Ant-Amaechi Protesters in Port Harcourt

Mr. Amaechi has been engaged in a bitter standoff with President Jonathan over political differences as the governor opposes Mr. Jonathan’s plan to get a second term in office. The protest today is believed to be a prelude to a total breakdown of law and order in the relatively peaceful city that would ultimately lead to the imposition of a state of emergency or outright removal of the governor from office.

For more pictures: Sahara Reporters

Annkio Briggs

MUST it be violence for violence?
We are human beings and if we continue to sit down and allow a certain group of people to say certain things and laugh it over, then what is happening today is what will happen, then I too can say it and people can laugh over it.

If President Jonathan decides not to contest, then what would you do?
The decision to contest or not to contest is Jonathan’s. If for instance, the Niger Delta people agree that Jonathan should contest and he says he is not going to contest, that is his choice. It is his choice and that is the point I am making which is that it is not the choice of Kaita or Buhari or anybody to tell Nigerians who to vote for.

As a civil right activist, are you satisfied with the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan?

I am on record of complaining about so many things about Jonathan’s presidency so far, so let people go back and look at those statements.

Retraction of statement
I stand by every one of my statements. I am not retracting anything. The only time I will retract anything is if the condition that led to that statement changes, then I will change my position. Nobody is saying that Jonathan’s government is perfect. Nobody has said that. I have criticised it and I have used the Niger Delta as a yardstick to measure his performance and I have said it very clearly.

Now, having said that, we are two years into a four year term and I am not oblivious to the fact that from the day it became clear that he was going to be the president of this country that some people constituted themselves into a sort of opposition that would make him to seem ineffective. People have now forgotten about Boko Haram, Boko Haram has now been relegated to the background and you now have bandits that are roaming around in some states in the north!

I am not deluded that everything possible has been done to make sure that Jonathan is perceived and is seen and actually seen not to be performing and until these obstacles are not there will I be able to say categorically that Jonathan has not performed.

But that does not mean that I should say that Jonathan should not exercise the right and indeed, he should exercise the right that Nigerian voters have given to him. No matter how we fight for Jonathan, the final decision is Jonathan’s and when it comes to criticising Jonathan, I will not shy away from crticising him.

But why has Jonathan with the apparatus of government in his hand not been able to identify those who are sponsoring the violence?

We would not know and that is what we are calling on him to do. I do not work with government so I would in no way know.

What is your take on the amnesty plan for members of the Boko Haram insurgents?
It is not a matter of amnesty. Even the amnesty that was offered in the Niger Delta what has it been able to achieve in terms of time line and what it was expected to achieve? We expected it to create the avenue where development will come to the Niger Delta, but that has not happened.

But it has stopped violence?
Let me tell you why Niger Delta is no longer violent is because Jonathan is the president. Let me tell you the truth and anybody that does not know that is fooling himself. The reason why the oil production has gone up is because Jonathan is the president. That is just the truth and that is the point that must be made and must be understood and if anybody else thinks that why the oil production is gone up and the Niger Delta is calm, then that person should reassess the whole scenario.

Are you saying if President Jonathan is defeated in a free and fair election that violence will spring up in the Niger Delta?

It doesn’t matter who is the president as far as Niger Delta people are concerned, our demands remain our demands. We want to control our resources, we want to develop ourselves, we own the resources that are in the Niger Delta, it is on our land. These are the things that we are talking about. The issue of the Kaiama Declaration still stands. The things that Adaka Boro fought for still stand. The things that Ken Saro Wiwa died for which is that they should stop despoiling our environment; these demands are still there, they are not going to go away whether Jonathan is there or not.

But President Jonathan has not addressed them?
If Jonathan addresses the issues he would be accused of addressing his people’s issues. When he does not address it he would be accused of not addressing it. So what is it that we want this Jonathan to do now? He is one man!

What is it that we want him to do? We say he is not addressing insecurity in the north, so we now are making sure that his issue is not insecurity in the Niger Delta and people are saying that he has not addressed this and he has not addressed that. If we also get up and put fire on Jonathan, then you will see what will happen. The output of oil will be reduced. See, there is no point pretending, there is no point in being afraid, these are things that must be said and they are being said now.

Polluted water
If Ciroma, Kaita and all these elderly people can come out and say these things about Nigeria and about Jonathan, then they should expect that we also must be allowed to express how we feel and the reality is, whether it is agreed or not agreed, the resources are in the Niger Delta, therefore it belongs to us.

We are the ones drinking polluted water. Is Kaita drinking polluted water? Is he breathing gas flared oil? These are the things that must be said. Is Kaita drinking polluted water? When he talks like that it is very offensive, therefore somebody like me I will talk the way he has spoken so that we will see if it is good or bad. If he thinks that he can make Nigeria ungovernable, we too can make Nigeria ungovernable and that is what we are saying.

Is the presidency of Nigeria his birthright to be handed over to him and his family? Which president has performed better than Jonathan? Answer me and who is he worse than? What nonsense!

Source: Vanguard

This week alone, there were two separate protests by women from the state. While the Tuesday’s demonstration called for the removal of Police Commissioner, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, the one on Wednesday by another group of women, insisted he should not be redeployed.

The Speaker’s security details withdrawal has confirmed his earlier allegation that there were plans to withdraw the police escorts of key political office holders, to make them easy targets for assassins. The Speaker had also petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging of plans by some people to unleash mayhem on the state.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday, and signed by Amachree, he said Mbu said the force had withdrawn his police orderly and escorts.

The Speaker said: “Recall that I have earlier expressed my fears about plans to withdraw security operatives from the governor and top officials of the Rivers State Government, including me, making us vulnerable to attack by hoodlums. “Now my fears are made worse by the recent murder of an aide to Chief G.U. Ake, Mr. Eric Ezenekwe, at his hometown in Erema, Ogba/Egbeme/Ndoni Local Government Area.

“On this premise, I will stand on my earlier call for the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu. However, fears are being expressed that there are also plans to assassinate Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

An impeccable source also alleged of plans to withdraw securitymen attached to Amaechi. These include Department of State Security (DSS) operatives and policemen. The source also said that the withdrawal was likely to take place this weekend.

According to the plan, the plot is to first, withdraw the policemen attached to the governor, including his orderly and aide de camp (ADC).

And when the governor or any other person as the case may be, raises the alarm, the police would quickly try to defend the withdrawal as routine redeployment of officers and men. When contacted on the alleged withdrawal of securitymen attached to the Speaker, the state police command’s spokesman, Angela Agabe, said it was not true.

Meanwhile, a prominent politician in Rivers State and two-time member of the House of Representatives, Chief Igo Aguma, has lamented the political crisis in the state, describing it as a witch-hunt of Governor Amaechi. The politician, who said he had predicted the conspiracy against Amaechi. According to him, “it has been the practice in political issues, that cases are resolved before actions are taken.”

Condemning the court judgment which sacked the Chief G.U. Ake-led executive, he said that the former chairman would have been allowed to continue in office, until the determination of the matter by the Appeal Court, noting that the judgment was procured.

He cited instances where governors and lawmakers were sacked by the court, but because they appealed against the judgment, they remained in office until the Appeal Court said otherwise. “Why is this one different? I don’t know why this case is different. I’m faulting the swearing in of Felix Obuah, it was hasty, premeditated and planned.”

He commended Ake, for remaining calm since the Abuja High Court ruling. Aguma described as laughable, the suspension of the 27 lawmakers and the declaration of their seats vacant, by the Obuah-led executive. “I don’t know the section of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) constitution they invoked to suspend the Assembly members.” He described the executive as a toothless bull dog that only moves its head and not other parts of the body. “Wike, ‘the oga at the top” had already told them that Amaechi is the leader of the party in the state.

It is the place of the leader to tell us, where the party is situated. It is left for him to tell us where it is situated and let Obuah learn to follow the leader,” he said.

Aguma who represented Port Harcourt in the House, also denied the abuse of the police and judiciary by politicians. “The use of the judiciary and police as tools in politics is condemnable. The police have no place in occupying Obio/Akpor council secretariat.

If they can obey the order of the lower court and swearing in the PDP state executives, why can’t they obey the same court and vacate the LGA secretariat. This selective obedience shows that they are witch -hunting Amaechi. The police should obey law and order,” he said.

According to him, the suspension of the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA, Timothy Nsirim, was justifiable, adding that the lawmakers acted within the ambit of the law. He said what Nsirim must do was to go to court to contest his suspension. According to him, there was a time 11 council chairmen in the state were suspended and nobody raised an eyebrow.

Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday also, Chairmen of local governments in the state said Chief Ake and members of his executive actually purchased nomination forms, as required by the PDP electoral guidelines. According to them, they were elected and duly declared winners by the electoral panel.

“We are, therefore, shocked to discover, eight months later, that a group of persons had gone to court to challenge the election of G.U.Ake and his exco. Justice Ishaq Bello surprisingly gave a judgment that pronounced Felix Obuah and Ibibia Walter winners of that same election that we all voted”, he said.

Source: The Sun

There were indications in Abuja on Thursday that security aides attached to the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, may be withdrawn.

A highly placed security source, who briefed reporters in Abuja, said there were plans to withdraw the security aides of the governor.

The source insisted that the alarm raised by the Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly, Mr. Dan Amachree, that the security aides attached to the governor would be asked to return to their bases, was true after all.

The Speaker had, in an open letter sent to President Goodluck Jonathan, further alleged that the situation in Rivers State had reached a crescendo.

He alleged the governor might as well be assassinated following a series of reported nocturnal meetings held in a neighbouring State and Abuja.

The speaker had said, “The situation is exacerbated with the planned release from detention, of 18 notable robbery and kidnap kingpins currently in custody to carry out this planned mayhem on the government officials and innocent citizens and residents of the state.”

The source said, “They have just withdrawn the security aides of the Speaker today (Thursday) and when he raised that alarm about the plan to do that, we thought it was not true.

“As I speak with you, there are plans to withdraw the security aides of the governor as well. That will be done soon.

“Those that will be affected include the policemen, soldiers and men of the State Security Service attached to the governor, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

“Unless those planning it have a change of heart, the withdrawal could take place as early as this weekend.”

But when contacted, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, said he did not have information on the matter.

He said, “I have no such information. You may speak with the commissioner of police, Rivers.”

Reacting to the allegation by the speaker against him, the State Police Command said no policeman had been withdrawn from either the State House of Assembly or the Rivers Government House.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, maintained that security operatives in the House of Assembly and the State Government House were intact.

Culled from Kaanayo.com

But those cheap shots are not what were unfortunate about the whole affair.

Let me state upfront that I had some measure of respect for Dokubo. My regard for him was planked on his immaculate honesty: He is one of the tribe of “activist” rabble-rousers who doesn’t hide that he is agitating for a meal. In Nigeria’s austere clime, it has become amoral to take up forms of gangsterism and make a lot of noise until your bread is buttered. (It only becomes immoral when you hide your beggarly lingo under the garb of activism and social crusade). In Dokubo’s case, he has turned into an election consultant who advocates President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election for all the wrong reasons.

Just last December, Dokubo was criticising Jonathan for squandering the goodwill invested in him by the citizens of Nigeria. In that newspaper report, he had harsh words for the President’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, too. In January, he granted an interview to National Mirror where he, specifically, admitted that his angst was because food had been taken from his mouth (his paraphrased words). Five short months later, he is vehemently supporting the President! It does not take many brain cells to conclude that the feeding bottle has been pushed into his mouth, again. He is now a nationalist of unquestionable zeal, barracking all opposition. We have seen his types before and, God knows, the uncouth manners can be exasperating.

Nowadays, when the likes of Dokubo, Annkio Briggs, Kingsley Kuku and other Niger Delta “activists” insist Aso Rock will not be vacant in 2015, they do not articulate beyond the maudlin fact that other presidents — from other regions of Nigeria — spent two terms and one of their “sons” must do same too. That is the sole lame leg on which their logic rests. The country must stand behind their tribal flag, swallow the bitter pills of ill-governance, poor vision and monumental corruption, simply because the country feeds off the Niger Delta oil. But come to think of it, considering the poverty rate and the poor economic situation, are Nigerians really benefitting from “our oil” to justify a second term for Jonathan? The endless rant about “our oil” quietly evades this question and instead yells that their “son” has to be good enough for Nigeria if “our oil” is good enough to sustain the economy. The rest of us, they insist, are parasites that contribute nothing to Nigeria except for our animal presence and the many problems of it.

The trio of the conquistadors and other ethnic jingoists are one of the reasons I get weary of our nation and even the African continent. In terms of technological output and scientific advancement, we are at the lowest rung of the ladder. Rather than invest in education and technology, we spend all our lives killing and maiming over natural resource. We cannot even advance the use of the resources beyond what the Oyinbo man told us.

With all the sense of propriety latent in their rhetoric of “our oil”, what did anyone’s ancestors do to deposit the oil in the ground? Until the Oyinbo man told us the oil had economic value, what did the black man know about it? And what have we done for ourselves with “our oil” other than the mindless corruption that has been ongoing for decades? Dokubo and co might have earned the right to call the rest of Nigeria “parasites” but if they reflected deeply, they would find that they freeload on nature’s goodwill as anyone else.

As things stand presently, we are thoroughly messed up as a people and sometimes it appears it is too late to lament our comprehensive emptiness. The very least we can do is to tell these 2015 consultants to cease fire, go back to the drawing board, re-strategise and fire some smart shots. They should tell a better tale other than insisting we live with whatever odium foisted on us because it came from the Niger Delta. For a start, can this trio bring out the 2011 campaign promises and check what has been achieved?

So far, Aso Rock has pretended it didn’t send these foot soldiers on any errand to us but we have lived long enough in Nigeria to know the voice of Jacob even when the hairy hand says Esau. There is nothing new happening here, they are merely deploying the same boring approach that was used by the late Gen Sani Abacha in the not too distant past. The new addition to the script is that while Dokubo tries to portray the Fulanis as enemies of Nigeria, he makes his candidate seem like one who needs somebody to take over his remote control.

And finally, the rant of the trio should teach the rest of Nigeria about our national and institutional shortsightedness. Dokubo and others are justified when they holler all day about “our oil” because, all said and done, the resource is on their land. Those of us whose ancestors did not settle on oil-rich land should start thinking of how to wean ourselves off the Niger Delta breast otherwise, we will forever be held to ransom. We will be harassed, blackmailed and morally harangued into accepting any defective product as long as it comes from the Niger Delta.

The likes of Prof. Ango Abdullahi who boast that Jonathan will not get a second term, that a northerner must occupy Aso Rock come 2015, should face up to the question of what percentage of resources their region contributes to Nigeria. (Seriously, what makes him so conceited?) They had better start looking ahead in case tomorrow comes, when there will be no more easy money to make Aso Rock so alluring.

Source: Punch

Some yet to be identified gunmen abducted the five expatriates aboard an oil support vessel along Sagana waterways in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa on April 26 2013.

Kidnappings and killings carried out by pirates, and former militants have increased dramatically in the area until recent times.

The deployment of 20 gunboats recently acquired by Bayelsa government by the security forces has failed to reign in the rampaging pirates even as Gov. Seriake Dickson rarely stays in the state to address the worsening insecurity in his domain, often traveling to Abuja the nation’s capital to see President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa Governor, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, assured that recent upsurge in kidnap of oil workers would soon be contained, assuring law-abiding residents in the coastal areas of their safety.

Iworiso-Markson, reportedly said that the Seriake Dickson administration had a zero-tolerance policy for kidnapping in Bayelsa.

Two persons arrested over two previous kidnapping are reportedly being prosecuted in the state.

Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesperson, Lt.Colonel Oyenma Nwachukwu states further that the JTF was on the trail of the armed kidnappers who engaged troops in a shoot at Adagbarasa/Itagbene area recently.

Source: NaiJ News

According to findings by Sunday Tribune, for violating the airspace regulation for 16 days, the Rivers State government would part with a $20,000 per day fine.

But a source within the state government disclosed that NAMA’s position about payment of fine was entirely new to the government, saying: “We are not aware of any fine, neither has the state government been officially briefed. Whenever NAMA briefs us officially on the issue, we will know what to do.”

According to the sources, NAMA would not have grounded the plane if the pilot had signed the passenger manifest, stating that it was after the grounding of the plane by NAMA that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA) noticed that the plane had registration issues, even as they noted that the grounded plane would be released by the agency as soon as the owner paid the fine.

However, the sources revealed that NAMA was only concerned with the violation of the airspace regulation, saying the payment of the fine would not stop the NCAA from carrying out its duties as regarding the grounded plane.

It will be recalled that accusations have flown back and forth over the grounding of the plane, with Rivers State government alleging that politics was behind the action by NAMA in Akure, Ondo State, when the state governor went for the burial programme of the late deputy governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, penultimate Friday, while NAMA denied the allegation, saying the pilot violated aviation regulations.

Source: Tribune

The policemen, who were led to the secretariat by the Divisional Police Officer, Rumuodomaya Police Station, about 2 pm, had ordered the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the local government, Mr. Chikodi Dike out of the secretariat.

It was learnt that the DPO had told Dike that the directive to order him out of the secretariat came from the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu.

Workers and others who were on a visit to the secretariat were thoroughly searched before they were allowed to leave the premises where a patrol van was stationed.

The policemen restricted movement into and out of the secretariat.

The state house of assembly had suspended the elected Chairman of the local government, Mr. Timothy Nsirim, for alleged reckless spending of public funds and security breach.

Nsirim was suspended indefinitely alongside his deputy, Mr. Solomon Eke, and 17 elected councillors of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

A caretaker committee chairman was, however, sworn in within 48 hours of suspending Nsirim, who is from the same area with the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

Speaking with newsmen on the development, the caretaker committee chairman of the council said the police tried to order him out of his office.

Dike explained that the DPO led a team of policemen to the council secretariat without a written order.

“About 2 pm today (Friday), the DPO in charge of Rumuodomaya Police Station, one Mr. Adeyemo, came to my office trying to order me out. I said why? He said he had an order from the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to order me out of my office.

“I asked for the order and he said he had no written order. Of course I know he has no such constitutional powers. I told him I was not leaving except by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. So, I told him I was not going out but will continue to do my official duty,” Dike said.

He expressed surprise that there could still be a coup by the Nigeria Police at the country’s current stage of democracy.

He said, “So, we are here constitutionally and only a constitutional means can order us out. We cannot be intimidated. Nobody can harass us. We refused to go out from the council premises. Since then I have been doing my official duties.”

The caretaker committee chairman appealed to the people of Obio/Akpor to remain calm, peaceful and go about their normal businesses without any fear of molestation.

He said efforts made by him to reach the state commissioner of police proved futile as his (Mbu) lines were switched off.

“I don’t think this will continue till Monday. I believe they only want to intimidate us. We cannot be intimidated and we will continue to work to complement the efforts of our dear Governor, Rotimi Amaechi. We are marching forward.

“I know the Nigeria Police is a law-abiding institution. If there is need for a change, it should be done constitutionally. For now, we are in charge,” Dike added.

Police spokesman in the state, Mr. Ben Ugwuegbulam, told Saturday PUNCH in a telephone interview that the police did not order anybody out of the council secretariat.

Ugwuegbulam pointed out that security operatives only went to the premises to protect the people when they learnt about a plot to attack the council.

“The commissioner of police did not direct that any council chairman should be ordered out of the secretariat. We only learnt that there were plans to attack the place and we mobilised policemen to protect the secretariat,” he said

Source: The Punch

It was learnt that the anti-graft agency is looking into the ‘high possibility’ of alleged money laundering in relation to the purchase of the aircraft.

A source said on Thursday that while the state government claimed to have purchased the Bombardier aircraft with $57m, records available to the EFCC showed that it may have been bought for $47m, thereby creating room for suspicion on how $10m was spent.

It was learnt that the state House of Assembly approved the purchase of the controversial aircraft within 24 hours.

It was further gathered that operatives of the EFCC might also be looking into how two aircraft purchased by the Rivers State Government under former Governor Peter Odili were managed.

One of the aircraft was sold to the Cross River State Government while the other aircraft manufactured by a Brazilian firm, an air ambulance, was said to have been phased out.

Investigations further revealed that the company wrote the Rivers State Government to say it was longer manufacturing the spare parts of the aircraft and so it was returned.

A source said the anti-graft agency was probing the management of the aircraft because rather than just phasing it out, it should have been traded in for another aircraft.

It was learnt that a focus of the investigation was to find out if there was any link whatsoever between the new aircraft and the aircraft in the area of cost.

Contacted, EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said he had not been briefed on the matter.

“I’m not aware of this,” he said on the telephone.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has said that the aircraft it grounded does not belong to the state government.

The General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, told our correspondent on Thursday that the aircraft belonged to a private firm, contrary to claims by the Rivers State Government that it owned the controversial plane.

He said, “The document we have does not show Rivers State Government as the owner of the aircraft. The registration is saying that the plane is owned by a company and not Rivers. So it is you people that will ask Amaechi how he came in contact with the aircraft. What is his relationship with the owner of the aircraft? That is his own business and I cannot answer that question for him.

“From the records we have, we have told you the owner of the aircraft. So whether it is from his friend or whoever, is it for me to know? It is not for me to know. Because from our records there is nowhere Rivers State Government is stated as the owner of the aircraft.”

He admitted that the aircraft was registered in the name of Bank of Utah in the United States, stressing that the governor should tell the public what he knows about the controversial plane.

Ndubuoke explained that the plane, before it was grounded, only had approval to move from Accra to Port Harcourt. He wondered why the crew decided to fly to other destinations outside the aircraft’s approved routes.

He said, “The clearance for the aircraft was sought by Caverton Helicopters on March 27. Amaechi did not seek clearance and the Rivers state government did not seek clearance.

The route they were given the clearance to fly was Accra-Port Harcourt-Accra.

“That does not mean it is the only place that they can fly. But that was the route with which they applied for the clearance. So if they now want to fly to Owerri or Akure, they need to reapply for another clearance. That is just the true matter, nothing more, nothing less. Their movement to Akure was illegal because it was not captured in the clearance.”

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency had last Friday refused to grant approval to the governor’s aircraft to leave Akure airport.

According to NAMA, the development was due to the failure of the pilot of the plane to submit the required manifest of passengers on board. The airspace agency also said it was untrue that the aircraft was grounded by the airspace manager at the Akure airport.

The Managing Director, NAMA, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, argued that contrary to the politicisation of the incident, the agency carried out its functions in line with the global aviation standard.

He was reported as saying, “By regulation, the manager has no power to clear any aircraft at that time of the day because Akure Airport operates day light operations. Approval must be given through the manager to the tower.”

On Saturday, NCAA had declared that the controversial aircraft operated illegally in the country.

As a result, the civil aviation authority grounded the Bombardier-BD 700 Global Express aircraft with registration number N565RS. It said the plane had an expired clearance approval effective April 2, 2013.

The Director, Airworthiness Standards, NCAA, Mr. Benedict Adeyileka, explained that while the aircraft was still operating illegally, it had been sighted in several places, including Owerri and Akure.

The NCAA also stated that the grounding of the aircraft had nothing to do with the President. Ndubuoke said, “The media always say that government grounded the aircraft because of issues with Amaechi. Reports have it that it was because the President and Amaechi are having problems, and that that was what may have led to the grounding of the aircraft.

“But I don’t know how the President will come from Aso Rock and say ground this airplane. In fact, I don’t how that will happen and I wonder why he will do that in the first place. So what we are trying to say that it is not true.”

Contacted, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, said he would not react to speculations about the state government’s aircraft.

“I have no comment on the issue because I cannot react to speculations,” he stated.

However, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, in a statement on Friday faulted claims by the Ministry of Aviation that the aircraft was flown into Nigeria with forged documents.

The statement reads in part, “No aircraft can fly into Nigerian airspace illegally and land at various airports within the country unchallenged. The Rivers State Government-owned aircraft has been in operation since October 2012;

“The allegation that a state government would use the name of Caverton Helicopters to obtain various clearances is preposterous and embarrassing;

“The claim that the aircraft insured is owned by Acass Canada Limited of 6700 Cote de Liesse, Suite 206,Montreal, QC H4T 2B5, Canada is a deliberate distortion of facts. An insurance issued to Acass was used for entry into service while flying between Canada and the USA for pre-delivery tests. Rivers State Government took delivery on 5th October, 2012 and duly insured the aircraft and the certificate of insurance duly states this. Please note below:

“The Rivers State Government has been flying this aircraft since October 2012 with this same certificate and with the knowledge of the Ministry of Aviation. The ownership of the aircraft is not in question as we have clearly explained the relationship between the Rivers State Government and the Bank of Utah. “This is a verifiable relationship and is common place in the aviation sector as practitioners and stakeholders know. The Deed of Trust is proof that the aircraft is held in trust by the Bank of Utah on behalf of the Rivers State Government.

“We believe that all administrative procedures should and must be complied with. However, the state government is worried at what is beginning to seem like a witch-hunt of it and related parties that have conducted business with it. We will continue to engage with aviation officials and follow through with all administrative requirements and processes as is most appropriate.”

Also, the Majority Leader in the Rivers State House Assembly, Mr. Chidi Lloyd, explained on Thursday that the current administration traded off two aircraft it met on the ground because they were not durable.

Lloyd added that the state house of assembly approved the purchase of the aircraft based on the durability of the new one.

“When this state government came on board, it met two aircraft on ground. It also discovered that the two planes were not durable. Even the manufacturing company said that particular type had been phased out.

“The current administration decided to trade off the two planes and bought a more durable aircraft currently being used. The aircraft had been on the ground for almost a year, why is it being talked about now?” Lloyd wondered.

Source: The Punch

The Assemblymen allegedly went underground to perfect their plot to impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

They went into hiding a day after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in the state, Felix Obuah, refuted the purported plot to unseat the governor.

The pro-Wike lawmakers – Michael Chinda (Obio/Akpor II); Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma); Evans Bipi (Ogu/Bolo); Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I); and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) – are reportedly restrategising.

Their whereabouts remained unknown last night. Their mobile telephone lines were also not available, when attempts were made to get their reactions to developments in the state.

It was learnt in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that the plot of the lawmakers was to catch unaware House Speaker Otelemaba Dan Amachree, the other 26 lawmakers and Amaechi.

Amachree, on Tuesday, raised the alarm over the “plot” to impeach him and Amaechi.

In a statement, the speaker alleged that a fake mace had been smuggled into the state to perfect their act, thereby provoking anarchy and paving the way for the declaration of a state of emergency.

Activist-lawyer Femi Falana and Chief Felix Fagbohungbe, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), cautioned against the move to use the minority to impeach Amaechi.

Besides, the duo said there was no justification for the plot against the governor.

On April 29, the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, including the speaker, were suspended by the Obuah-led state executive committee, which also declared the lawmakers’ seats vacant.

The suspension of the lawmakers, who are loyal to the governor, came on the heels of their alleged refusal to reverse the suspension of the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government, Timothy Nsirim; his deputy and the 17 councillors, within the 48-hour ultimatum given to them by Obuah.

It was also gathered that Wike, Obuah, members of his committee and their backers, have not forgiven Amaechi, who doubles as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the 27 legislators, over the “illegal” suspension of Nsirim and others.

The Obuah-led committee, according to a source, has insisted that the recall of the suspended Obio/Akpor council officials remained one of the conditions for peace.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday at the state secretariat of the PDP on Aba Road, Port Harcourt, Obuah said there was no plan to remove Amaechi.

But, there are fears that the anti-Amaechi lawmakers could spring a surprise at anytime.

They alleged that the refutal by Obuah was a decoy following the leakage of information on the fake mace and the impeachment plot.

Culled from 247 News