He said they had returned with the assurance that APC was dead, and were determined to deliver 90 per cent of the votes because they believe in the leadership of Governor Wike.
Sun
Politics
PDP crisis: We don’t fight and go back – Wike
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has mocked the ousted National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, who was said to have danced when the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party passed vote of confidence on Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the embattled PDP national chairman.
Governor Wike said that decision by NEC would not dissuade him and others from insisting that the prevailing structural imbalance within the party must be addressed.
The governor spoke at the eleventh hour homecoming and reception organised for decampees from the various political parties who joined the PDP in Rivers State, which held at the Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt yesterday.
He said: “I was listening and watching, they said there is one man they call Secondus. They said he was dancing, celebrating that NEC gave their person vote of confidence. He forgets history. Ask him, the same NEC through Aliyu Babangida moved a motion of vote of confidence supported by the same person, Ndudi Elumelu. They gave you (Secondus) a vote of confidence. What happened? You left office.
“We don’t fight and go back. If you like, you can have as many 20 votes of confidence, it’s not my business. My business is to make sure the right thing is done, and the right thing must be done. Whether today or tomorrow.”
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He said that despite the heightening political aligning and negotiations that were going on, his administration has not abandoned governance in Rivers.
The governor explained that it was the love that he has for the state that has made him to remain devoted to providing good governance until the last day of his tenure.
“I’m not going to play party with the interest of my people. Rivers State is paramount to me first before any other person or group.
“So, the eyes can see what we have done. Up till today, we have never abandoned governance. So many people are already rounding up, taking the last they have. But, yet, we are still committed in commissioning, and flagging off projects.
“Because of the love we have for our people, we will continue to serve you till May 29, when by the grace of God, Siminialaye Fubara will be inaugurated the governor of Rivers State,” he said.
Wike commended the decampees for their courage to rejoin their political family, saying that it was true that there is no other political party that can win election in Rivers except the PDP.
“PDP is a household name in Rivers State. Let me assure you that we will all work with you. Nothing like somebody who has been there since and somebody who has just come back. The more the merrier,” he said.
The governor dismissed efforts by other political candidates as mere attempt to appear on the ballot because there is no hope of winning for them.
Wike disclosed that a new strategy would be adopted for the coming political season in which political ‘bigmen’ would be replaced with people who are domiciled among their people in various communities.
According to him, those who are domiciled with their people would be utilised to deliver their units and wards during the general elections.
Speaking, Rivers State PDP chairman, Desmond Akawor, said that the party was presenting a certificate to acknowledge the excellent performance of Governor Wike because he has surpassed their expectations.
Akawor stated that the decampees from the other political parties had witnessed unequal transformational performance of the governor in office.
Speaking on behalf of decampees from Rivers South East Senatorial District, a former member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Board of Trustees, Sam Sam Jaja, said that they had a regrettable unsuccessful political expedition while in their former parties, but had retraced their steps back to the PDP on self volition.
Jaja described Governor Wike as a compassionate, loving and graceful leader who was created to do good for the people.
Speaking on behalf of decampees from Rivers West Senatorial District, former Commissioner for Transportation in the Chibuike Amaechi’s administration, George Tolofari, said that they were happy to be back home in the PDP.
Similarly, a former chairman of Akuku Toru Local Government, Theodore Georgewill, apologised that they left PDP when they were most needed.
Politics
Senate, Reps okay President Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers State
Senate, Reps okay President Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers State
The Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday separately approved President Bola Tinubu’s proclamation of the state of emergency in Rivers State.
They however mandated a review of the situation at any time, but not later than six months.
The National Assembly also imposed a joint committee of both chambers to oversee the administration of affairs in Rivers State during the emergency period.
The Senate resolved to establish a mediation committee consisting of eminent Nigerians to help resolve the state’s political crisis.
The House of Representatives was the first to approve the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.
In a voice vote, the lawmakers backed Tinubu’s decision, two days after the President made the move.
A total of 240 House of Representative members attended the preliminary which was presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
While deliberating on the decision, the House made some amendments including that a committee of eminent Nigerians would be set up to mediate on the matter.
They also noted that the National Assembly is empowered to make law for a state where its house of assembly is unable to perform its functions.
This contradicts the Federal Government’s plan for the Federal Executive Council to take up that duty.
On Tuesday, President Tinubu wielded the big stick in Rivers, declaring a state of emergency in the state.
He also suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months and appointed a sole administrator to take charge of the state.
Legal experts, governors, and prominent Nigerians including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi to have condemned the proclamation, demanding a reversal.
However, the Federal Government has doubled down on Tinubu’s decision and argued that it was needed to bring peace to the oil-rich state.
Politics
Emergency rule cannot stand in Rivers, says Amaechi, mobilises against Tinubu
Emergency rule cannot stand in Rivers, says Amaechi, mobilises against Tinubu
Ex-Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi has begun a mobilisation of leaders including lawmakers against the imposition of the state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi who contested the presidential primary and lost to Tinubu in the last election said the suspension of Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office was an illegal power grab by the President mm.
He gave this reaction in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Amaechi strongly condemned the President’s action as a truncation of democracy in Rivers State, describing it as “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and a brazen violation of Nigeria’s Constitution.”
He went on to call on the National Assembly, state governors, and stakeholders to reject the “illegal power grab,” under the guise of the state of emergency.
The former Minister of Transportation argued that President Tinubu had overstepped his constitutional authority by suspending elected state officials. Citing Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, he emphasized that a governor can only be removed through a clearly defined impeachment process, not by presidential decree.
“With this singular move, Mr. President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in Rivers State. This clearly violates our Constitution, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Mr. President swore to uphold,” Amaechi stated.
Amaechi further questioned Tinubu’s use of Section 305, which allows the President to declare a state of emergency, arguing that it does not grant him the power to “dissolve elected arms of government.”
He accused certain forces of orchestrating a political takeover in the state.
He urged governors, lawmakers, and Nigerians across political divides to resist the “audacious violation of democracy.”
“At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our Constitution and rape of our democracy.
“Mr. President must be made to know and understand in unmistakable terms that this illegality cannot stand,” he stated.
Politics
Jandor is a congenital liar, he taught us big lesson in PDP – Bode George
Jandor is a congenital liar, he taught us big lesson in PDP – Bode George
Bode George, a prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has launched a scathing attack on Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), the party’s 2023 Lagos governorship candidate, labeling him a “congenital liar”.
George made the remark during a conversation with Jimi Disu on Nigeria Info FM on Tuesday.
Jandor, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP before the 2023 elections, secured the party’s governorship ticket amid internal party disputes. However, his relationship with key PDP figures, including George, has been tense, with accusations of betrayal and dishonesty surfacing over time.
On Monday, he announced his return to the APC four days after meeting President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
Speaking about the former PDP governorship candidate, George said Jandor taught PDP “a lesson,” noting that he had agreed to pick Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour as his running mate but reneged.
“He is a congenital liar. We stumbled into him through an older, respectable leader who brought him. It was something unusual because Gbadebo (Rhodes-Vivour) was at the forefront (of the PDP governorship ticket), the party chieftain said.
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“But when the respectable man brought Jandor, we had to make a decision because, in our culture, we respect the elderly.
“Gbadebo was on hand, but I asked him his age, and he said he was 39, and Jandor said he was 45. And I said, ‘We can work something out’.
“I concluded that Jandor had been vetted by the old man. Until we had agreed that he would choose Gbadebo as his running mate. Then Gbadebo stepped down after paying 21 million for the party’s governorship ticket.
“Then, one day, Fashola said on TV that Jandor was his former cameraman. That was when we started digging into him.
“All of the party’s elders have concluded that we will not listen to any input from anybody from now on. Let whoever wants to contest go to the field.
“It is a lesson that he (Jandor) taught us. When he got the ticket, he did not want to take Gbadebo as his running mate. He lives in a conundrum of lies.
“Our party doesn’t do that, and we, the elders, apologised profusely, vowing that what happened with Jandor would never repeat itself.”
Jandor is a congenital liar, he taught us big lesson in PDP – Bode George
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