Politics
Amaechi, Mandate And Second Term Question (1)
It’s now almost two years since I wrote the November 2008 article titled ‘Amaechi: Turning Rivers State Into One big heap of Construction Site’ in commemoration of the one year anniversary of the Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi led administration in Rivers State. I find it therefore expedient to review that article resulting in this latest treatise with the main thrust of being a critical examination to see whether by way of massive construction efforts of the Governor he has succeeded in justifying his mandate and by so doing earning the right to a second term bid for office.
For avoidance of doubt particularly by those that may be reading this attempt from outside Nigeria; Rivers State is one of Nigeria’s 36 States which was created on May 27, 1967 by a Military Decree during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon as Head of State. The State is the heart of the hydrocarbon industry and is responsible for a huge chunk of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings. The status of Rivers State in terms of its strategic importance and significance to the nation’s economy earned it the name, Treasure Base of the Nation.
Since its creation the state has been led by leaders from the then first Military Administrator of the State, Navy Commander Alfred P. Diete-Spiff, credited with creating the revolutionary landmarks the state maintains uptil date. subsequently State leaders although astute in their own right did little or nothing to move the State forward
until 26th October, 2007 when another revolutionist Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the subject matter of this treatise found himself at the helms of affairs in the State by a judicial fiat of the Supreme Court nullifying the candidacy of Mr Celestine Omehia who hitherto had unjustifiably contested the Election in Amaechi’s stead.
Right from onset, Amaechi defined his mission and vision in Rivers State thus “Our mission is to serve our people with humility and render transparent and accountable stewardship anchored on integrity and good governance. We shall use our God given resources to improve the quality of life of our people and future generations, and empower our people in a peaceful just and harmonious society under God”.
To appreciate how much this young visionary leader has achieved, it becomes necessary to highlight the state of Rivers State prior to his assumption of office as Governor on 26th October, 2007.
During the eight years of the Odili’s Administration and the ill-fated period of Omehia’s tenure, a good drive along most streets of the city by then became an expensive exercise and a nightmare due to the giant potholes that were evident along most streets in Port Harcourt. There was massive infrastructural decay. Pupils and students were made to study under harsh condition, at times sitting on the bare floor to study. Hospitals were mere consulting institutions and the workforce zeal was at the lowest ebb.
According to records, Port Harcourt that Amaechi inherited was more like a war zone or rather a jungle where the fittest determines the fate of the lesser animals. Ahamefula Ogbu, a Journalist with Thisday Newspapers described one of the scenes in the State at this period in these words ‘Rambo could not have done better. With automatic rifles in their hands and hate, revenge and murder hanging around their necks, warring cultists took Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by storm. Pandemonium broke out as residents ran for safety. It was sorrow, tears and blood. At the end of it all—or, more aptly, at the interval, for no one knows the end yet—15 persons had been dispatched to their early graves’ and true to this unsung prophet nobody knew the end as the next few days saw about eighty innocent souls wasted by an agitation uncommon to our people in the Niger Delta.
Okey Ndibe, a respected analyst of national issues in Nigeria in his article during this period published in the Sahara Reporters, one of the leading internet websites on Nigerian political activities titled ‘a blood soaked city’ described the happenings in Rivers State then in these words ‘That the once idyllic Port Harcourt was now a scarred place, a war zone, a city soaked in blood; a city under siege with thousands of citizens displaced; that its once quiescent boulevards and avenues were now ruled by marauding militiamen and by fierce soldiers deployed to dislodge them. Sudden death by bullet was now a generalised hazard for the city’s trapped and hapless residents’.
Contributing, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark an elder statesman and a onetime Federal Minister of Information in the first Republic advocated that the only solution to the lingering security crisis in Rivers State was state of emergency on Rivers State. The Action Congress (AC) in Rivers State in a newspaper report decried the level of insecurity in the state within the period culminating in hostage-taking, kidnapping of small kids, assassination of political opponents to the destruction of government property as was evident in attacks on the NNPC mega station and the state’s radio station.
That was not all, Governor Amaechi reportedly said “When we took over the reins of governance in the State, we met a situation where people were being given cash, but we decided to take the extreme position of not giving money to people, but doing projects that would impact positively on the lives of the majority of our people”.
To Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, governing Rivers State seems like a divine mission where tomorrow does not exist. He seems to be in a hurry to accomplish so many things within a short period. I will not like to bore the reader with the many projects the Governor has embarked upon as doing so will entail writing a book but I will in a summarized form highlight some in order to have the feeling of what this young visionary has done to building the new Rivers State of his dream. After constituting his Cabinet with men and women of integrity and seeing the decay in infrastructure in the State, he commenced his task by initiating and signing into law, Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Agency Bill No. 3 of 2008, Sustainable Development.
Amendment Bill No. 1 of 2008, Procurement Public Bill, Saving Public Fund Bill and even bill excluding the office of the Governor from signing and awarding of contracts. With these bills, the Governor gave an insight into the type of governance he intends to bequeath to the State, governance imbedded in accountability, service delivery oriented and government by the people and for the greater Rivers State. According to Rt. Hon. Amaechi, ‘in order to lay a strong foundation for positive change in governance in the State, the administration has taken it upon itself to initiate very critical bills on fiscal responsibility to the State House of Assembly and virtually all of which have been passed into law and assented to by me. The Executive arm of government so far has credit for having at least 60 per cent of all bills passed by the House of Assembly, saying that virtually all the bills were designed to deal with the age long problem of financial irresponsibility and rascality and as far as the existing laws on fiscal responsibility are concerned, anyone in government who tries to have an over sight of the due process mechanism in the State would surely run into problems’.
With projects such as the multi-billion naira Rumuwoji (Mile One) Market, the New Niger Hospital, the 50-bed hospital located inside the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Eleme Junction Fly-Over which are all located within the state capital and are already functional, pinning down the achievements of the Governor to one main project is like looking for a pin in a haystack, the reason being that his strides cut across all sectors. In the area of education, the Amaechi-led Government has completely taken over the payment of salaries of primary school and junior school teachers, which was ab-initio the responsibility of the local government councils. It costs the state government N800 million monthly to pay the salaries of primary school teachers. The government is building 350 primary schools each of which has 20 classrooms and will cost N3.1billion each. It is also building 23 secondary schools across the 23 local government councils in the state. It is on record that most of these structures are completed. Eze is a Media Consultant in Port Harcourt.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
Politics
Reps Seeks To Retain Immunity For President Only
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
Politics
Recall From NASS: INEC Confirms Petitioners’ Contact Details Receipt, Notifies Natasha
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
Politics
Bill To Upgrade Lagos LCDAs To LGAs Pass Second Reading
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.