18th July, 2013
With the recent drama at the Rivers State House of Assembly and others, subterranean moves to remove Governor Rotimi Amaechi shift to second gear
The red carpet reception President Goodluck Jonathan accorded a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by Mr. Felix Obuah, Rivers State PDP chairman, and supporters of Mr. Nyesom, the Minister of State for Education, at the Presidential Villa on 4 July, was an indication that a plot to evict Governor Rotimi Amaechi from office was brewing.
At that reception, the President warned that the “new PDP” will not condone indiscipline, after accusing some of its leading lights of fraternising with the opposition. “In a situation where somebody is in a particular political party, but his faith is in another political party… For those who are not holding political offices, yes, you can excuse…But if you are holding an elective office, you won’t be in that party and be working for another party. Otherwise, why are you there?” As much as he tried to be cryptic, it was not difficult to figure out that Amaechi was the target.
The previous Saturday, Jonathan had greeted Amaechi warmly at the Port Harcourt Airport, a drama that was widely publicised and celebrated as a sign that the political feud between the two was over. But discerning analysts saw it, however, as a form of friendship between a fowl and a hyena. In other words, it was a re-enactment of the drama between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and one-time Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, and Audu Ogbeh, a past PDP chair. Days before Obasanjo engineered their removal, on separate occasions, he visited and even ate pounded yam with each.
The analysts’ worst fear was confirmed last Tuesday, when the Rivers State House of Assembly witnessed a rowdy session after two months of adjournment. There was a free exchange of blows between the pro-Amaechi lawmakers and five lawmakers opposed to the governor. That was in a failed attempt by the anti-Amaechi group to impeach the Speaker of the House, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree, and other house leaders to pave way for the impeachment of the governor.
The five anti-Amaechi lawmakers had arrived the House of Assembly at about 8.30am, before the normal sitting time. Others sauntered into the chambers to wait for Dan-Amachree and Chidi Llyod, Leader of the House.
Llyod was said to have offered Bipi a handshake, congratulating him on his recent wedding – at which Mrs. Patience Jonathan was a guest – in Port Harcourt. Instead of a warm response, Bipi dealt Lloyd a stinging slap. As Llyod and Bipi were engaged in fisticuffs, the Speaker stepped in to separate the fighters. Bipi also attacked the Speaker. There was mayhem and exchange of blows on both sides.
Lloyd was injured, while Michael Chinda, one of anti-Ameachi lawmakers representing Obio-Akpor was also injured and rushed to St Patrick’s Hospital at Ogbunabali in Port Harcourt for treatment. Within the brief moment that some pro-Amaechi lawmakers ran for their dear lives because of the overwhelming presence of premium thugs allegedly brought into the Assembly premises, at the gallery, Victor Ihunwo, an anti-Amaechi lawmaker, stepped into the Speaker’s seat to “pilot” the affairs of the House. Martins Amaehule moved the “motion” for the “impeachment” of the Speaker, who had been rushed out after the physical assault.
Kelechi Worgu, an anti-Amaechi legislator, representing Omuma Constituency, “supported” the motion and thereafter announced Bipi as the new “Speaker”. Bipi, who represents Ogu-Bolo Constituency, enjoyed the presence of Mrs. Patience Jonathan as special guest of honour and mother of the day during his (Bipi’s) wedding about a month ago. He was once an aide to Mrs. Jonathan when her husband was deputy governor and later governor of Bayelsa State.
Amaechi’s Intervention
The governor, who was alerted to the fracas and the breakdown of law and order at the Assembly, arrived at the chambers at the time Bipi was about giving a vote of thanks. The governor ordered his security detail to arrest Bipi. Bipi’s orderly and policemen resisted the arrest. There was a free for all with Lloyd hitting Micheal Okechuckwu Chinda with the mace on the head as captured in video clips that went viral the next day.
Scores of policemen watched helplessly as the legislators swapped punches. Bipi was said to have punched the lawmaker from Abua/Odual Constituency, Mr. Augustine Ngo, who fell and was able to get back on his feet with the help of his aides.
Some computer sets in the Assembly were also destroyed during the fight. The Assembly later sat, with Amaechree functioning as Speaker. Even as the Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, presented a document for the amendment of the 2013 Budget to the House, Ikuru and some members of the Government House Press Crew were attacked by suspected thugs after they left the Assembly complex.
After calm was restored, the House was reconvened at exactly 11.40am. Speaker Dan-Amachree presided with 22 lawmakers present. Throughout the brief session, to consider minor amendment to the 2013 Appropriation Bill, there was still tension in the air, with thugs supporting the anti-Amaechi group shouting that they be allowed into the Assembly. But they were prevented by pro-Amaechi supporters and House of Assemby policemen.
The governor later presented a minor Amendment of the budget. Ikuru, who read the proposed amendment on behalf of the governor, explained that it only affects capital expenditure. Deputy House Leader, Robinson Nnam Ewor, moved a motion for the adoption of the amendment and it was supported by Mrs. Irene Inigba and the Chief Whip. Golden Chioma, representing Etche Constituency II, moved a motion that the amendment should be committed to the committee of the whole house. The Speaker asked if there was a counter-motion, but there was none. The amendment was later adopted by the 22 members in attendance.
Amaechi has had 27 members on his side since the political fight started. Those that were not at the sitting were said to have sustained injuries and were receiving medical attention.
However, Freddy Itolo-Ofen, press secretary to Bipi, claimed that his boss was properly elected as the Speaker of the House by the five lawmakers. “Hon. Evans Bipialaka, the new Speaker, was making his vote of thanks when the governor arrived and ordered that he should be arrested, but was resisted by Bipialaka and his orderly.”
Amachree, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt shortly after presiding over the plenary session, said it would be impossible for five out of the 32 lawmakers to impeach him or Amaechi. He alleged that Bipi, who attacked him and Lloyd, brought hoodlums to the Assembly to assault his colleagues. Amachree, who later addressed journalists, said the Assembly would send a formal complaint to the National Assembly on the development, adding, though, that the House is on indefinite adjournment.
However, Bipi continues to insist that he is in charge of the affairs. In fact, the next day, he and the other three (as Chinda was in hospital) attempted to commence sitting to impeach the governor. The lawmaker warned that though his aim of attempting to start was not to impeach the governor, he could do so if Amaechi failed to comport himself. He said this after a detachment of policemen cordoned off the Assembly complex, refusing him and his supporters entry.
Bipi attempted to force his way back into the chambers with some thugs. Despite appeals from people standing by the door, the lawmaker, in his criticism of Amaechi over the mayhem, said: “Why must he (Amaechi) be insulting the President. Why must he be insulting my mother (referring to Mrs. Jonathan)?” Bipi later smashed Channels TV camera for filming him. He also rebuffed the pleas by Ikuru to calm down, claimimg that he was “fighting for justice”.
Soldiers, Militants Take Over
Last Wednesday, a detachment of combatant soldiers took over the Assembly, as over 2,000 protesters on the side of and against the governor attempted to storm the complex.
The pro-Amaechi group, which is under the auspices of Ikwerre Youth Movement, IYM, was led by Tony Okocha, Chief of Staff to Amaechi. The other group, loyal to the Minister of State for Education, came under the aegis of Grassroots Democratic Initiative, GDI.
The police had earlier cordoned off Moscow Road leading to the Assembly, Bank road adjacent to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the state Secretariat.
The crisis has since assumed an ethnic colouration, with councilors of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, the constituency of Dan-Amachree, vowing that they will resist any attempt by another ethnic group, referring to Bipialaka (from Okrika), to the slot of the Kalabari.
However, Bipi, the alleged speaker, told some journalists that after his election, that he wanted to commence sitting but found that the Assembly complex had been cordoned off.
After the youths for and against Amaechi were stopped from gaining access to the Assembly, they congregated around the Government House gate and attempted to enter despite heavy police presence. The anti-Amaechi protesters were led by Ateke Tom, leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Force, NDVF. Some youths managed to enter the Government House at exactly 11.50am. Policemen outside Government House gate fired tear gas apparently to disperse the crowd, which had grown restive. Some pro-Amaechi youths were allowed to take refuge in the Government House.
The anti-Amaechi lawmakers expressed anger that the governor could leave the Government House to supervise the impeachment of a speaker. “I have no intention to remove the governor of Rivers State. But if the need to remove him arose, I would do that. Now, I am the Speaker of the Assembly because I was duly elected,” Bipi ranted.
In fact, the leadership of the Assembly had anticipated trouble. So, it applied to the state Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, for more protection. But Mbu is being criticised for not obliging them. The police commissioner’s office is directly opposite the Assembly complex.
Confirming the application for more police protection, Mbu told journalists that he received a call from Amaechi, informing him that he was going to the Assembly because some lawmakers complained that they were not safe. He also confirmed Lloyd’s claim that he was requested, via a letter from the Clerk of the House, to provide security because of the resumption of sitting of the Assembly. Mbu noted that he granted the request by sending half a unit to the Assembly.
“At about 21.00hrs of same yesterday (Tuesday), the Brigade Commander wrote to me requesting me to please provide police personnel to the House of Assembly. He attached a letter written to him by the same Assembly, requesting the presence of soldiers in today’s (Tuesday) sitting. It was there and then I called the Commander of Mopol 19, CSP Braide, to send half a unit to the House of Assembly,” he said.
Mbu added that he then sent the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations and the Assistant Commissioner of Police there. “The next thing I got was a call from the governor that he was going to the House of Assembly; that his members were not safe,” Mbu added.
Seed of The Problem Planted In Abuja
The 4 July Abuja meeting was where the plan, according to TheNEWS sources, was hatched. Among those who attended the meeting were the acting National Deputy Chairman of PDP, Chibudom Nwuche; Uche Secondus, Austin Okpara, Senator Lee Maeba, Fred Kpakol, Ama Pepple and Walter Opuene.
Others were former Transport Minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo; Senator George Sekibo, Sargent Awuse, Kenneth Kobani, Timothy Nsirim, Doris Fisher, Toru Ofili, Boma Iyaye, Bipi, Hope Ikiriko, Vincent Nemieboka and Elemchukwu Ogbowu. Amaechi, who is under suspension from the party and has launched a legal challenge to his party’s plan to expel him, was not invited.
That day, the factional chairman of the Rivers State PDP, Obuah, berated the governor for alleged disloyalty to the party and quoted the President as saying that the only condition for the party to re-admit Amaechi was for him to apologise to the party. He announced that condition while speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting of elders and leaders of the state with the President.
However, he had earlier told the President the party supports the Governor’s suspension because “the party structure of APC/ACN in the state had been handed over to him”.
But Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Ibim Semenitari, described Obuah’s comments as unguarded and cautioned him to refrain from making such. Senator Magnus Abe, an Amaechi supporter, dismissed the meeting as a one-sided affair. He wondered if the party and the President are actually ready for genuine reconciliation of aggrieved members of the party in the state in a situation where only one member of the National Assembly from the state was part of the delegation. The 32 members of Rivers State House of Assembly were also not there.
Explaining why Amaechi was not in the delegation, Wike said: “The governor is suspended, so he can’t come. It is only when he comes back to the party, then he will join us. You can see the men of timbre and calibre, the leaders of the party.”
Dr. Peter Odilli, the former governor and Amaechi’s political mentor, explained that there must be respect for authority and discipline in the party. “There is no human problem without a human solution. What is important is for us is to recognise that at any point in time, respect for authority, respect for the rule of law and discipline is the guiding principle that will make us run whatever system or societies we are running in an orderly, disciplined fashion,” said Odili.
He said the crisis in the state will soon be a thing of the past.
Analysts believe that the Rivers Assembly drama was part of the script to put an end to what Odili called the PDP crisis in Rivers. The other was when Patience Jonathan spent 11 days in the state.
The development has been attracting reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians, including Professor Wole Soyinka and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (see box).
House of Representatives’ Intervention
Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives, stood down its rules to deliberate on the Rivers crisis. It later endorsed a resolution to take over the legislative functions of the state Assembly. The House resolved at a session presided over by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha that the crisis in the state legislature has led to a breakdown of law and order, making it impossible for the Assembly to perform its duties.
In a motion, Mr. Albert Sam-Tsokwa (Taraba State), hinged his arguments on Section 11 (4) of the Constitution. The section states: “At any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in the state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the state.”
However, the resolution requires the concurrence of the Senate to have the force of law.
The Senate
The Senate, last week, also took a position on the matter.
Senator Abe from Rivers South Senatorial District briefed his colleagues on the happenings in the state. The Senate then proposed five resolutions announcing its stand on the crisis, which is to condemn the crisis; send its committee to investigate the matter and report back; urge the warring parties to maintain the peace; restate its commitment to the constitution; and urge the Inspector- General of Police to address the sour relationship between Amaechi and Mbu.
President of the Senate, David Mark, said: “Clearly what is happening is totally unacceptable and must be condemned in strongest possible terms and in its entirety, irrespective of who is directly involved or who is behind it.”
Mark also said the Senate will send its Committee on States and Local Governments to investigate the matter and bring back the facts so that the Senate would operate on facts and not hearsay.
Following the remarks by Mark, Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, read out the Senate’s resolution on the matter.
Meanwhile, Amaechi has raised an alarm that his life is not safe., especially with the sudden withdrawal of soldiers and Armoured Personnel Carriers attached to the Government House.
Amaechi spoke on Thursday when the Senate Committee on States and Local Governments investigating the crisis in the state visited him in Port Harcourt. “Yesterday, they were shooting tear gas into Government House. When we were meeting with the Deputy Inspector-General 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, ‘Nooo, Governor was not outside.’ But I said, I was outside, you can check,” Amaechi said.
—Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt