Unfazed by APC Distractions, Wike Marches On

Despite that the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State and former Governor Chibuike Amaechi have resolved not to show the new Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, respite until the tribunal resolves the disputes arising from the election, Wike has hit the ground running. Davidson Iriekpen writes

After six futile suits to stop his inauguration, Chief Nyesom Wike was last week sworn in as Governor of Rivers State with fanfare at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt. 

As usual with his events, the stadium was pack full. Important dignitaries within and outside such as former governors, ministers and legislators all graced the event.

To demonstrate his people-driven programmes for the state, Wike right on the inauguration podium, immediately hit the ground running with his announcement of the reopening of the state judiciary. This was followed with the appointment of Justice Daisy Okocha as the state acting Chief Judge. The protracted crises over who should head the state judiciary had led to the closure of the courts in the state for over a year by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration of Chibuike Amaechi. 

The new Governor also announced relocation of the state House of Assembly from the Government House back to its original place. He equally announced the reinstatement of all the lecturers of the State University of Science and Technology (RUST) sacked by Amaechi government and the declaration of operation no potholes on all the roads in the state.

Considering the turbulence that had characterised governance and politics in the state in last three years, Wike promised that never again would such be allowed to happen. For all these announcements, which to the people signified a new beginning, the stadium was agog with thunderous ovation.

For the people of the state, all the steps taken so far by the new governor were signs of a new beginning. This to them are what they have been praying fervently for in the last three years that governance was shut down. To them, despite the claim by the opposition that the election that produced Wike was a charade, his victory was not a surprise. It was something they had prayed and longed for and backed with massive votes. THISDAY gathered that some of the announcements have already been effected.

Perhaps still sulking from the defeat it suffered in the hands of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the announcements by the new governor, the state chapter of the APC, immediately advised him not to embark on any long term project because he had a short time to stay in office. The party stated that it was confident that Wike would be removed by the election petitions tribunal.

The state chairman of the APC, Dr. Davies Ikanya, in a statement said Wike was unjustly declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), warning him not to change the curtains and furniture in the Government House, because he has ‘a very short time’ to stay in power.

“Wike was unjustly declared winner by the state INEC, which never hides its connivance with Rivers PDP. He does not have the legitimate mandate of the good people of the state to act as their governor. We remain confident that the election tribunal will do the needful and sack him accordingly in view of the materials submitted to them, in view of the immorality associated with his occupation of the Government House and in view of the outcry of the people of the state that he does not have their mandate to serve as their governor. He, however, appealed to the people of the state to endure whatever hardship that may come from Wike’s administration, pending the restoration of the mandate they gave to the party’s candidate.

“As we wait to reclaim the mandate of the Rivers State people, which was wickedly seized by INEC in their desperation to impose Wike as the governor of Rivers State, we wish to state that we will not allow the blood of our members spilled to be in vain.”

But in his reaction, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, said Wike’s victory would stand, maintaining that the mandate was given to him by the people. Obuah, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Jerry Needam, pointed out that the earlier APC realised that Rivers was a PDP state, the better for it. Describing Wike’s victory at the poll as sacrosanct, he urged the APC to stop weeping over the last election.

On the call that Wike should not try to change the furniture in the Government House, Obuah explained that there was no furniture to change adding that the Government House had already been vandalised by Amaechi and his cohorts.

“I want to ask; what furniture is the APC talking about? Former governors, Peter Odili and Celestine Omehia, left golden doors in the office of the governor but these are all gone. They have been taken away by Amaechi and his cohorts. They have used APC brooms to sweep away the property in Government House, which is now an eyesore,” Obuah added.

Similarly, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, who is the media aide to Wike, explained that the APC in the state should stop sounding as if the election petitions tribunal belonged to it. Nwakaudu insisted that Wike’s victory would stand because the mandate was given to him by the people.“We are not surprised by the ranting of the APC in the state. Is the tribunal their personal property? They should stop sounding as if the tribunal is theirs,” he said.

Though over time, the new governor had demonstrated that he has the capacity to tolerate the APC and Amaechi, many analysts believe that the series of attacks that would be launched on him from now till the tribunal resolves the disputes arising from the election show that there won’t be respite for him.

While the governorship elections may have come and gone, and winners sworn in, Rivers has become the only state where the losers are still sulking and condemning the process. Till date, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its supporters are alleging that the election was marred with massive irregularities and compromised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies. 

Though the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, have long filed  petitions at the tribunal demanding that the election be  cancelled, back home, they are trying to frustrate the smooth take-off of the Wike administration.

Despite  the insistence of the APC that the governorship election in the state was rigged in favour of Wike and his party, the PDP, analysts believe that there was no way its candidate, Peterside could have won the poll when the only structure he had was a few people in government.

For those who were following events as they unfolded before the election, it was impossible for the governorship candidate for Wike to lose the election going by his antecedent. This, Amaechi, knew too well. This was why during the build up to polls, the former governor  had mounted a strenuous campaign aimed at thwarting Wike’s ambition. First of such campaign by Amaechi was the whipping up ethnic sentiments in the state to create a divide between them.

As the Director General of the Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s campaign organisation in 2011 and his Chief of Staff, Wike was said to have understood the workings of a successful election. Having successfully won election for the outgoing governor in 2011, many pundits had predicted a smooth sail for him to Government House.

Besides, prior to becoming the Chief of Staff in the state, Wike as a former two-term Chairman of the largest and most populated local government area in the state, Obio/Akpor, had become a rallying point for those seeking governorship election in the states. In 2003 and 2007 respectively, he contributed immensely in mobilising support for former governors of the state, Dr. Peter Odili and Celestine Omehia to secure power on the platform of the PDP. To many analysts, it was therefore unthinkable that a man with such massive grassroots support and mobilisation would lose election

Culled from http://www.thisdaylive.com