed posters.
”Look at that kind of impunity. He brought a man that the people of Rivers State never knew three days to the election.
”The AAC had no House of Assembly candidates, they had no House of Representatives candidates and no Senate candidates for the elections. There is no way that such a party would have been coasting home to victory “.
He added that the AAC Governorship candidate couldn’t have been coasting home to victory and still approach the Federal High Court for the cancellation of the governorship election results.
On the allegation that the INEC Chairman , Prof. Mahmood Yakubu influenced the suspension of the collation process because he worked under him at the Federal Ministry of Education, the Rivers State Governor said that the position of Amaechi was baseless. He said that at the Ministry of Education, he superintended basic education, while the INEC Chairman served as TETFUND Executive Secretary under the Minister of Education. He said that the INEC Chairman was appointed by the APC-led Federal Government and since his appointment, there has been no links
Governor Wike said despite the evil machinations of the Minister of Transportation, he was unable to deliver 25 percent of votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and 2019
”In 2015, as a sitting Governor, he failed to deliver 25percent of votes for President Buhari. He claimed that Jonathan helped us. In 2019, with all the security agencies, he still couldn’t deliver 25percent for President Buhari.
”He sang war songs, but couldn’t deliver 25 percent of votes for the President “, he said.
On the incident at Obio/Akpor LGA Secretariat, Governor Wike said that the GOC of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarhem sent soldiers to invade the Collation Centre and cart away results .
”I went there to stop the Army from carting away results from my Local Government Area “, he said.
Governor Wike said that the illegal activities of the Nigerian Army all through the governorship election were well documented by the media and the International community. He said that the videos of the Army invading the Rivers State Governorship Election Collation Centre has since gone viral.
He said that even the Rivers State Commander of F-SARs has since written him a congratulatory letter on his well deserved victory.
He said that his Administration continues to fund all security agencies in the state, including providing needed logistics. He said that the Israelis that Amaechi introduced were only used to siphon State resources .
He wondered why Amaechi finds Pleasure in de-marketing Rivers State, when the State made him Speaker, Governor and Minister of the Federal Republic.
Governor Wike said after four years as a Minister, Amaechi cannot boast of attracting a single project to Rivers State. He noted that as Minister of State for Education, he attracted several projects to the state.
He denied attempting to bribe the GOC, saying that he has never met him at any point. He said by Amaechi’s logic, it means that the Minister bribed the GOC 6 Division to subvert the electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has declared that any kidnapper or cultist arrested by law enforcement agencies would face the full weight of the law.
Wike stated that his administration has taken steps to plug all loopholes that negate the prosecution of suspected cultists and kidnappers in the state.
He spoke at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, during a congratulatory visit by the Akuku-Toru Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs.
Wike said: “We should do well by ensuring that our children turn a new leaf. Once any cultist or kidnapper is caught, the law will be applied.
“We will apply the big stick. If any person is caught, the person should forget it. The period they go to the Ministry of Justice to stop them being charged to court is over”.
The governor said that his administration would support different communities to scale up peace efforts to discourage cultism and kidnapping.
He appealed to parents to talk to their children to shun cultism and kidnapping for the stability and development of the state.
Wike commended the Akuku-Toru Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs for working towards the enthronement of peace in the area, and approved the setting up of peace and security committee for the local government area.
He noted that peace would enhance the creation of job opportunities for the teeming youths of the state.
In his remarks, the Amanyanabo of Abonnema, King Disrael Bob-Manuel congratulated the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on his re-election.
He commended Wike for standing with the good people of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area during their time of despair after the military invasion of the area during the Presidential election.
Bob-Manuel said the people of the area have sworn that the kind of bloodletting that took place in the area during the last elections would not re-occur.
He appealed to the Rivers State governor to approve a peace and security committee for the area.
He added that the people were also working to improve employment opportunities through enhanced relationship with the private sector.
Earlier, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, had declared war against cultism and kidnapping in the state, threatening to depose any traditional ruler in whose domain such criminalities have become prevalent.
He also declared that communities that encourage criminality would not benefit from projects’ award by the state government, adding that any ongoing projects in such communities would be stopped.
The governor stated this during a special security meeting held, last Monday, at the banquet hall of the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The governor lamented the negative implications of kidnapping and cultism, saying they were driving away investors from the state.
He promised to award more projects to local government areas where insecurity was not prevalent.
“But LGAs where cultism and kidnapping have become entrenched, the state government will depart.
“For communities where cultism and kidnapping are encouraged, their traditional rulers will be deposed. We will not allow crisis in our communities. If you don’t want to take the war to them, we will take the war to you”, he warned.
The security meeting had in attendance the Commissioner of Police, Usman Belel, Director, Department of State Security (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, Commander, SOG 115 Nigeria Air Force, Air Commander E.O.E. Ebiowei, Commander, NNS Pathfinder, Commodore S.J. Bura, and state Commander of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, M. L. Haruna.
Others in attendance were the local government chairmen, traditional rulers, community development committees in the state, and youth leaders.
He said all youth groups found to be involved in cultism would be dissolved by the state government, stressing that under the present dispensation, government and the people of the state would take their fate in their hands by collectively addressing the security challenges.
The governor urged stakeholders to work with security agencies in tackling issues of cultism and kidnapping, stressing that the only way to encourage investors was by ensuring that the state was safe for them and their investments.
Wike said: “Enough is enough. Nobody arrested by security agencies over cultism will see the light of the day. If you say we will not sleep, you also will not sleep”, noting that every logistics have been provided for security agencies to tackle insecurity in the state.
He warned that any top government official caught trying to work towards releasing suspected cultists or kidnappers would face the full weight of the law.
The governor directed council chairmen to clear bushes along the major highways in their respective areas to allow for clear view, explaining that such bushes provide shield to the criminals.
In his on response, the state Commissioner of Police, Usman Belel assured that the security agencies would fight to reduce crime to the barest minimum, stressing that the police would adopt community policing approach.
Belel called on community stakeholders and the entire people of the state to support the police in its renewed determination to tackle cultism, kidnapping and fake news.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Dandeson Douglas-Jaja, stressed the need for the security agencies to take traditional rulers into confidence as they carry out their responsibility.
Douglas-Jaja, who is also the Amayanabo of Opobo, disclosed that there are situations were security agencies divulge information passed to them by traditional rulers to criminals thereby endangering the lives of the traditional rulers.
He also accused some local government chairmen of not carrying his members along in their security arrangements.
Douglas-Jaja assured that the traditional rulers would collaboration with other stakeholders in the fight against cultism, kidnapping and other criminalities in the state.
Some of the youth leaders who spoke to our correspondent after the meeting commended the governor for declaring war against cultism.
They said it would not only promote peace, but boost agriculture as farmers would feel safe in their farming operation.
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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