The political turmoil in Rivers State took a new twist recently, when the state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, with his supporters moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a development that caused hue and cry among concerned citizens across the country. In this interview, a member of state House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, speaks on the political situation in the state and other national issues. Excerpts:
Evans Bipi
What necessitated the defection of the state Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, to another party?
We all know that Governor Amaechi had been a mole in our midst before now; cross carpeting is good for democracy, especially if the opposition is constructive and has an alternative idea. Amaechi’s exit from the PDP had been long overdue; he had insulted elder statesmen of the party in Rivers, even at the national level, including his mentors who brought him to politics, believing that he would be given a plum job by the bunch of strange bedfellows whose only interest is to grab power at all costs for their stomach. Show me one progressive in their midst? Show me one progressive in Nigeria? They are all crying foul because the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan is not only focused but also determined to change the destiny of Nigerians through various reconstructions in the economic spheres of our nation.
I am saddened and pained when people refer to Amaechi glowingly with regard to the development of Rivers State. Amaechi, right from day one, has not meant well for Rivers people; he had harmed the people, starting from the demolition of the waterfronts to people’s houses and shops, and yet he is consistently feeding the public with propaganda. Can you call his actions achievements? Or is it the monorail you can call an achievement when it has no economic value to the state?
With every sense of duty, Amaechi had done more harm than good. Rivers PDP was one of the strongest in the South-South before he became the governor. But look at what he has succeeded in doing to the party that took him to a place he never imagined. He has failed the people, he has polarised the people across ethnic, religious and geographic lines, but we are ready to return the party to where it was before. His exit is a good riddance to bad rubbish.
Back to your question, nobody drove him away; he became power drunk, and decided to dance naked in the market square. So we have no other alternative than to make the party unbearable for him.
In your opinion, is this move a right decision?
Well, for a drowning man like Amaechi, it was the right decision because no matter what, he would have been chased out of our party whether he liked it or not, for his anti-party activities. How can a man be so gullible to betray his people, all for a mere mesh of porridge that he would be given a ticket? That shows you the calibre of person he is, always thinking about himself alone and not the collective good of the people.
Now that the governor has defected, how can you rate the party, as many think the party is now weak?
We are very strong at the grassroots and with leaders like the former governor of the state, Sir Peter Odili, elders, senior party faithful, stakeholders and the present Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, the party is set to recover its lost glory. We are more than focused, united in our common goal and objectives and ready to face any splinter group, whose sole and only purpose is to castigate every policy and plan of government, including throwing stones at the President. Amaechi and his ilk are so lucky that this is the most educated, forthright, God-fearing and good-natured person Nigeria has ever had as a president. Could they have tried this during Obasanjo’s days? So, we are talking to our people, Nigerians and the entire world that this group of people are opportunists and do not mean well for our nation. Look at their pronouncements, body language and antecedents; you will agree that they are self-servicing and greedy. Their only ideology is their stomach and the “I and my family” slogan. None of them is a nationalist in approach, not to talk of ideals. Nigerians know them very well. They are no alternative to the PDP led government but a group of politicians who have pauperised their people for their own benefit and self-aggrandisement in their various leadership positions.
The governor said recently that the PDP has failed the nation. What is your take on this?
How has the PDP failed the nation? When people like them go about funding different groups to disrupt development and change the focus of government. We thank God that, in spite of all their plans, the government is focused and on the path to recovery from the security challenges which are not peculiar to Nigeria but are also happening across the world. The present government is just two years in power and has done a lot for Nigerians in terms of agriculture, power, education and economy, among others. And if not because of their planned and systematic distractions, by now, the Jonathan administration would have taken Nigeria to Eldorado. But all is not lost, as the administration is daily working on some critical national issues to see how Nigeria can be better, compared to what we inherited.
The governor has raised alarm before now that the Federal Government has never given him free hand to govern the state, how true is this assertion?
I had said this before that the President has a lot to cope with at the national level and will not bog himself with small issues of Rivers State politics. Instead of blaming himself for not being able to govern a state successfully, he goes about looking for people to hang his ineptitude on. All the stories emanating from Rivers today, if the governor was mature, forthright and steadfast, the problems should have been all resolved by now. But because he does not have the right leadership qualities, he is busy governing Rivers on the pages of newspapers, and on television, and throwing stones at the President for his personal failures. Up till today, has the President said a word or replied him?
Amaechi is the cause of all the problems confronting Rivers State; nobody has held him down, but he has held himself down due to his nonchalant attitude and disrespect for superior authoritie, and his vituperations against the elders of the party both at state and national levels. He has been weighed in the scale of governance and found wanting. He cannot give what he does not have.
The bomb blast at the courts was instigated by you, according to the governor.
For Christ’s sake, I am still the Speaker of the House, and as a noble man from a good background, you do not expect me to behave in an uncivilised manner to reduce myself to such level. I will never do such a thing, not to talk of contemplating doing it or sending people at my level to do it. It takes a minute to destroy but years to rebuild or build anything that is tangible, so how can I decide to bomb the court, my last hope, which is the conscience of the common man? The people should ask the governor because he is the Chief Security Officer of the state. He is the person orchestrating all you are seeing in Rivers State just to elicit sympathy and public support, all in a bid to achieve his ambition and to satisfy his paymasters. I want to say this for all to hear: how many governors do you see fighting with their police commissioners, and shouting everyday on the pages of newspapers? There must be definitely something wrong with Amaechi that people should pause and take a second look at. You cannot see a single respected elder in the state behind him or supporting him because he is fighting a lost battle and cannot be trusted. Look at how my other colleagues hurriedly passed and assented to the budget behind closed doors. It was a sad day, indeed, for democracy; it is very unfortunate and undemocratic. The governor is treading on a path very alien to the state and I say it with all sense of purpose that he will crash. Knowing fully well, what I intend to do next, they went to bomb the court. On the day of the bombing, I was supposed to have been heard at the court. Then how can I stop myself from getting victory or how will I plan against myself? So it was Amaechi and co that bombed the courts to disallow me from getting fair hearing and justice in my case. Look, let me tell you; all the drama going on in Rivers State including the bombing, the melodrama acted by the senator, about tear-gas or not, and everything you see today, is being orchestrated by Amaechi, all in a bid to paint the President in bad light. The police in Rivers State do not use rubber bullets and I thank God you heard it from the Commissioner of Police himself. Magnus Abe is just acting a script written by the APC because he is being promised a governorship slot, all to drag the good name of the present administration into the mud. But they will certainly fail because the truth cannot be hidden for long.
Can you comment more on the passing of the budget in an office in Government House?
What a rape of democracy, trying to get legitimacy for fleecing the state funds. The budget approved by the House is null, void and illegal You cannot pass a budget without the Speaker on seat. I am still the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly; Nigerians can attest to that and the fact that it was conducted in a Kangaroo office in Government House shows you the desperation of Amaechi. So whosoever has financial dealings with Amaechi as regards the budget is doing so at his/her own risk. The endorsement is a private arrangement and a grand gangsterism by Amaechi and his rubber stamp loyalists, who do not mean well for the people. Where have you seen that brazen act by any governor or President endorsing a budget outside the hallowed chambers of the state or National Assembly and without the presence of the Speaker? It is unacceptable, unlawful and inconsistent with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is ultra-vires, null and void and cannot be acceptable to Nigerians. Where in the world have you ever seen a governor presenting a budget in his residence or office? It then means the President of a country can as well present a budget in the Presidential Villa. You can see people condemning it from far and wide and prominent lawyers and persons across the country have castigated the illegal approval in its entirety. But you can see how silent APC has become as regards this shameful act. Lai Mohammed and others known for always shouting nunc dimitis and crying foul are now silent. But because it concerns them, they have all kept quiet so as to continue to rip off Rivers people. We will not accept it and any money he spends out of this illegal budget will be returned. You can see the mass exodus of commissioners from his cabinet. It shows that he is leading them to nowhere. The will of the people will prevail over Amaechi’s maladministration in Rivers State and he will be made to account for every kobo he spends in Rivers State.
Mark my words. We have decided to challenge him in the court of law. Amaechi has failed the people who elected him to power.
via@Independent