Rivers Without Amaechi

“God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongeth unto God,” Psalms 62: 11. This bible quotation became the household expression soon after the Supreme Court’s judgment of May 26, 2007, was delivered in favour of the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. The above quotation was engrafted on gigantic billboards planted at strategic locations across the City of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. Busy bus stops like Garrison, Lagos Bus Stop, Air Force Base junction and many others were littered with such postings. In the last eight years, the name Rotimi Amaechi was almost synonymous with Rivers State. Significantly, that era came to an end last week, and not many would deny that Rivers without Amaechi can never be the same.

Coming from the Trenches

Former governor Amaechi could be described as one of the luckiest politicians in the modern politics of Rivers state. He rose on the back of former governor, Dr Peter Odili, to become the Speaker of the state House of Assembly in 1999. He remained on that post until 2007. He was therefore the longest serving speaker since the creation of the state in 1967.

Amaechi

Amaechi presided over an Assembly that was in every standard very peaceful, devoid of rancor, mainly because the three arms of government were strictly run in accordance with the rule of law.

The administration of former governor Odili witnessed a dramatic transformation in terms of elitist projects. He moved the Assembly from the ramshackle structure in the state secretariat to the Dome, a befitting edifice located on the Moscow road which is also good enough for legislative business.

In 2007, former President Olusegun Obasanjo put a spanner in the works of Amaechi’s governorship plan with his novel K-Leg saga thereby temporarily denying him the opportunity of contesting the election of that year as a governorship candidate on the platform of the now demoralized People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

For fear of being harmed, Amaechi escaped to Ghana probably to regroup for a greater fight ahead of him. While he was away, Amaechi’s team at home was led by a fearless, bold, and reliable political ally, Barrister Nyesom Wike, who had served as a two-time chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area while Amaechi was speaker of the state Assembly.

The adage that he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day worked for the former governor, as the Supreme Court gave him the much desired victory on a platter of gold without contesting the 2007 governorship election.

Amaechi’s Reconciliation Commission

Basking in the euphoria of that judgment, Amaechi quickly established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, with the late Justice Kayode Esho as chairman. The commission was widely condemned by many Rivers people as it was viewed as being politically motivated to witch-hunt his former boss, Odili, and other politicians in the state.

Odili and Dr. Abiye Sekibo who were allegedly some of the targets by the commission, refused to make any appearance, citing insecurity in Port Harcourt at the time as an excuse. Odili had expressed concern that he would not have any justice with Eso as the chairman of the commission.

Justice had at an event in the University of Port Harcourt blamed Odili on the crisis that rocked the state under his watch. The commission was temporarily moved to Abuja. It was at this point that Odili told his own side of the story on the culture of violence that almost destroyed the socio-political life of the state.

At that time, two militant group leaders, Alhaji Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom, using their groups such as the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, and the Niger Delta Vigilante Force, NDVF, respectively with various other splinter groups instilled fear and bloodshed in the state.

Ateke Tom was alleged to be close to the government of that time while Asari claimed that he was ready to lay his life for the sake of the state if things were not done orderly. But when Amaechi became a governor, both men took to their heels.

Today, Asari is said to have established himself in the neighboring Niger Republic having built one of the best private universities there, The King Amachree University, while Ateke holds sway in his Okrika native home.

As governor, Amaechi received encomiums from the Rivers people for his foresight in the provision of infrastructural development in the state. Roads were expanded, several health centers built, model schools and many more. In his first tenure as governor, Amaechi’s achievements could only have that of Alfred Diete-Spiff to contend with.

Many thought that if he could do that much in just four years, then his eight years would be unprecedented. It did not take long for Nigerians to come to terms with the reality and effect of the governor’s desire for more power, especially at the center.

Governors’ Forum Debacle

The crisis that saw Amaechi pitching his camp against the federal government of former President Goodluck Jonathan could be attributed to his decision to seek for a second term as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF. Indeed, NGF was one influential organization which to a large extent was able to determine the certain actions and inactions of the government at the center.

Amaechi went ahead to seek re-election as chairman of the Forum against every “wise” counsel. And this pitched him against Goodluck Jonathan to the extent that projects in the state were not considered anymore.

The zeal for national politics and the desire for acquisition of more power took serious toll on the state’s affairs. The former governor won the re-election all the same as he scored nineteen votes as against his rival, former governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state who scored sixteen.

Other PDP governors who were loyal to President Jonathan were rattled by this development and immediately decided to form a counter group: PDP Governors’ Forum, PDPGF with the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom state, Godswll Akpabio as chairman. This new group weakened the influence of the NGF and rendered it ineffective to the greater part of the last administration.

Amaechi and four other PDP governors took the “Jonathan must be conquered” step further when they publicly staged a walk out on the President at the Eagles Square, Abuja, during the mini-convention of the party last year.

Some of the governors, including Amaechi, later joined the All Progressives Congress, APC, after regrouping in a new platform called the New PDP. This action, indeed, marked the end of a long drawn battle in the PDP as the party crashed irresistibly resulting in an awful performance in the last general elections.

The Wike Factor

Back home, Amaechi was having a rough deal with his former Chief of Staff, Barrister Nyesom Wike. Wike was a Minister of state for Education and did not pretend to let who cared to know that he would defend the former President and his wife, Patience against the onslaught of Amaechi. And this he did.

Wike started to revamp the PDP in the state with the use of his political structure, grass root democratic initiative, GDI. He traversed the length and breadth of the twenty three local government areas of the state, meeting all the stakeholders from wards to the state levels propagating the achievements of former President Jonathan and why he must be returned.

He used the political group to reposition the people of the state before the commencement of his campaign which took so many by storm. In the elections proper, it was a huge shock for many that Wike who was out of government as Minister of state for education could muster over 1.4million votes for Jonathan and over one million for himself on April 11.

The campaign heralding the elections was indeed laden with unprintable slant from both camps as hate speeches were used with relative ease.  In one of such statements by his former Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor; Amaechi tagged Wike as “A drowning man who is only desperate to score cheap political points by falsifying figures and spreading falsehood because he (Wike) has absolutely nothing to offer Rivers people.”

He continued: “That Governor Amaechi run a transparent, accountable administration has never been in doubt. Everything about the income and expenditures of this government is in the public domain and has never been shrouded in secrecy. Is Amaechi a candidate in the governorship elections? Why has Wike insisted on campaigning against someone that is not a candidate? Is Wike clearly telling the public that he is no match for the APC governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, and the only way to divert attention is to keep making wild, spurious claims?”

“As supervising minister for education Wike drove the Nigerian education sector to comatose. Universities and Polytechnics across the country were on strike for months. He is known for squandering public funds on frivolous selfish activities. Wike’s plan to return Rivers State to the pre-2007 era of insecurity, incessant crime, thuggery, and street cultism will fail woefully, because Rivers people will never accept a man like that.”

In all this, Wike did not hold back what he knows about the Amaechi government. He accused Amaechi of running the most corrupt regime in the country, alleging that the governor, between January and November, 2014, squandered over N298billion that accrued to the state from the Federation Accounts and loans obtained from various commercial banks.

Wike further alleged that between December 2014 and January 2015, the former governor through the Government House and the Office of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government expended N11billion, believed to have been channeled into the Buhari Campaign Organization.

Speaking during one of his Campaign Rallies, Wike said that the massive corrupt expenditure of the over N300billion just for 2014 and the first month of 2015 excludes the internally generated revenue of Rivers State, which has been pegged at several billions of naira monthly.

Giving a breakdown of the alleged mass corrupt practices by the Amaechi government, Wike stated that between January and November 2014, the last administration received N185billion from the Federation Account.

He added that within the same period under review, the administration took loans from Zenith Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank totaling over N112billion.

“These are facts duly obtained from government sources. They are not newspaper reports. They are authenticated facts of revenue received by the outgoing government of Rotimi Amaechi. Before the people of Nigeria is the most corrupt administration ever seen in this state, an administration that has shortchanged our people.

“From the details of expenditure at our disposal, these funds have been used to sponsor opposition activities and the campaigns of General Muhammadu Buhari. Most of the monies were channeled to non-existent or non functional projects, with the funds pocketed by the outgoing governor.”

Wike went on to allege that the last administration also expended N330million for the protection of Rivers State from terrorism.

Attempts To Stop Wike’s Inauguration

Shortly after the April 11 governorship election, several attempts were alleged to have been made by the former governor to ensure that Wike was not sworn-in as governor on May 29. He allegedly approached the Federal High courts in Owerri, Awka, Lagos, Kaduna and Abuja to frustrate the inauguration of his successor.

Of course, while these moves lasted, the courts in Rivers state were still under lock and key. Wike also claimed that he was denied the use of the ceremonial open roof van by his predecessor. The only alternative was to borrow the vehicle from the Ondo state government. In the final analysis, Wike was duly sworn- in by the Chief Judge of Bayelsa state, Justice Kate Abiri in line with section 185 (1) of the Nigerian constitution.

Apparently, the attempt to block the inauguration of Wike who according to the independent national electoral commission, INEC, won the last election and certificate of Return duly issued, has pitched the people of the state against the former governor.

A good number of them wondered why anybody would want to hamper a smooth transition of power from one administration to another by provoking a constitutional crisis!

Upon his inauguration, Governor Wike took some far reaching decisions that earned him public commendations. The swearing in of Justice Daisy Okocha as the Acting Chief judge of the state and Justice Kristie Nwankwo as the President of the Customary Court of Appeal were decisions well applauded. These two appointments signaled the end of the crisis that had rocked the judiciary close to one year now.

Wike also ordered the recall of sacked lecturers of the state owned University of Science and Technology, RSUST, with all benefits paid to them. By every indication, Wike looks set to impress the people of the state who had yearned for a positive change in the running of the political affairs of the state. And the change seems to have come at last.