Omehia vs Amaechi …Rivers Stakeholders Hail Supreme Court Ruling

General Manager, First Life Restaurant and Bar, Mr Godwin Okon (left) and Public Relations Officer, Mr Douglas Ediak, at the reopening of the outlet in Mararaba, Nasarawa State last Saturday Photo: NAN

The people of Rivers State have continued to praise the Supreme Court judgment in favour of Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
Speaking last Saturday, the senator representing Rivers South East, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, said the governor’s victory in the Supreme Court is for true Rivers people as he thanked God for yet another opportunity to sustain democracy and good governance in the state, and called for the end of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) induced crisis.
Abe said the judgement had shown that Governor Amaechi cannot be removed from the office with the law.
According to him, “so, since that is clear and that is what we all agree as citizens of Nigeria, let  us work with the governor, let him do his job and let all of us who also have work to do be allowed to do our job.
“I believe that any right thinking person will agree that it is time for us to put some of these things behind us. Since last year, there has been a concerted attempt to remove the governor from office and overthrow the government of Rivers State by force, and there is no provision in our Constitution for that kind of behaviour.
“I think that if we do that, it will help the state, it will help the country. For us to turn Rivers State into a theatre of war because of the ambition of any single individual is morally, politically and spiritually wrong. We cannot kill ourselves here because of anybody,” he said.
The member representing Andoni/Opobo Nkoro Federal Constituency, Hon Dakuku Peterside, said, “the Supreme Court judgment was an indication that it is the hope of a common man.”
According to him, “we have always had confident in the judiciary that is why we have not resulted to violence. We have absolute confident first in God, and secondly, in the institution of the Supreme Court to be able to do justice according to the law.
“It is not about emotion and sentiments, we are glad that the Supreme Court did not disappoint the people of Nigeria and its actions have deepened democracy.
The Chief of Staff Government House, Sir Tony Okacha, said the Supreme Court judgment had ended speculations that Governor Chibuike Amaechi will be removed from office before the end of his tenure.
He said the Supreme Court verdict is a judgment that has sealed the move by detractors to unseat Governor Amaechi.
According to him, “my happiness is that it has ended the long speculations by political failures who go around deceiving people that the governor would be unseated.
“With the judgment, the government will now seat down and concentrate on moving Rivers State to a greater height”, he said.
He assured that “the government will remain focused as it is prepared to give Rivers people democratic dividends. The government is determined to govern the people the best”.
The Board Chairman, Rivers State Sports Council, Charles Paul also hailed the Supreme Court judgment.
Paul said Amaechi’s victory at the Supreme Court is victory for democracy in the country.
He assured that Amaechi will now settle down to take the people to the Promised Land.
The Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, Hon Chimbiko Iche Akarolo, said the Supreme Court judgment was not a surprise.
According to him, the Apeal Court can err, but the Supreme Court cannot joke with the facts on ground.
He said it was cleared before now that Celestine Omehia was a pretender, and for a pretender to come back and say he was interested in a suit that has to do with the elongation of tenure is a slap on the Supreme Court.
The Obio/Akpor Peoples Forum, through its Chairman, Mr Alex Chukwu, also joined the people of the state to commend the judgment, saying that “it is a vindication of the will of the people”.
The Chairman, Rivers State Leadership and Empowerment Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF), Alex Wele, said the judiciary has again raised the hope of Rivers people by the judgement.
Omehia, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) during the 2011 governorship elections in Rivers State, had approached the Supreme Court, praying it to declare that he has the legal right to appeal the Federal High Court judgment which held that Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s tenure ended on May 29, 2011.
A five-man Supreme Court panel had on November 11 last year, adjourned till last Friday for judgment after parties adopted their briefs of arguments in the consolidated appeals that were filed by Governor Amaechi and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Chief Cyprian Chukwu.
Both Ameachi and Chukwu had told the Supreme Court panel headed by Justice M. Muntaka-Coomassie that the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court erred in law when it granted Omehia the leave to appeal against the Federal High Court judgment, even though he was not a party in the substantive suit that culminated to the appeal.
However, closing the door on Omehia last Friday, the Supreme Court refused to grant his prayers, describing him as a pretender who wants to eat his cake and have it.
Similarly, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, has described the state Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as a moving train which could crush any obstacle on its way, including leaders of the opposition against him.
The party, which made the declaration while reacting to last Friday’s Supreme Court victory of Amaechi in the case instituted against him by his cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, also declared Wike and Omehia as politically finished.
A statement issued last Saturday in Port Harcourt by Rivers APC reads in part: “The litigant, who contested against Governor Amaechi as candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) during the 2011 governorship elections in Rivers State, has since waged a relentless war on behalf of some misguided political hawks residing in Abuja for Amaechi’s removal.
“This morning (Friday), Omehia’s latest gamble, which was his prayer for the Supreme Court to declare that he has the legal right to appeal the Federal High Court judgment which held that Governor Amaechi’s tenure ended on May 29, 2011, expectedly collapsed like a house without foundation. Instructively, the apex court did not only dismiss Omehia’s suit but also lambasted him as a pretender and a man who seeks to eat his cake and have it.”
The statement, signed by the spokesperson of Rivers State Interim APC Chairman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, quoted the party’s Chairman, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya as saying: “We wish to commend the sages at the Supreme Court for this wise judgment and for once more proving that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.”
The statement quoted the senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial zone and Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, as saying: “I think it is time for those who are investing so much time and resources to pull down the Rivers State Government to have a rethink. Let us now think of the price our beloved state is paying and say enough is enough.