Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who is being accused of corrupt practices and who was indicted in the report by the Justice Omeriji panel of inquiry, the Rivers State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday faulted a fresh statement being circulated in the media, allegedly by Mr. Livingstone Wechie, purporting that a court order restraining the Senate from Screening the former Rivers Governor has been obtained.
The State’s APC Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, said in a statement on Thursday that the party established that following the announcement, members have made frantic search at the Federal High Court across the Country and did not find any such “proceedings pending or order before any Court in the Country”. It noted that it was only Federal High Court that has jurisdiction to determine any matter in which the Senate was made a party and its duties and functions are the subject matter, in view of Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Finebone also stressed that because APC members were aware of the desperation of the PDP and Mr. Wechie on the matter in question, still, they have nonetheless carried out a search at the High Court Registry in the State, and no indication that such Order exists at the State’s High Court, adding that except such order was given to the ‘whistleblower’ himself in the sitting room of a Judge.
APC reasoned that it was sure that no right thinking judicial officer would do so, especially at this time that the National Judicial Council was desirous of sanitizing the Judiciary. “Clearly, the State High Court has no powers or jurisdiction under the Constitution to determine a matter in which the subject matter relates to the duties or functions of the Senate. The distinguished and Honourable Judges of the Rivers State High Court are fully aware of this fact.
However, the nomination of Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as ministerial nominee by the APC to represent Bayelsa State, has continued to generate more tension among the intelligentsia in the State. The Bayelsa Solidarity Forum has therefore called on the National Assembly to replace Lokpobiri because of his questionable political antecedents “both as a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Speaker of the Bayelsa state House of Assembly.
The forum argued that “It is on this premise, that we are calling on the leadership of the National Assembly to have a re-think over the nomination and the screening of Lokpobiri. If truly the APC stands for what it has been professing, the name Lokpobiri shouldn’t have come up in the first instance, let alone sending it to the Senate for ratification”, the BSF said in a petition by its Secretary, Godspower Belekumo-Davidson
.
The group catalogued the sins of Lokpobiri against Nigerians and the people of Bayelsa State both while in the State House of Assembly and as Senator of the Federal Republic. Belekumo-Davidson said, “For record purposes, Heineken Lokpobiri was elected as a member of the State House of Assembly in 1999 and subsequently became its first speaker but was later impeached in 2002 for gross financial misconduct.
“Also, he spearheaded the bombing of the administrative wing of the State House of Assembly complex. He was on self imposed exile in Port Harcourt, Rivers state for many years. This was done in a bid to escape police arrest.
In 2011, Heineken Lokpobiri contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but he lost to the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Rt. Hon. Perembowei Ebebi, who was the clear winner of the election.
The then chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, had on national television called for the arrest and prosecution of Senator Lokpobiri who was caught with a ballot box during that National Assembly election that was conducted by INEC on April 9, 2011.
“Jega said, ‘a Senator is to be prosecuted by INEC for electoral malpractices. The senator commandeered corps members and election materials to his house. We are discussing with security agencies about having him apprehended and prosecuted.’
“When Ebebi appealed to the court, a horde of miscreants sacked the court and destroyed court documents. Matters became worsened. In some amazing abracadabra, whereas the law court wanted Lokpobiri prosecuted, he somehow managed to wriggle himself out of trouble and was declared the eventual winner.
“During the December 7, 2014 primaries, drug-inebriated thugs tried to disrupt the national assembly primaries of the PDP in Sagbama but were repulsed through the timely intervention of law enforcement agents. This has since been followed by reprehensible attempts to suborn the courts to subvert the course of justice and to obtain judgement through the back door. The self-styled “Hitler of Ekeremor politics” is living true to the sobriquet he is so proud of. For him politics is war by some other means and all is fair in war.
“The security report at our disposal revealed that Lokpobiri has recruited some thugs from Ekeremor end of the State to unleash violence during the governorship election slated for Saturday, December 5, 2015. To carry out the dastardly act, over 50 speed boats have been bought. The list of his nefarious acts is endless. That is why we are surprise that people like Lokpobiri could make the list of our respected President, General Muhammadu Buhari.
As a body, the issue that we are raising is neither personal nor political, it is in the interest of the entire Ijaw nation. While other states are well represented, we will not fold our hands by allowing Lokpobiri to represent our interest.
“The National Assembly should ask him, as a senator representing Bayelsa West senatorial district, what impact as he made. We are saying no to the candidacy of Lokpobiri. We have credible people, even in APC that can represent our interest.”
But the Tuesdays screening and subsequent approval of other embattled nominees like Babatunde Fashola, Lai Mohammed and a few others by the senators, seem to vitiated, for now, the opposition to their nomination in the first place thus, postponing the proverbial “evil day” when these affected nominees would get even with those who opposed them. Fashola who was the first nominee to be grilled by the lawmakers, however advised on how to get the Nigeria back on stream just as he responded to the allegation of disloyalty, mismanagement of Lagos state funds and corruption allegation against him.
Asked about his loyalty, Fashola said he did not pray for anyone’s loyalty to be tested. He used the illustration of a kidney failure patient his government wanted to help and that the kidneys that matched that of the woman were those of her daughters. However, none of the daughters agreed to donate to their mother. He told the senators that he had never been found wanting in relation to his loyalty.
Asked about the controversial N78 million he reportedly spent on building a website and the over N130 million he allegedly spent on two boreholes, he said he never signed a cheque as a governor. “My commissioners never signed cheques. It’s an institutional thing. Nobody can award a contract outside benchmark price,” he said. He added that there was a procurement process followed by his government and that he had never been accused of corruption.
“The only training I have is that of a lawyer, but in order to execute works on a project we need the input of architect, quantity surveyors, structural engineer and we have consulting ministries. For civil works it is the Ministry of Works, for science, it is the Ministry of Science and Technology among others.
Meanwhile the senate has assured that no petition would stop the screening of Rotimi Amaechi and others on Tuesday when the upper chamber resumes plenary. Senate spokesman, Senator Dino Melaye, said on Thursday that
Senate on Wednesday deferred the screening of Mr. Amaechi to Thursday, following the inability of its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to submit report on the petition against the nominee.
A petition by the Peoples Democratic Party, senators from Rivers State had stalled his screening, earlier scheduled for Wednesday. Melaye however said the Senate would not consider the petition since its subject is a matter before a court. According to him, the Senate had a standing rule that matter before a court should not be examined. So Amaechi has got no problem,” he said.
Senator Melaye also explained why the Senate postponed the ministerial screening to next week, saying some of the nominees were yet to submit their resumè and other documents required of them.
However, the next four years, as the political trend of things stands, promises to be a period of political face-off in the various states as the new ministers who are currently being opposed by some of their governors and local political leaders, will seek to get even. In the past, particularly during the era of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), governors and some party leaders have engaged one another in a political fight-to-finish which often turn bloody over political ambitions and battle for local influence and control of political structures ahead of general elections.
This time, there might be a re-enactment of this scenario. As the 2019 general elections draw near, states likely to be on the boil as governors and some of the new ministers flex political muscles include: Rivers, Lagos, Kwara, Taraba, Anambra, Bayelsa and Ekiti, amongst a few other states yet to be known.
Rivers
LEADERSHIP Weekend investigation reveals that there is a likelihood that in the months ahead, Rotimi Amaechi and governor Nyesom Wike’s political altercation may worsen with the possibility of Amaechi becoming a minister.
Not only that both men would engage each other further in their intractable fierce battle over who controls the politics of Rivers state, Amaechi’s bid to install his political godson as governor in the person of Hon . Dakuku Peterside of the APC, would likely pitch him against Wike who would want to consolidate his tenure. The resultant consequence is that Rivers state will constantly be on the boil.
Lagos
Even as gentle and politically urbane as he is known to be, former Lagos state governor and now minister, Babstunde Raji Fashola (SAN), may not be able to tolerate further push let alone a shove, from the camp of his erstwhile political godfather and APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and governor Ambode of Lagos. From the manner in which Fashola responded to a question on political loyalty and funds mismanagement allegations against him during his screening at the senate on Tuesday, the minister designate abysmally spoke with subdued anger and bitterness. These emotions if further stoked from the opponents camp, might snowball into full blown political reprisal from Fashola in the months ahead. Therefore, such a political showdown fired by recrimination and bad politics of mutual destruction might aggravate the tenuous political mood in Lagos which could be exploited by the opposition PDP in the state in the 2019 polls.
Bayelsa
In the oil state of Bayelsa, the same scenario might play out. Minister designate, Senator Heinekin Lokpobiri, might be heading for the political Golgotha, so to say, with the incumbent PDP governor, Hon Seriake Dickson who would want to maintain his political hold and relevance in the state. And whether Dickson or Timipre Sylva of the APC emerges as next governor of Bayelsa in the December 5, guber election, either of them would definitely have political issues with Lokpobiri whose next political ambition might be to govern Bayelsa. Lokpobiri is not a light weight politician in the state who could be shoved aside. The former lawmaker is politically astute and commands reasonable measure of local political influence and other vital factors necessary to coerce electoral victory in this democratic clime.
Kwara
Kwara might experience some political tiff if the new minister from the area, Alhaji Lai Mohammed decides to go for a political retaliation against those who opposed his ministerial nomination. Analysts of Kwara politics strongly believed that the opposition against the APC national publicity secretary had some powerful internal political backing of the APC henchmen in Kwara who believed that Mohammed was coming to reap where he did not sow in the state.
Ekiti
Though the controversial PDP governor in Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose, called on Ekiti Senators to support the ministerial candidature of former APC governor in the state, Dr Kayode Fayemi, it may not yet be political Uhuru in the relationship between the two men unless Fayose cross-carpets to APC before the end of his constitutional final tenure as governor in 2018. Fayemi’s current ministerial position would definitely come handy in his quest to rebuild his political structure in Ekiti so as to position himself to complete his statutory second tenure as governor. And unless there is a kind of rapprochement between the two Ekiti politicians ahead of the next poll, they are bound to clash, once again, in the pursuit of the individual party and political interests.
Anambra
In Anambra state, former governor and minister, Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, may be locked in a political battle with the incumbent governor, Chief Willy Obiano of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) over who becomes the next governor of the prime south-east state of Anambra in the 2017 governorship election. Ngige was a former governor of the state on the platform of the then ruling PDP between 2003 and 2005, but whose election was nullified by the Appeal Court in Enugu during his legal battle with former APGA governor, Peter Obi. Ngige had also sought without success to rule the state in the two previous governorship elections in the state. He firmer Anambra Central senator may want to contest against Obiano and in the process, both men would clash politically. Besides, Ngige would like to win Anambra state over for his party APC.
Taraba
The ministerial nomination of Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan would certainly boost her governorship bid in Taraba state. Though she is currently in court against PDP governor Dairus Ishaku of Taraba, if the tribunal judgement eventually goes in her favour, she might quit the ministerial job for the governorship position. But as long as she remains minister, Aisha would be at loggerheads with the governor Ishaku who has every reason to fear the new minister whose political influence in Taraba is indeed enormous.
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