| …As Supreme Court Case Comes Up …Grapples with APC’s U-Turn On VP Slot…His Link With ‘Voice of the People’…Rattled by Expulsion of Arrowheads by PDP…Camp Suffers Major Crack |
As the political crisis in Rivers State rages on, with the tacit supporters of Governor Chibuike Amaechi still hopeful to come out of their first test of political baptism of fire unscathed save the now quiet and less garrulous former House leader, Chidi Lloyd, Governor Amaechi’s political fortunes seem to be tumbling into a study of sort by the day.While the state chief executive is still battling in court to halt his suspension and that of the 27 lawmakers loyal to him and perhaps, find a way to right his estranged relationship with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, more troubles are rolling in like torrents of rain reminiscent of Anezi Okoro’s story in one of his African series, One Week, One Trouble.
Still bent on restructuring the party in the state from its polarized stature, the new state exco of the party led by Bro Felix Obuah set up among others, a performance evaluation committee to screen and assess the performance of all political office holders elected and, or appointed on the platform of the PDP from 1999 till date.
To ensure absolute compliance with the party directive, the committee’s sitting arrangements were widely publicized in the media and written invitations given to all the officers affected.
Notwithstanding some public officers still hoping or afraid of being accused of betrayal by their master, Governor Amaechi failed to put up appearance.
Unknown to them some of their colleagues who are yet to decide which of the divides to identify with made frantic efforts to reach the committee through personal agents and filed in detailed documentation of their works accompanied with excuse letters.
For very obvious reasons, the committee allegedly accepted the representations but definitely took exception to those that flagrantly shunned the invitation.
Consequently, based on the recommendations of the party disciplinary and performance evaluation committees, the party had to wield the big stick on these recalcitrant party members with an outright marching order out of the party.
Those mostly affected are the members of Governor Amaechi’s kitchen cabinet.
They include: Mr George Feyii – Secretary to Government, Sir Tony Okocha – Chief of Staff to Government Hous, Dr Sam-Jaja – Former Deputy National Chairman PDP, Mrs Aleruchi Cookey-Gam – Administrator, GPHCDA, Mr Victor Giadom, Hon. Commissioner for Works, Hon Augustine D. Wokocha, Hon. Commissioner for Power, Worgu Bom Esq, Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Joe P. Poroma, Hon. Commissioner for Social Welfare & Rehabilitation, Ezemonye Ezekiel Amadi, Hon. Commissioner for Lands & Survey, Hon Fred Igwe, Hon. Commissioner for Sports, Hon Emmanuel Chinda, Hon. Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Mrs Joeba West, Hon. Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Patricia Simon Hart, Hon. Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Hon Okey Amadi, Hon. Commissioner for Energy, Mr Charles Okaye, Hon. Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr Nnabuihe N. Imegwu, Hon. Commissioner for Culture & Tourism, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Hon. Commissioner for Information & Communication and Mr Samuel Eyiba, Hon Commissioner for Local Government.
Governor Amaechi, we learnt is rattled by the new development and is yet to decide what to do next having lost account of the number of court cases he is involved in across the nation’s judiciary.
But more worrisome to the embattled governor we gathered on good authority is the palpable crack on his camp, obviously referring to the unidentified cabinet members that sent in their testimonials to the performance assessment committee.
He has therefore demanded through the suspended Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee that the names of such executive council members that sold out be published.
Leyii Kwanee has assumed the unofficial mouthpiece of the suspended lawmakers ever since the former speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree allegedly ran away for fear of possible arrest by the police having lost out in his bid to stop the law enforcement officers from apprehending him for explanations on the alarm he raised that certain persons were plotting to assassinate Governor Amaechi and other government officials.
As though these were not enough puzzles for the belligerent Governor Amaechi, the All Progressives Congress, APC, the product of the recent merger between the former Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP which backing had presumbly given Amaechi the guts and impetus to dare the presidency and the rest of the PDP Governors and chieftains in what is seen in some circles as a war of attrition is said have to allotted the position of the Vice President to the South-East.
The initial Kite flown by the APC before its formal registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC was Amaechi Vs Sule Lamido ticket even though Governor Amaechi had severally denied such permutations or ever nursing any Vice Presidential ambition.
But recent developments on the nation’s political map appear to point to the fact that there was actually an arrangement like that, the collapse of which informed the application for the registration of a new political party by some aggrieved members of the PDP including Governor Amaechi who had ab initio a romance with the APC.
The new political association seeking registration has the acronym, VOP, the Voice of the People.
Despite the wide publicity in the media, Governor Amaechi has not refuted his association with the new political party.
To lend credence to Amaechi’s new found love, his chief of staff, Tony Okocha while reacting to his expulsion and that of his co-travelers from the PDP fold, said there are many other parties to lean on should they be suffocated out of the PDP.
But while all this plays out, the mother of all troubles which still dare Amaechi in the face is the Supreme Court case by the former state governor, Celestine Omehia challenging his participation in the April 26, 2011 general elections which has progressed from the lower court through the appellate to the supreme court.
We have it on good authority that the case comes up next month to determine whether or not Governor Amaechi was guilty of tenure reduction which carries same punishment as tenure elongation, which is nullification. Though Amaechi is praying the Apex court to quash Omehia’s challenge on grounds of lack of locus-standi in the case, Omehia on his part having been granted an earlier leave by the Appeal Court to challenge both Amaechi’s participation in the election and the conduct of the election in the state in the first instance is praying the supreme court to aggregate all the arguments and rule on the issue once and for all.
Should the Supreme Court subscribe to Omehia’s request, another shocker may still be hanging in the air to see Rivers State registered for the second time in the Guinness Book of Records as champions in political ding-dong games in which case the Brick House may be declared vacant.###
By Chris Konkwo
Source: NationalNetwork
