Politics
As PDP, APC Battle Over LG Polls In Rivers
Cross section of Chairmen Caretaker Committees taking their oath of office at the swearing-in at Government House, Port Harcourt recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
Tuesday, September 16,
2014, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi inaugurated caretaker committee chairmen of 21 local government councils in Rivers State at Government House with an assurance that democratically-elected officials will run the councils in Rivers State next year. This is the second time caretaker committees would be made to oversee the affairs of the local government councils since the tenure of the democratically-elected council officials expired in June.
Out of the former CTC chairmen, seven of them including those of Opobo/Nkoro, Oyigbo, Obio/Akpor, Omuma, Bonny and Emohua local government areas were retained, while new CTC chairmen were appointed into 14 councils Only Degema and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas were exempted as the tenure of their chairmen is still running.
While inaugurating the CTC chairmen, Governor Amaechi said the State would organise LG elections immediately after the national elections. While charging the new CTC chairmen to serve the interest of the grassroot, the State Chief Executive sounded a note of warning that any of them found wanting will risk removal.
The newly inaugurated CTC have since begun work in their respective councils, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State is crying foul and not happy that caretaker committees are still holding forth in the LGAs about three months after the tenure of the democratically-elected council officials expired. The party is equally worried that there are no hope of conducting polls at the third tier of government in the State before 2014 runs out.
Rivers PDP disagreed with Amaechi’s decision to conduct council polls next year immediately after the 2015 national elections. The PDP attributed Governor Amaechi’s decision to use caretaker committees instead of conducting council elections to the fear of defeat at the local government polls.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the party chairman, Jerry Needam, the Rivers PDP, challenged the state governor to a popularity contest through the conduct of council elections.
PDP had been the ruling party in Rivers State since 1999, but with the defection of Governor Amaechi, his executive and majority of the lawmakers at the State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP lost its ruling status. Providing a critical searchlight on the activities of now APC-led government in the State is seen by PDP as a better instrument to position and launch itself back to political reckoning.
If there are doubts about the worry of Rivers PDP and what it plans to do in feasible future, the following statements said it all.
“The PDP regrets that it is the local government councils and the people that are at loss for not getting the leadership they deserve and by extension, are underdeveloped. We are on ground and ever prepared to engage Governor Amaechi and his All Progressives Congress in a free and fair electoral contest any day and are sure of coasting home in a landslide victory because we are genuine, caring, articulate and purposeful,” the statement added.
While PDP may be celebrating for taking APC and the Amaechi administration to task, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya-led APC in Rivers State, fired back at the PDP.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, Ikanya blamed the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesome Wike and the lingering political crisis in the State for the delay in the conduct of local government elections in the state.
Apart from alleging that Wike engineered the political crisis in the state which has made it impossible for the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct council polls, Ikanya insists that “the non-conduct of the council elections in the State is not out of the fear of anybody or out of the fear of losing to PDP but for the sake of peace.”
Ikanya said the clarification has become necessary to correct the propaganda by Rivers PDP that Governor Amaechi did not conduct local government elections because he was afraid of defeat. Many may wonder why APC involved. The State APC Chairman alleged that Wike’s unseen hand manipulated the National Judicial Council (NJC) to favour the choice of Justice Daisy Okocha as the State Chief Judge instead of allowing the governor to exercise his constitutional powers to appoint a chief judge in the State in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That was the genesis of the crisis in the Judiciary in Rivers State. This has incapacitated judicial activities in the State. The fact remains that you cannot conduct elections without the judiciary because without a chief judge of the State who is expected to constitute an election tribunal to handle petitions that may arise after the elections, such polls would be an exercise in futility,” the APC chairman said.
Ikanya added that “if the PDP is actually serious about meeting its waterloo in the council elections in the state, it should prevail on Wike to stop the judicial crisis in the State by asking the NJC to allow the governor to exercise his constitutional powers to appoint the most qualified judge as the Chief Judge of the State.”
Like PDP, the APC also boasted that “if election is conducted today, the PDP would not win any councillorship position in any of the local government areas of the State.”
Justifying why Governor Amaechi cannot succumb to PDP’s challenge of conducting LG polls, this year Ikanya said “the governor, as a man who has great respect for the laws of the land, cannot engage in an exercise that would be stalled halfway just because he wants to satisfy a non-existing party like PDP in the State.”
Beyond the issue of the council polls that have engaged both PDP and APc in war of words, the issue of who takes over from incumbent Governor Amaechi lies the intense agitation in the politics of Rivers State.
While the concern of Rivers men and women is raging without measure about who gets the governorship ticket of PDP, the same cannot be said of who becomes the State APC gubernatorial flagbearer. Right now, no fewer than 10 aspirants with posters are known to be jostling for the PDP governorship ticket, but nobody has formally declared governorship interest under the APC platform.
But the body languages of two APC Rivers members at the National Assembly, however, indicate that they may be eyeing the Rivers Brick House.
Whether PDP is “sure of coasting home in a landslide victory when election is conducted in Rivers State” or the APC believes that “the PDP cannot win councillorship seat in any of the local government areas,” the factor remains that tomorrow’s political race has begun in earnest and it takes the runner on the fast lane to arrive the destination point with good results. Which party gets the good result and picks the political crown of glory – PDP or APC? Only time will tell.
Samuel Eleonu
Cross section of Chairmen Caretaker Committees taking their oath of office at the swearing-in at Government House, Port Harcourt recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
The lawmaker representing Ethiope East/West Federal Constituency of Delta State, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, has said that her defection to All Progressives Congress (APC) complied with the relevant sections of the constitution, hence there was no need for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to declare her seat vacant.
This is just as she filed an affidavit to support her originating summon, listing her reasons for dumping the PDP for the APC.
Deposing the affidavit at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja recently, the lawmaker listed the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Clerk of the House and PDP as defendants.
She said her purpose for leaving the 3rd defendant was as a result of protracted crises in the party.
Ibori-Suenu said: “For over a year, the 3rd defendant has been enmeshed in a series of unresolved leadership crises at the national, which crisis has driven the party into two implacable camps.
“The 3rd defendant (PDP) started grappling with the internal strife before the 2023 presidential election, particularly after the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primaries conducted for the election of the party’s presidential candidate.
“Upon the selection of the party’s vice presidential candidate for the presidential election in 2023, the internal disputes in the political party deepened resulting in division amongst the National Working Committee and creation of the (G-5). That is, Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Seyi Makinde and Okezie Ikpeazu (then governors of Rivers, Benue, Enugu State, Oyo and Abia states, respectively).
“Following the decision of a High Court which restrained lyorchia Ayu from acting as the party’s national chairman, an Acting National Chairman was appointed for the party.
“But his appointment generated massive discontent, which further divided the party at the national level.
“However, the division in the national leadership lingered due to the continued stay of the Acting National Chairman of the Party and the inability of the party to convene a meeting of its National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting for consideration of a replacement for the substantive National Chairman of the Party in compliance with Article 45(2) and 47(6) of the PDP Constitution (amended in 2017).
“Attached and marked Exhibit IB 2 is the PDP Constitution (amended in 2017).10. On October I1, 2024, the 3rd Defendant’s National Working Committee was embroiled in series of suspension and counter-suspensions amongst the members of the National Working Committee of the party.
“PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, announced on behalf of a faction of the National Working Committee that the Acting National Chairman, Iliya Umar Damagum and the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, were suspended with the National chairman being replaced by Alhaji
The National Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Governor of Anambra State, Prof Charles Soludo, has urged members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party to end the Supreme Court victory celebrations and focus on work in their respective states and localities.
The National Leader made this statement over the weekend in Abuja during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to mark the end of the fiscal year 2024.
Gov. Soludo also extended a hand of fellowship to Nigerians, inviting them to join APGA, which he described as “the most progressive party in Nigeria at the moment.”
Gov. Soludo said, “We want to unite all aggrieved members of the party for progress and the new Nigeria we all desire. I want to tell you that the Supreme Court victory is over and remains a call for unity.”
He expressed joy over the appointment of Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu as a cabinet member in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“Under this administration, a member of our party is appointed a minister, and the President moves outside APC. We shall grow from strength to strength because APGA is built to last,” he stated.
Reflecting on his administration in Anambra State, Gov. Soludo highlighted efforts to leave behind a lasting legacy, including a free education policy and significant infrastructural development, which he described as “promises kept to walk the talk.”
The National Chairman of the party, Barrister Sly Ezeokenwa, while welcoming delegates from across the country, expressed optimism about the party’s future following years of struggle for survival and a protracted court case that recently ended at the Supreme Court.
While chronicling APGA’s journey, its founding dreams, and its role as a political voice for the South-East, Ezeokenwa noted that despite recent internal challenges orchestrated by “political merchants,” the party had grown from a regional movement to a national entity.
He acknowledged Gov. Soludo’s pivotal role during the party’s legal battles, describing the governor as an invaluable asset throughout APGA’s struggles.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has overruled the expulsion of Ikenga Ugochinyere by the Imo State chapter of the party.
On Saturday, Imo PDP announced the expulsion of Ugochinyere, the lawmaker representing the Ideato Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, from the party.
The state’s party chapter said the legislator was expelled over alleged misconduct and anti-party activities.
However, a few hours later, the party’s NWC described Ugochinyere’s expulsion as “null and void and of no effect”.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, the party said the move by its chapter in Imo was not “consistent with the express provision of Sections 57 (7) and 59 (3) of the constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017) and laid down rules of our great party”.
“Section 57 (7) of the Constitution of the PDP is clear in providing that “Notwithstanding any other provision relating to discipline, no executive committee at any level, except the National Executive Committee, shall entertain any question of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the National Executive Committee, deputy governors, or members of the National Assembly,” the statement read.
“Also, Section 59 (3) of the Constitution of the PDP is unambiguous in providing that “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution relating to discipline, no Executive Committee at any level except the National Executive Committee shall entertain any question of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the National Executive Committee, President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers, Ambassadors, Special Advisers, or member of any of the Legislative Houses.
“It is therefore clear that no ward, local government, or even state chapter of the party has the power to suspend, expel, or discipline a member of the National Assembly in any form whatsoever without due recourse to the National Working Committee as provided by the Constitution of the PDP”, it added.
The PDP NWC added that Hon Ugochinyere remains a party member with all rights, privileges, recognition, and obligations.
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