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Tag: rivers

  • Wike abandons official duties on Monday to drink whiskey – Atiku’s aide

    Wike abandons official duties on Monday to drink whiskey – Atiku’s aide

    A spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar has chided Rivers State Governor Nysesom Wike for abandoning his official duty on Monday morning to drink alcohol.

    Wike who spoke at an event in Emohua Local Government Area last week said he was drinking alcohol while watching Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the party national chairman, Iyorchai Ayu, and other party members on a protest to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

    “I called some of my friends and opened the 40-year-old whisky as they were protesting,” Wike told the gathering.

    In a statement on Sunday, Phrank Shaibu advised Wike to stay off alcohol which he said had “affected his voice and demeanour”.

    Shaibu recalled that on March 6, Atiku, party members, and supporters demonstrated against “the stealing of the mandate of the Nigerian people.”

    “The protest occurred around 11:30 am. Governor Wike says he was drinking whiskey during the protest at 11:30 am on a Monday.

    “This reveals the sort of man he is – a dipsomaniac who abandons his official duties on Monday morning to binge on whiskey, “he stated.

    Noting that it was unfortunate that Wike steers the wheel of governance in Rivers with such a habit, Shaibu insisted the governor’s “vituperations and wailings” had nothing to do with ensuring that the South produces the next president.

    Wike, according to him, is “a sore loser who had gone on to deceive other members of his G5 who are now battling for political survival. ”

    Shaibu said Wike has been wailing because he lost the PDP ticket “in a fair contest” and “deceived four other governors to join his futile campaign.”

    The aide further mocked the three G5 governors who “failed woefully at their senatorial elections,” despite being in office for years.

    Shaibu added that the re-election of Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde “is hanging by a thread after his misadventure cost the PDP to lose all three senatorial elections”.

    The statement observed the Rivers helmsman has not held a meeting with his colleagues “having dumped them since their defeat.”

    It hailed Nigerians that have signed a petition demanding that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union impose a visa ban on Wike.

  • Nyesom Wike replies Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Southern presidency

    Nyesom Wike replies Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Southern presidency

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said he did not support the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi overtly at the Feb. 25 election because nobody discussed Igbo presidency with him.

    According to NAN, Publicity Secretary of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, stated on Friday in Enugu that Wike made the declaration at a meeting the socio-political group had with him in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

    Ogbonnia stated that at the meeting, Ohaneze Ndigbo confronted Wike over his alleged role against Obi during the presidential election.

    He stated that Gov. Wike expressed surprise that Ohanaeze was on a fact-finding mission and would explain his role in the presidential election.

    According to Ogbonnia, the Rivers governor explained that the Southern Governors Forum first met at Asaba and agreed that power must shift to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He also explained that the governors later met in Enugu in September 2021 to reaffirm their position for power to shift to the South.

    He stated that throughout the meetings, “the issue of presidency to the Southeast was never on the table.’’

    Wike also explained that throughout his political adventure, he tried as much as possible to maintain the position of the Southern governors.

    Wike expressed disgust that during the PDP presidential primary election, several well-known people of the Southeast betrayed him and sabotaged the Southern interest by voting for a candidate from the northern part.

    He added that his unalloyed commitment to the South motivated him “to provide logistics for Obi when he was in Rivers for the presidential campaign’’.

    Wike noted that conversely, he refused to provide even a campaign ground for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of his own Peoples Democratic Party.

    The governor further stated that “what is circulating in the social media is the handiwork of Wike adversaries.’’

    “I am a man with the courage of my convictions and have no reasons to tell lies or to owe an apology to anyone.

    “I am always ready to defend my actions any day and at any time, and I did not rig the presidential election against Obi,’’ Ogbonnia quoted Wike as having said.

  • Rivers Labour Party Chairman endorses PDP guber candidate

    Rivers Labour Party Chairman endorses PDP guber candidate

    The Labour Party Chairman in Rivers, Mr Dienye Pepple, on Tuesday said his party had resolved to support the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

    Pepple, who made this known to journalists in Port Harcourt, said that the party endorsed a credible candidate irrespective of party affiliation in the state.

    According to him, the candidate to be voted for must be young, vibrant and must hail from the senatorial district that hasn’t produced a governor.

    “The LP in Rivers will be voting a riverine candidate in the person of Sir Siminlalayl Joseph Fubara of the PDP from the South East Senatorial district of the state during the upcoming gubernatorial polls”.

    “The Labour Party and her members are defenders and ambassadors of the values that have set her and the Obidient Movement apart from all other parties”.

    According to Pepple, the Labour Party governorship candidate Beatrice Itubo, stepped down and adopted the All Progressive Congress candidate in the state.

    “The party in the past few days in the state was hit by a major shock of an unknown person surfacing and claiming to be our gubernatorial candidate”.

    “This followed the news making rounds on social media that the gubernatorial candidate of the party,Mrs Beatrice Itubo, has stepped down and adopted the APC candidate.

    ”In order for us not to remain in the dark, the party, in line with the 23 LGAs chairmen, has decided to support a credible candidate irrespective of the party affiliation.

    “Our Labour Party and its candidate till date-Mr Peter Obi, put up a robust and most impressive representation of ‘people power’ not seen in recent Nigerian history,” Pepple said.

    Pepple urged all LP members, supporters and our Obideint team in Rivers to come out in their numbers on Saturday, March 11, 2023 to vote Fubara from the South East Senatorial District of Rivers  for governor.

    He also urged them to vote all other Labour Party Candidates for the State House of Assembly in their various constituencies.

    Meanwhile, Mr Mike Usolor, Head, Voters Education and Publicity, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers, told journalists that the LP governorship candidate for Rivers remained the same candidate on INEC list.

  • Alleged planned suspension: Wike, PDP to know fate May 31

    Alleged planned suspension: Wike, PDP to know fate May 31

    A Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed May 31 for judgment in a suit filed by Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers praying for an order restraining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from suspending or expelling him from the party.

    Justice James Omotosho fixed the date on Monday after counsel to the governor, Dr. Joshua Musa, SAN, and lawyer to the PDP, Johnson Usman, SAN, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

    Wike had sued the PDP, its National Working Committee (NWC), and National Executive Committee (NEC) as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

    The governor,  in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/139/2023, also joined the National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu; National Secretary of PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 4th to 6th respondents respectively.

    Wike is praying for an order directing all parties to maintain status quo and staying all actions in the matter relating to the threat to suspend or expel him by the 1st to 5th respondents pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion.

    Justice Omotosho had, on Feb. 2, gave an interim order against the party and others listed in the face of Wike’s motion dated and field on Feb. 2.

    The judge, who extended the restraining order on Feb. 14, held that all parties should maintain a status quo pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

    Upon resumed hearing on Monday, Musa informed the court that the matter was adjourned for hearing and he was ready to proceed.

    He said that the fundamental right of his client to freedom of association was being breached due to the threat by the respondents to suspend and subsequently expel him from the party, hence, the need to approach the court.

    But responding, Usman, who appeared for PDP and others, disagreed with Musa’s submission.

    He argued that the case was only based on speculation as Wike had failed to provide any evidence to substantiate that the respondents intended to suspend or expel him from the party.

    He said the party had not contemplated to suspend or expel members of the G5 Governors or the Integrity Group.

    “We have said that there is no threat to suspend the applicant and the onus is on him to proof this,” he said.

    The lawyer, who stressed that the case was within the realm of conjuncture, said the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

    Besides, he argued that whether the action was brought by fundamental rights enforcement suit was not enough.

    “You must exhaust the internal mechanism of the party.

    “And having failed to do this, this court has no jurisdiction to hear the suit and I pray that the matter be struck out,” he said, citing a Supreme Court judgment to back his argument.

    He said the issue brought before the court was a family affair, urging the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.

    He said the suit was defective and incompetent which constituted an abuse of court process.

    Musa, who disagreed with Usman’s position, urged the court to dismiss the respondents’ preliminary objection.

    He said in response, he filed a reply on points of law on Feb. 16.

    “We adopt this as our oral argument in urging your lordship to dismiss the preliminary objection,” he said.

    The senior lawyer also argued that the theory of exhaustion did not apply to issues of fundamental right.

    Besides, he said the authority cited by Usman did not border on issues of fundamental right actions.

    “He has stated that the 2nd and 3rd respondents (NWC and NEC) are not juristic persons.in their preliminary objection, but we submit that the constitution recognises the organs of a political party in Section 223 …

    “So it is strange to say that they are not juristic persons,” he said.

    Musa argued that though Usman said that there was no attempt to either suspend or expelled Wike, but copious of allegations were made against the governor in their application in Paragraphs 6, 7, 8, 11, 19, 20, 21, and 22.

    “So why are they approbating and reprobating? Therefore, we have a reasonable cause of action to assume that they intend to suspend or expel the applicant,” he said.

    In a reply on points of law filed by Musa, the lawyer stated that for no justifiable reason and without being afforded fair hearing, the party had threatened to suspend or expel his client in violation of Section 36(1) and 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    Justice Omotosho adjourned the suit until May 31 for judgment.

  • INEC announces winners of National Assembly election in Rivers

    INEC announces winners of National Assembly election in Rivers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers has released winners of the National Assembly election conducted on Feb. 25 in Rivers.

    INEC announced the results in a statement issued to newsmen by the commission’s Public Affairs Officer, Mrs. Geraldine Ekelemu, in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

    The commission announced the winner of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District as Mpigi Barinada of PDP with 53,734 votes to defeat his closest APC rival, Ngofa Nyimenuate who polled 24,123 votes.

    It stated that Rivers West Senatorial District was won by PDP’s Banigo Harry who scored 67,668 votes to beat APC’s Asita Asita who netted 32,572 votes.

    The commission also announced that PDP’s Onyesoh Allwell clinched Rivers East Senatorial seat with 134,283 votes to floor LP’s Benjamin Okwuwolu who scored 74,725 votes.

    Similarly, INEC released the list of the House of Representatives members from Okrika/Ogubuolo, Etche/Omuma, Ikwere/Emohua, Ahoada West/Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru, Eleme/Tai/Oyibo, Abua-Uduah/Ahoada East, Andoni-Opobo/Nkuru, Degema/Bonny, Obio/Akpor, and Port Harcourt 1, while the result of Port Harcourt 2 is suspended.

    The results showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won only Okrika/Ogubuolo seat, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won nine seats and Labour Party also won only one seat for Port Harcourt 1 federal constituency.

    Rivers has 12 members in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

    Recalled that the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Johnson Alalibo, had earlier told newsmen that the results of Port Harcourt 2 federal constituency would be suspended and reviewed due to reports of irregularity.

  • Alleged electoral robbery: Labour Party demands cancellation of presidential election

    Alleged electoral robbery: Labour Party demands cancellation of presidential election

    The National Chairman of Labour Party, Barr. Julius Abure, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel all unverified election results in Rivers State, describing the process as not only fraudulent but also fell below expectations.

    Abure made the call in statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, expressing shock by the reports of incidents of thuggery and attacks unleashed by agents allegedly working for the state government across various polling units in the state.

    He said: “The leadership of the Labour Party is shocked by the revelations emanating from Rivers state after the presidential and national assembly elections which held on Saturday; where thugs believed to be agents of the state government invaded various polling units and collation centres, took away election materials including the results sheets, manipulated the BVAS machines and uploaded fake results into the Central portal.

    Abure noted that the party took particular note of incidences in places like Obio/Akpor, Khana, Eleme, Obigbo, Rumukoro and several other areas where Labour Party was clearly leading in virtually all the polling units with very wide margins.

    According to him, “Governor Nyesom Wike, faced with stark reality of defeat even in the polling units in his compound in Worji, where LP scored 323 votes against APC and PDP’s 5 and 2 votes respectively, he used the soldiers and police to intimidate, harassed and snatched ballot papers.

    Nigerians went into this election based on the assurances by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that the deployment of BVAS was a perfect antidote to electoral malpractices in Nigeria, but what transpired across Nigeria, if allowed to stand is purely a betrayal of trust by millions of Nigerians on INEC.

    “INEC’s staff were intimidated by these thugs in connivance with the military personnel and police officers who were deployed to protect them, into doing their bidding and were forced to manipulate the BVAS, being afraid of the consequences of their refusal. Some of these manipulations happened way into late in the night. We demand that INEC investigate these atrocities against Nigerian voters by the political class.

    We are therefore asking that INEC should rise to the occasion and cancel all the unverified and manipulated results arising from the presidential and national assembly elections in parts of Rivers state particularly in places like Obio/Akpor, Khana, Eleme, Obigbo and Rumukoro amongst others.

  • Don’t vote for those who’ll kill me – Wike begs Rivers electorate

    Don’t vote for those who’ll kill me – Wike begs Rivers electorate

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has called on the people of Rivers not to vote for a presidential candidate that will kill him when elected into office.

    Wike stated this while speaking at a campaign rally at Obio-Akpor LGA on Saturday.

    Wike said: “We will not support those who say when they come to power, they will kill me.

    “We will not support those who say when they come to power, they will jail me.

    “Will you allow them to kill me? Will you vote for those who do not want us to exist? Are you sure?”

  • Wike threatens to deal with Rivers PDP members if….

    Wike threatens to deal with Rivers PDP members if….

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has threatened to deal with the National and State Assembly candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state if they betray him and join those in Abuja, the Atiku Abubakar camp.

    Wike made the threat when he spoke during the state Peoples Democratic Party campaign rally in Obio/Akpor Local Government of Rivers State, the last campaign rally of the PDP in the state.

    He said, “All the other candidates, the Senatorial candidates, my Deputy Chairman, Doctor Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, Chief Allwell Onyeso, and Barinada Mpigi, and all the House of Reps candidates and the Assembly candidates, let me tell you people, if any of them like, let them go to Abuja and misbehave, we will teach them lesson as we are teaching these other people now.

    “I want to sound it clear, all of them are listening to me, if they are not here, they are watching the television. If you follow this betrayal, we will place a course on you and you will suffer the way they are suffering, so if you have the mind to do that, be very very careful”.

    Wike has been at loggerheads with some PDP chieftains in the state, following their resolve to support the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, after Wike lost to him at the party’s primaries last year.

  • PDP suspends Rivers rally for supporters’ safety

    PDP suspends Rivers rally for supporters’ safety

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended its planned presidential campaign rally in Rivers for safety reasons.

    Alhaji Yusuf Dingyadi, Media Advisory Committee member of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), made the declaration in Sokoto on Tuesday.

    He told newsmen that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had not in any way expressed fears about comments by Rivers governor, Mr. Nysom Wike.

    Dingyadi, also Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the PDP National Chairman, Dr Ayochia Ayu, said the party considered people’s safety as paramount show.

    He said Gov. Wike’s comments and order of changes of rally venue needed to be carefully considered as the chief security officer of the state.

    According to him, Atiku and other party bigwigs and stakeholders may be safe in the hands of armed security men in their motorcades, but party supporters may not be that safe.

    He stressed that party supporters and loyalists who might come from different parts of Rivers and from neighbouring states might be subjected to the dangers of attacks by unknown persons or groups.

    “We value our supporters’ lives and their safety than a campaign show. Therefore, the PCC agreed with the recommendation of the state’s local organising committee to postpone the rally.

    “The rally has been shifted till when things are done rightly or till we can continue with the grassroots mobilisation through other efforts,’’ Dingyadi said.

    Dingyadi stressed that Gov. Wike’s utterances and other political considerations on insecurity, lack of assurance of safety of lives and properties made the PCC to halt the visits.

    He noted that presidential campaign rallies had been held successfully in Benue, Abia, Oyo, and others where the governors were considered as being at loggerheads with the PDP National Secretariat.

  • Wike approves venue for Atiku’s campaign, sends strong warning to PCC

    Wike approves venue for Atiku’s campaign, sends strong warning to PCC

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has approved the venue for the campaign rally of the pres­idential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, in the State.

    Wike said he had approved the PDP Presidential Cam­paign Council to use the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for Atiku’s campaign.

    The governor disclosed this at the cam­paign flag-off rally by the Rivers State PDP Campaign Council in Oyigbo Local Government Area of the State.

    Disclosing that the approval was at no cost to the PDP PCC, Wike said the stadium would be accessible 48 hours before February 11, 2023, flag-off of the presidential campaign in Rivers State.

    He also cautioned the Director-Gen­eral of the PCC in Rivers State, Abiye Sekibo, over the move to possess the stadium one month before the event.

    Wike warned that Sekibo has no right to make such a move.

    “Let me also use this oppor­tunity to warn Abiye Sekibo. We have made approval for your pres­idential candidate to use Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, on Febru­ary 11. You have no right to be­gin to go to the stadium now. We cannot give you access to the sta­dium now. We can only give you access to the stadium two days to the occasion for you to prepare.

    “Nobody gave you one month. So, if you dare it again, to go and force yourself into the stadium, I will cancel the approval with immediate effect. Dare it again, I will cancel it. Heaven will not fall. In fact, if heaven falls now, we will be happy that it was in our time heaven came down,” he said.