PDP: The Peace Option

The Rivers State
Governor and Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi in July  this year cried out that the state was  under siege. His painful outburst  was as a result if the glaring partisanship of the Rivers State Police Command in the political imbroglio rocking the state. The governor who was speaking when the Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration came to  Port Harcourt on a fact-finding mission said:
“Yesterday, they shot tear-gas into Government House. When we were meeting with the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) today, the police claimed that it was  inadvertent that   they shot tear-gas into Government House.
“So, I asked one question, supposing it was live bullet and it hit me? They said no, governor was not outside. But I said I was outside, you can check. We are under siege here”.
Since it became obvious a couple of months ago that the governor is not on the  good books of the president, some political opponents of the governor have cashed in in this development to advance their selfish interest. Having secured the support of the presidency, the group led by  the Minister of State for Education, Hon Nyesom Wike, has engaged  the services of the Rivers State Police Command in a war of attrition. The police  in the state take directives from the group while the state governor who is constitutionally recognised as the chief  security officer of the state is despised  and subjected to all forms of humiliation. Nigerians in their numbers have continually expressed their discomfiture over the attitude of the police in the  state, and the National Assembly two months ago acted swiftly by passing a resolution, calling on the Inspector-General of Police to redeploy Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu. But the IGP for whatever reason has not effected this resolution.
Of  course, evil begets evil. Now  the crisis in Rivers PDP which is being fuelled  by the powers-that-be has engulfed the  entire party with the emergence of the new PDP. Surprisingly, a presidency that was visibly unperturbed about the ugly incidents that characterised the intra-party crisis in Rivers State became a trouble-shooter overnight. The reason being that a split in the PDP will impact negatively on the ruling party in 2015 general elections, particularly at the federal level.
Although the key-players in the crisis have repeatedly expressed the willingness to resolve their differences amicably, their  actions and those of their foot-soldiers suggest the contrary. In spite of various litigations in the  courts of law, both sides have continued to engage  in verbal war. Those who are privileged to apply coercive powers have been very dutiful. Could it be the reason why security details attached to Senator Bukola Saraki, who of late has become a regular guest  of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Alhaji Kawu Baraje were withdrawn?
Again, the President a forthnight  ago sacked  nine ministers from his cabinet. Yes, it is the prerogative  of the President to hire and fire his ministers at will, but some political observers attributed his action to the crisis in the party as most of the ministers who were booted out of office were nominated by the G-7 governors. To buttress this point  was the sack of Dr Shamsudeen Usman whom the President recently described as the best minister that piloted the affairs of the Ministry of National Economic Planning. Indeed, the president will find it an uphill task to convince Nigerians that  the ministers that were  sacked from his cabinet were  the worst among the lot.
Also, Nigerians were thinking that the on-going reconciliation in the PDP would be applauded by the Police in Rivers State as an instrument that was created to maintain law and order, but they were disillusioned  when Governor Amaechi in company  of former speakers of state legislatures across the country was blocked by the police from accessing a shorter route to his official residence.
Meanwhile, the Police had earlier in the day sealed off the new PDP secretariat  that was inaugurated  by the Chief  of Staff, Hon Tony Okocha. What impunity! This is not acceptable in a democracy. Political pundits are of the view that the Commissioner of Police is  merely carrying out directives from Oga at the top.
Two days later, the Minister of State for Education, Hon Nyesom Wike  added insult to injury when he declared  that he would  not  allow Governor  Amaechi  to open a secretariat of the parallel People’s  Democratic  Party in Rivers State.
Speaking at Abonnema, during the inauguration of Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI), Wike said, “Change has come to Rivers. Amaechi, you are not God, because you are tenant. Your house rent has expired and you cannot pay. Pack and go. Tenant, pack and go.
“There is only one PDP. Those who said they have two million votes, they  are still going for meetings to give conditions. We are not accepting any condition. The  only chairman of the party is Felix Obuah.
“They wanted to dare us to see whether we are still in government. We are in government. We are PDP government and nobody can open office  of any parallel party in Rivers State. They should go to their Government House, because their rent has expired”, he said.
The Minister of State for Education is one of the president’s foot-soldiers. From his ulterance, it is clear that the peace- talk is a smokescreen. But political  pundits are of the view that the president is being deceived by his foot-soldiers, creating the impression  that the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Federal Republic of Nigeria can easily deploy soldiers to any part of the country to secure his victory at the presidential  poll.
Could it be that what is going on in Rivers State is an experiment in preparation for the 2015 general elections? If so, they are treading a dangerous path, because Nigerians are wiser now. We believe that  the President is morally bound to keep Nigeria in  one piece come 2015, no matter whose ox is gored. We wish him well.

Reward Akwu