President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have chosen to dance to the whims of Chief Nyesom Wike who captured Rivers State for him during the last presidential election. But in doing so, he has been accused of working against the general interest of the people of Rivers State and also against the laws of the land.
His handling of the feud between the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara and his oga, has provoked many, including elder statesman and Ijaw Leader, E.K Clarke. Apart from Clarke, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, a chieftain of the APC in Rivers State and an ally of Rotimi Amaechi has also flayed Tinubu for the booboo trap set against Fubara by the duo of Tinubu and Wike, at a time that competent courts had already given orders on the issues.
It was learnt that the chief of staff to the president, Femi Gbajagbiamila, known to be Wike’s Man Friday, had prepared a document purported to be a peace agreement between Wike and Fubara. This came a few days after Wike had said in Port Harcourt that while he was ready for peace, he was not prepared to lose his structures in Rivers State, neither was he prepared to lose his control of power buttons in the state.
During the meeting for which Wike went late, Fubara who went almost alone, was surrounded by an almost Wike’s team.
For instance, the deputy governor who was present sat the meeting, and ordinarily suppoed to be on Fubara’s side, was nominated for the governor by Wike, even as it is not certain if Dr Peter Odili, who is Wike’s father in politics, was totally for Fubara, although there are speculations that the former governor did not sign the questionable agreement.
Although Wike went into the meeting with his men, including Martins Amaewhule whose seat in the house of assembly, Mr Edison Ehie, the court affirmed speaker of the house of assembly was a thousand miles away from the venue of the meeting.
Against all expectations, however, Tinubu refused to call the FCT minister to order, apparently because of Wike’s contributions to his emergence as president and the expectation that Wike would still help him in 2027, both in Abuja where Tinubu had failed to secure 25 per cent votes, and in Rivers State.
Whereas a court of competent jurisdiction had issued an order recognising Ehie as speaker, and whereas the said speaker had declared vacant, the seat of 25 former legislators for defecting to the APC, Tinubu refused to look at Wike in the face and tell him to allow the law to take its course.
As it stands now, Wike is making history in Nigeria as the only man to have a major stake in two political parties at the same time. The APC acting chairman in Rivers State is his Man Friday, while the chairman of PDP in the state is also his nominee.
While his core men in the state house of assembly have moved into the APC, he remains in the PDP and is still calling the shots. He is also fighting hard to control what he calls the structures in a PDP controlled state, while serving in and working with the president and his core men in an APC controlled federal government.
But the PDP has insisted that Wike’s antics will not work. According to him, even though Wike’s men have been able to procure a court order stopping INEC form conducting elections into the 25 state constituencies whose former occupants were sacked, no court in Nigeria had the powers to stop INEC from going ahead with the elections.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the party’s acting national chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asserts that there is no remedy for the 25 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who by virtue of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) vacated and lost their seats by reason of defection from the PDP, the Party platform upon which they were elected into the House of Assembly.
“Our Party insists that having now vacated and lost their seats, the only option available for the former lawmakers, if they wish to return to the House of Assembly, is to seek fresh nomination and re-election on the platform of any political party of their choice in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.
“The 25 former Rivers lawmakers freely and without any cause vacated their seats, being fully aware of the consequences of defection from the Party upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly without the conditions stipulated by the 1999 Constitution.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no division in the PDP at the national or any other level for that matter to justify the defection of the 25 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the Party. They therefore vacated their seats for reasons best known to them and cannot return to the House of Assembly without passing through a fresh electoral process in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.
“Moreover, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Rt. Hon (Barr) Ehie O. Edison DSSRS officially declared the seat of the defected now former members vacant in line with Section 109 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The Rivers State House of Assembly, having become Functus Officio on the matter cannot re-admit the former lawmakers unless through the channel of a fresh election.
“Our Party therefore counsels the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to be deceived by anybody giving them the false hope and impracticable assurances in Abuja that they can return to the Rivers State House of Assembly without a fresh election or that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can be stopped from conducting fresh election into the 25 Rivers State Constituencies where vacancies have occurred by reason of their defection.
“For emphasis Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022 is clear in providing that no Courts have powers to stop INEC from conducting elections wherever and whenever a vacancy occurs in any electoral constituency.
“For clarity Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides that
“Nothing in this section shall empower the Courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election under this Act pending the determination of the suit.”
“The PDP demands that INEC should, in line with Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, fix a date for the conduct of fresh election into the 25 State Constituencies in Rivers State where vacancies have occurred by reason of the defection of the now former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, pending the determination of any suit in any court.
“The national leadership of the PDP charges all members of our great Party in Rivers State to remain united and resolute in the defence of Constitutional democracy and Rule of Law in Rivers State.”
